Hey nick, welcome to the trade, I know its going to sound like rjc is being very harsh, and at some times he is! but I would just keep in mind that we tend to be very passionate people (those you take long term care of herps) and can easily get aggressive to the idea that other herps out there may not receive the same care as we would like them to. Think of it as your friend smoking around her baby and you not... obviously you could get a little excited to the point where capitalized letters and exclamation points are common. I would just suggest to always keep an open mind with advise and realize that Herps are very expensive, and not to expect so much love and happiness from an animal that barely understands why its in your care, let alone why its living arangements aren't the type that make you say "only if my MHD lived in this kind of luxury". I do understand that you don't have the money for an amazing enclosure like rjc, but your MHD doesn't. They only know what they need and where it is. I remember when I had my first Bearded Dragon and I was young and on my own as my parents weren't the "Herping type", I made an adult cage, an amazing one that cost me around 81 dollars. I was large, multiple basking heights and is now donated with my beardie to our local school as an educational pet (mostly because of her extremely docile nature). Just think about what you can do to make your Herp's life better and you will find away to pay for it. My favourite example comes from the movie Duece Bigalo (even though its fish, not Herps) In the opening scene Duece comes into his house where the audience is revealed to an amazingly large and funny looking aquarium, and a number of others housing amazing fish. He has groceries with him, he pulls out some bottled watter and pours it into the tank and then pours himself a glass of browny-yellow water from the tap and drinks it. I am sure one day you may get to this mentality as I know many of us here are already there.
wut kind of materials did you use?? becuz after all i have been hearing, i kinda want to make my own enclosure
Well, the frame is made of wood, with plexi-glass panles on the side, along with the front doors which were also plexi-glass. The top is screen, which I made a plastic cover for to help hold in humidity during dry times. The back however is a sheet of really nice plywood, painted and finished with the rocks. If I were to build another enclosure, which I soon will have to, I'd use wood on all sides but the front doors. The plexi-glass is too expensive, and generally useless. The only benifit is that I can stick plants to it via suction cups, but there are alternatives to that. Nick, if you are planning on building an effective enclosure for MHDs, here is what I would suggest: First and foremost, plan to make it as tall as possible. Second, keep it simple. I went fancy with the plexi-glass and what not on mine, and I partially regret it. Next time, I will stick to screwing boards together (in an orderly and proffessional manner). Plan on using as little screen as possible. Find a way to mount the lights in the cage, or some other way to avoid screen at the top of the enclosure. Also, plan on putting lights inside the enclosure. This is the most effective method for setting up a CORRECT Mountain Horned Dragon heat gradiant (which consists of several LOW wattage lamps, ie 40w and lower, placed at different levels of the climbing structure). Next, plan on getting as large of a water area as possible. I use a litter box liner, and you should plan on running tubing or cords into the enclsosure, for the need of disturbing the water. Remember about the bubbler (which only costs $12.99 at Wal-Mart)? But most of all, have fun building it.
great Hey nick, i am glad to hear your change in decision to make an enclosure... you are on the right track already RJC, as the large stiffler that you are for MHD enclosure (and i mean that in a good way) i wonder if the site would benefit from a step by step run through of you building your next enclosure... that is if you decide to do another i would sure be interested as they might be able to double for some other rare enclosured species as you need a very tall enclosure.
RE: great im really looking forward to making my enclosure and i encourage you to do the step by step plan, if its not to muhc to ask =]]. and i saw the lighting in ur enclosure and i was thinking, "wut if the lizard decides to step on that" has ur MHD ever attempted touching the lamps??
THe risk of MHDs jumping on the lamps is low. And if it does happen (which I have only ever seen once, and it was turned off), it won't burn them, because I specifically said, and this is true, to only use low wattage lamps. I use three 40w Exo-Terra Sun Glo, I can rest my hand on any part of the lamp without the slightest discomfort. Three 40w lamps heat that cage up very well; so for 3ft tall cages, I would suggest three 25w lamps. Another advantage to lower wattage lamps, and more of them, is that you can heat different levels of the enclsosure, as well as having multiple areas of direct heat (ideal for keeping more than one dragon). Also, It's not good to give MHDs the same temeratures all week long. Two days of the week, I usually will turn off one or more of my lamps, allowing a 'shady' day. Usually in the evening I turn off the lamps, while the florescent lamps are still shining, to allow a cool 'dusk' period where MHDs respond well to drinking, rather than during the hot hours. Light and heating is a tricky thing to get down with MHDs, especially when you want the most out of your lizard. My examples work well though, better than most I have seen or tried. For that enclosure thing, well it could be a while. It might not be worth it either. The end result will be, "Well even I knew that!", but hey, here is a general idea. How to build an efficient and economcal arboreal high-humidity enclosure (pefect for MHDs) Step 1: Planning -First, figure out what you are going to build. That includes overal deminsions, as well as deminsions of each individual board (you will be using wood) -Determine all other materials and tools needed (Drill [for screwing], screws, table or circular saw, paint brush and paint) Step 2: Get materials and cut them -Get enough wood so that you can cut out all the pieces you need. Then cut out all the pieces you need. Step 3: Put it together -Screw the pieces together. At this point, you should have a box, with the face open. Step 4: Finer details and painting -Using silicone caulking, put a bead of caulking in any cracks that might have formed were two boards come together(ie, all corners). This should seal off the inside fairly well. -Using an exterior, and preferrably something semi-non-toxic, put a good coat of paint all over the enclosure, so that no moisture will reach the wood. Step 5: Front doors -Get enough Plexi-glass that you can make two doors so that meet in the middle of the enclosure face, with a little room to spare. Then put door-knobs on and hinge them so that they open and close. Step 6: Clean up all your cuts and bruises, forget all the swears and curses you said throughout the day, and rejoice to the sight of a finished enlcosure. Any questions can be directed to the guy at your local Home Depot.
Just wondering if she's doing any better. They do need time to settle in. The only time my females (capra that is) are that fiesty are when they are gravid. Is it possible that you bought a gravid one? Many wild caught specimens come that way. You didn't say how big she was. The coronata, armata, or lepodigaster are generally more aggressive than capra. My female armata would bite me everytime I picked her up. My male capra on the other hand doesn't want to be held at all for any reason. He hasn't bitten me but he does display and wiggle till I put him down. I only handle him when absolutly necessary. I have a second male that I hatched out last July. He handles very well. Hope this works out for you. They are really nice dragons. Bonnie
my female capra does let me hold her now, i believe she just needed to settle in. i bought a tree like object and put it in the cage and threw three crickets in there. there al still alive and this is day 3 with them...
