Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[WildWayz]

Looks like this Saturday I will be making our little man (Pixel - he's a 3ft long green iguana) a vivarium

Just wondering if his vivarium will be hot enough...

Will this be big enough? It will be 6' long x 5'h x 2'w

I am unsure whether to use mesh doors or glass doors.
I have a 250w ceramic heater in his vivarium at the moment - will this be enough? I think we will need a heat reflector when we move it to the new vivarium.

Where can we get large logs/branches from? Can we use ones found in the woods?
What plants can we use it in that he won't a) eat or poison him.

Any tips for making one? Does anyone have any design plans?

James
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Come visit Pixel the Iguana at:
www.pixeltheiguana.com

[Scott W]

I helped build a viv 6ftx6ft x 2ft wide for an adult green Ig last year, I'd say the size was acceptable although if you could go 30" wide it would be even better.

We heated this viv using a ceramic (250watt) and a powersun 160watt. It's cool on the floor but very hot up the top, the UV powersun is on 12 hours and the ceramic is on 24hours but on a thermostat. Temp wise it seems 100% fine with the Ig basking under the UV or ceramic and then happy to come down for food.

We also used glass for the front, in 4 pieces, (center suport going across the middle to hold the upper two pieces). I think mesh would get ripped to pieces by your iguana so I'd avoid it (also makes temp control much harder).

We filled the viv up with some great tree branchs, some as thick as a telegraph pole....he loves them.
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk

[GJ]

I agree with scott.

I would make it 6 long, 6 high, 3 wide to accommodate his adult size.

Mesh front would be a total waste of time as you would loose heat and humidity.

You can use logs from the beach, rivers and woods, the easiest thing to do is to scrub them thoroughly with bleach & water, and then hose them down to rinse off.

[WildWayz]

Thanks peeps!
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Come visit Pixel the Iguana at:
www.pixeltheiguana.com

[brittone05]

Hope this works - our old ig viv was 6x5x5 - we made it ourselves and Godz seemed to really love it Made it easier I think to get the decor and stuff in and gave him tonnes of room even though he was allowed out whenevr he wanted!!

Many apologies for the rubbish pic too lol - my old camera

Also - this was the cage unfinished - don't shout at me for the UV being so high etc - we moved that and added more greenery and logs but sadly had no camera after these pics to snap it

[BallGuy]

Our ig is in a 6.5x7x3 and has a mesh door but since the room it is in is the box room 9x5 the heat loss is minimal. The heat and lighting setup is more or less identical to Scott's. She has shelves and branches up high for basking and can come down lower to regulate. She has ropes criss crossing for her to exercise on. The first time she jumped from the ropes to the door terrified us, but it's just an added dimension of fun. The first time she jumped from her shelf at about 5' into her water also caused some concern.

Good luck.
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“If in doubt, just say nowt”

[WildWayz]

Thanks peeps
Gonna use our old vivariums glass doors for the panels

Cheers!
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Come visit Pixel the Iguana at:
www.pixeltheiguana.com

[tafkadaz]

Hi there i have also built a ig Viv, what you will need to consider is heat at a lower level i have a tr ex UV flood lamp as basking and a ceramic heater with reflector i found that it was very cool at the bottom end of Viv and all my walls on it were double lined what i did to aid lower level heating is buy a tubular heater connected to a on/off or pulse stat these are pretty cheap and pump out nice ambient heat they also come in a large selection of sizes.

A few from here have commented on my ig's Viv in the past but ill post a link so you can take a look.
All i would be careful of is not having a Viv less than 3.5 ft wide my Ig was rescued from a previous owner with a damaged tail this was from having to constantly bend his tail when turning around corners make great areas to put you Viv but remember it will be there for a long time so make sure you like the look at it fits in with your decor.

Any other things i can help with feel free to PM me.



http://ratchford7.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

[tafkadaz]

Hi there i have also built a ig Viv, what you will need to consider is heat at a lower level i have a tr ex UV flood lamp as basking and a ceramic heater with reflector i found that it was very cool at the bottom end of Viv and all my walls on it were double lined what i did to aid lower level heating is buy a tubular heater connected to a on/off or pulse stat these are pretty cheap and pump out nice ambient heat they also come in a large selection of sizes.

A few from here have commented on my ig's Viv in the past but ill post a link so you can take a look.
All i would be careful of is not having a Viv less than 3.5 ft wide my Ig was rescued from a previous owner with a damaged tail this was from having to constantly bend his tail when turning around corners make great areas to put you Viv but remember it will be there for a long time so make sure you like the look at it fits in with your decor.

Any other things i can help with feel free to PM me.



http://ratchford7.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

[WildWayz]

Well, last friday my wife and I went to B&Q to buy the items we needed to build Pixel his new vivarium.

I had spent the week working out on a sheet of paper what I would need, the dimensions etc and now was the time to do it. I felt SO positive about it and thought it would be easy. I was wrong.

We started building the vivarium on Saturday and the dimensions were going to be 6ft long x 6ft high x 2ft deep but due to the size of our workspace (the spare room) we couldnt make it 6ft high!

After a lot of swearing, we finished the frame of the vivarium late Saturday night.



Every night after work, we did an hour of work and this morning, we have finished it!







We have some artificial plants coming soon and will get some fake ivy - also I am gonna put another shelf in it sometime and another ceramic heater.

How much did this cost? Including mitre squares, new blades and all the fixtures and fittings (not the uvb tube, CME etc) it costs £150.

We both hated making it, but seeing Pixel climb about the place was priceless!
_________________
Come visit Pixel the Iguana at:
www.pixeltheiguana.com