Your thought on lizard enclosures

[gbskda]

I am thinking about keeping lizards and I was wondering if anyone can give me some info on enclosures.

I am thinking about keeping beardeds and housing them in an old above ground pool with the liner removed so it just the steel frame.

What would be the basic requirements I need for it, the pool is 4 foot deep and about 12 foot in diameter

I was thinking about putting 1cm square chicken wire over the top to prevent cats and dogs from getting in.

Any other advice would be appreciated

 

[metallicagear]

beardies arte cool!

 

[africancichlidau]

How are you going to access the pit, will you be cutting a door in it? If so make sure you fit a good seal around the door frame to prevent the little Houdini Clones escaping. Give them plenty of rock and trunks etc for shelter from the sun, water supply thats not too deep, (they can drown), maybe the cover should be part shadecloth to give them some general shade and if possible put a heat mat or two in well picked protected locations for the cooler periods. What a fantastic idea an above ground pool is gb, now where's that trading post?????
Good luck with your project mate

 

[gbskda]

Your thoughts on lizard enclosures

thanks for your comment africa, but I dont understand why I would need heat pads if I live in Qld and this enclosure will be outside.
As for the door/access I was thinking just a flip top lid as I will be able to climb over the top.
The shadecloth is a good idea as I will be putting that over the chicken wire.
Also would it be possible to put beardeds and blue together in the same enclosure

 

[africancichlidau]

Ooops, Queensland eh, I hereby officially withdraw the comment about heat pads
No problem either if you are young, fit and agile enough to climb over, I tend to think every one is geriatric like me
I've never kept Blueys so you'd be better off seeking advice from someone else about that but I don't think you'd have a problem given the size of your enclosure.
If you are using shadecloth anyway I don't think you'd need the chicken wire as the shadecloth is stronger than the wire anyway. I have my turtle enclosure covered with shade cloth, (picture on my site and maybe in the gallery here, can't remember), and my cats use it as a hammock so it is plenty strong enough to keep them out. They even sharpen their claws on it and not one bit of damage yet.
Hope this helps.

 

[roadkill5000]

i have an above ground pool for my lizards and this is how i set it up:
door in the side with another door on inside so you can go through one door close that and then open the other.
for the covering i went to a local avairy factory and had them custom a wire roof and they made it a perfect shape and fit and enough to over lap the side so i could drill into the side and stick it in place.
instead of africans heat mat idea,where the filter and other pipes used to go i have put basking lights in but like you said you will not be needing this for your pool.
make sure there is lots of rocks and i even planted some trees and little bushes but this needs maintainance every now and then.
you should make sure there is absolutely no way that lizards can get or anything else besides yourself that can get in.

blueys and beardies should be fine together as long as they are well fed and there is not to much of a size difference.
any more questions i would be glad to answer

 

[africancichlidau]

Hedy Rk, I just read another post of yours where you said you probably wouldn't give a good answer cos your a "kid and all", well let me tell ya buddy, you just gave a damn good answer to this one! Well done sunshine, I didn't even think of those basking lamps! Sounds to me like you've got yaself a great enclosure there, I'm jealous

 

[roadkill5000]

that was the hole idea africanfishydoobiewackerthingy kids can post good posts they just need a subject they know lots about and if that subject isnt around well neither are the good posts :wink:
sometimes the littlies feel abit left out because they dont know as much as yous do so they post anything they can just to be apart of aps

 

[dan_lizard]

Here are two ideas that I had for Bearded's cage furnishings:-

1) If you want to use a sand type substrate for them, but are worried about impaction, what you can do is cut out a piece of stiff cardboard (an old large cardboard box is good) that fits snugly into the floor of the viv, and cover it in the sand. Then cover with a clear lacquer. Leave it out for all the fumes to dissapate. Then you put it in the Viv, and place all your logs, bowls, hides, etc in and the beardies cannot eat the sand!!!

2) The one addition I had to that (as a future plan) was to use fibreglass resin instead of lacquer. Then it would be completely waterproof. I was thinking of making a backwall for the tank with a small waterfall setup in it (using fish tank airhose tubing and a small waterpump). This is handy as the Beardies (from what Ive heard/read) are more likely to drink from one of these rather than a waterbowl....


What does everyone think about this? Any ideas anyone?

 

[roadkill5000]

how big is the tank your using dan
in my pool i have used sand aswell as a bit of soil for the plants as my beardies have always had a sand substrate and havnt had gut impactions.
for the water feature i have used black plastic pond liner and have some rocks around the sides holding it in place in the deep end for when i get some water dragons to play around in.
beardies drink water from were ever there is water so if you have a water bowl they will drink from a water bowl etc,but dont let this discourage you from puting in a waterfall because it sounds like a great idea that i might try myself

 

[dan_lizard]

RK,

I haven't actually built the fibreglass idea. I did make the cardboard one, and that worked brilliantly.

I would like to try making fibreglass walls though, and the whole water fountain idea will be great.

I have heard of a lot of people worried because their Beardies wont drink from water bowls. The common response is for them to "mist" the cage. They then lick the drops off the walls and logs, etc... The waterfall would only be a small trickle as Beardies dont swim very well at all.... (I think someone once said he watched his chasing an EWD and it swam like a brick!!!)

The advantage of making the fibreglass walls is that then you can make the walls a usable part of the enclosure (not just the floor and a log). You can build small platforms (rock crevices) into the walls and make them basking spots, etc

These are all ideas though, and the more people comment, the more I can refine my ideas... Then I can build lots of them and sell them back to you all for a highly inflated price, so I can buy all the reptiles I want.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! :twisted:

 

[roadkill5000]

i was going to do the platforms idea so that they had a shelter aswell but i had that much room i didnt need the platform and i just left some large breeder boxes around.
there beardies probaly did drink out of there bowl just while they werent there or not watching as i have seen my lizards drink only a couple of times but i still no there drinking as there water dissapears after a while and it is not being evaporated that much in the spot i have it

 

[Alexahnder]

I know people who keep their blueys and beardies together in indoor tanks, so i can't see a problem with it, as long as they are about the same size.

If you do need heating for outdoor pits what about the urs heat cord??

 

[popp]

When i finally get round to building my pits,most will have mounds in the middle with pvc running through the mound at various heights as well as various sizes.This should hopefully provide a good all year round protection for certian species ie.blueys,cunninghams& certian monitors & keep land & climbing lizards away from each other a bit more.I was told about a beardie in a comunal pit ate nearlly a whole clutch of baby blueys b 4 the person noticed it,so if you do keep various species when it comes time for babies i would seperate just to be safe.

 

[sobrien]

I would also say it is fine to keep bluies and beardies together but be careful to pick ones with the right personality! My beardie goes crazy at the sight of the bluies and does his little display and the bluies are not interested at all. Sometimes if the bluies get to close to him, he does a little run on his hind legs. Although i keep them in Seperate enclosures i still have to be careful.
Good luck