Chinese waterdragon

Allthough i realise some pages exists on how to build a custom vivarium, none of them covered my needs entirely. Since this project would cover things that can't be found on the internet (at least i couldn't) i thought it migth be usefull to others too. This page is also to my own benefit, since i warmly welcome all kinds of response from the readers. And since i'll be updating this page on a regular base everyone will be able to see the progress, and give hints on how, or what to do in the next stage.

Here you see the current viv housing the waterdragons. The dimensions of this viv are 80cm in width, 40cm in depth and 55cm in height. Since the waterdragons currently range in size from about 50cm to 55cm, time comes to move to a bigger home. Main reason why they are housed in this viv (a bit too small) is to NOT provide them (as much) hiding places, and thus getting them used to all what's happening outside the viv. In short: taming. Apart from size, taming progress will also determine when they are ready to move to their new home.

The most suitable place in the living is this odd-shaped corner. Quite a challenge, but let's get started! The planned dimensions for the new viv will be 140cm in width at the front, 80cm in depth and 160cm in height, excluding the light-hood. First thing to do is to build the support-frame constructions from 44mm x 44mm, 44mm x 68mm and 44mm x 92mm wood. All heavily anchored in the walls. All wooden parts gets covered with at least two layers of exterior primer. On the right wall you see the currentsocket which is to be used for the viv. Since this socket can't be reached any more when the side-panels of the viv are in place, two outlets are added. One on the top of the right wall, and one beneath the base.

Side- and rear-panels, made of 12mm thick marine plywood are screwed and glued in place, resting on the base-panel, made of 18mm thick marine plywood. As with all, the glue is also of exterior quality.

A hole is made to fit the standard kitchen-sink (39cm x 44cm x 15cm) which will be the dragon's pool. A waterfall leading to it will be added later. The big log on the left has nothing to do with the viv, but is a perch for Xena. Since it needed some exterior painting too...

A 24mm high rim is added around the pool-hole to raise the top of the pool above its surroundings. This way substrate can be added around without (well, at least minimizing) messing up the pool. The same rim is made in front of the viv to support the sliding glass frame.

All corners and base are covered with a special exterior roof-repair paste. It has fiber added for strength, is waterproof and waterresistent, fills minor gaps between panels (not that there are any ), keeps flexibel, and (when dry) is not toxic.

The floor and walls are covered with heavy-duty pond-liner/-foil as used in gardens. The corners and the rim of the pool are covered twice, edges even triple, just for my piece of mind. I really don't want this cage to leak. Ever.

Now it's time to spend attention to the top-cover too. Big iron shelf-carriers attached to the ceiling to keep the sliding glass front in place. Wooden strips on which the light, heating, fans, etc. are fastened. And a wooden frame to hold the netting, preventing the animals to burn itselfs. Notice the two pvc-tubings on the back wall. These will hold the electrical wiring to the pool, pump, and all other required electrical installations inside the viv. The light fixtures are ceramic to hold high-wattage bulbs and ceramic heating elements.

All inside is covered with pond-liner. Edges etc. even double, sometimes triple. The bottomline styrofoam (2 cm thick) are put in place, sealing it with insulation-foam. After curing the bottom is covered with a thin layer of waterproof cement, to prevent the dragons from damaging the pond-liner with their claws when digging. The kitchen-sink is in place too, sealed with silicon.

Meanwhile i'm experimenting on ways to form the walls. I planned to use styrofoam, but it's a real pain to get the right glue to stick pieces together and on the pond-liner. Allthough a lot of instructions read it's ment for the job, a lot of those aren't. Anyway: a couple of pieces are glued together, and when cured are applied to the wall. I use a small flame-torch to 'burn' away those ugly sharp rims, and to give it a somewhat irregular shape. Not that important at the moment, because i'll be covering the styrofoam with waterproof tile-cement of exterior quality later on.

Unnecessarily to say that, in time, you acquire quite a collection of different glues. Here you see a small portion of that collection. Those are the ones i found usefull, and am working with.

So far the picture-section. This page is updated every time, and as soon as, i have something new to tell and/or show.