Chinese Water Dragon – safe vivarium questions?
Hello Reptile People! I am building a new vivarium and I have read that I will need to use “aquarium safe caulk” I went to Lowe’s and they were not helpful. There were 4 million types of caulk and I couldn’t find any that said aquarium safe. So, any suggestions? Also, What is the best type of heater? Right now I have a pad that plugs in and you put it underneath the aquarium, but it’s only a 30 gallon tank. But the thing is, my new vivarium is 5 1/2 feet tall and 4 feet wide. What can I use to heat up that much space safely? Also, how deep should I make his pool? Thanks for all help.
Oh! and also, what type of tree branches can I add to the vivarium for him to climb on that will be safe? They don’t sell driftwood very big at the pet store…. Thanks!!!
Aquarium sealant..it is water proof and that is what you need..are you building this out of wood? If so you need to treat the wood with a polyurithane…spray or paint on but it has to cure for a few days…not only to seal but to get rid of the fumes. Drift wood…any type of treated “branch” is good if you have a lake near by look for driftwood and then treat it either by bakeing it…or boil it, if it is that large use hot water and scrub it with a wire brush and age it in the sun..then scrub it again
. Water pool.. The bigger the better if it has a heater and a filter..otherwise a heater and change hte water EVERYDAY. Heat…they like 80′s I use a 100 watt light bulb in a reflector( you can get them at walmart) over mines basking spot…and have a UVB UVA light you can get them at http://www.drsfostersmith.com for relativly resonable prices. Your Viv sounds great!!! Shaz
You might want to ask the guys at the vivarium if pure latex caulk or pure silicone caulk would be better. Those are pretty much your choices, I would assume that pure silicone would be safer after it was fully cured. Im quite sure that they build their own tanks/cages for their animals, so they should have some sound advice for you.
Aquarium Silicone…its safe for fish and reptiles! Your local pet store should carry it!! for this big of a terrarium you might want to consider getting a flukers multy fixture…so you can put a basking bulb, night bulb, and the uvb strip right all in there. for additional heat a separate reptile bulb holder with a very high watt ( 150) day bulb would suffice with an addition holder for a high watt infarred bulb. his pool should be his width all the way around, so he can turn and lay in every direction. a pad heater underneath will help heat that, and you might want to consider adding a water fall to it for looks!!
oh and as far as branches go, if there is a beach by you go down and get some drift wood or cut some branches down from a tree, soak it in a warm bleach solution, and let it air dry over night ( not near the CW) or if the brances are small enough you can boil them. but then they will be safe!!
the under the tank heaters are good to keep the substrate warm and help with humidity when substrate is moist, but you are still going to need to buy a basking bulb no matter what. it gives off uv rays that are vital for reptiles. basking area should be around 90-95 degrees. normal daytime temps for the tank should be in the 80s, and night time temps should be like mid 70s. you are going to need to maintain decent humitity as well, around 80% humitiy. you can do this by either buying a fogger for reptile tanks or by misting them throughout the day. if you have a baby to juvenile dragon you can put a small cat litter pan inside the tank and fill it with water for him to swim in. you should either filter the water with an underwater filter, or clean his swimming area out daily to get rid of bacteria which can lead to disease. as for caulk… you can get aquarium safer caulk at most pet stores, so check your local pet store for it in the aquarium section. for the branches, you can either spend money buying them from a store, or get them for free on the beach. if you do get them off the beach, make sure you boil them in hot water to rid them of any bacterias. sometimes adding a little salt to the boiling water helps kill some of the bacterias.