climbing structure

[Lrptls]

i just purchased a 6 foot tall by 3 feet by 3 feet reptarium for my chinese water dragon. i would like to make some sort of wood structure to put in there, probably about 4 feet tall so he can lay under his lights but can be easy to climb on. any one have ideas/pictures of what i can make?

[Bighead]

It depends on how natural you want it to be (or look) and how much you are willing to spend. You can use big pieces of grapevine or manzanita which are expensive, you can use big fruit tree branches or driftwood if they are treated properly, depending on how artistic you are, you can use mortar to create you own rock and branch-looking ornament, etc. There are lots of options.
I think your biggest problem will be keeping the humidity high enough in a mesh cage. I own reptariums, and if the humidity in my whole herp room wasn't so high (probably due to 300 gallons of fish tanks) I would definitely need an automatic misting system that went off 7-8 times a day at least. My water dragon is in my living room but he is in a half fish tank/half melamine enclosure that keeps humidity as long as I mist it 2 times a day. Low humidity can be lethal to water dragons and basilisks. You may have already known all this, but just something to keep in mind.

Jordan

P.M.S. You can also use fibergalss for climbing structures but it may be more trouble than it's worth. Here's a link for the mortar, which is extremely fast and easy to use: https://secure.ioncart.net/beanfarm/shopdisplayproducts.asp?page=5
They also have lots of grapevine and stuff at this site, and they are very cool people.

[Gregg M]

I think floor space would be alittle more imortant than height for a water dragon...... Any way you can make it so it is 6ft long instead of 6ft high????

[Lrptls]

floor space for a cwd? never heard that, mine is almost never on the bottom of the cage unless hes eatin or in the water bowl, hes always up as high as he can be, even when i take him out of the cage, he wants to be on my sholder, then on my head. they are definetly climbers

ps-that link didn't work

[Bighead]

They are climbers, but 3 ft. is still pretty narrow. I've always heard 4 ft. is the minimum. Maybe it's too cold on the floor or something? Sorry about the link- here's the main page: http://www.beanfarm.com/ It should be under the Bedding/Cage Supplies section.

[Lrptls]

thanks for the help Big but i would like to go the cheapest way with wood.

[Bighead]

The cheapest way would be collecting your own wood from outside and properly sterilizing it by baking it or soaking it in a dilluted bleach solution for a while and rinsing very well.

[Lrptls]

i have a ton of wood but i really want something that has a flat top that he can lay on

[Stevo26]

yeah.. if you want to save money... i'd used collected branches and scrap wood, use your imagination and bolt different pieces together to get exactly what your looking for.. i have found that making my own climbing structures has saved me a lot of money and i dont think i could be happier with anything i would have found in a store.. and the price is definatly right concidering the only thing i paid for was hardware. just be sure to sterylize it