New to site, PICS of enclosures

Where could I find some?

 

If you don't mind me asking, What will the Dimentions of your future turtle enclosure be? Will you be geting a stronger filter once you have it?

 

It will be a 50 tall most likely, maybe the one the lizards are in now. I will be getting a stronger filter, because this one is only up to a 30 gallon tank. What do you think about buying another like the one i have,one on each side, each filtering 70gph?

 

Your tank should have 10 gallons per inch of turtle so if your turtle is 5 inches, it could live in that tank until it becomes an inch longer. It tends to be much cheaper for a turtle keeper to buy a larger tank for it right off the bat. If you buy a 100 gallon tank for example, it would be much cheaper than buying a 20 then a 30 then a 40 then a 50. Turtles Can be very difficult to take care of.
A general rule to go by when filtering turtles is to Buy a filter that has a filter capacity twice the amount of gallons your tank is. Your future tank will be about 50 gallons. You will need a filter that can filter 100 gallons. The reason is because theses filters are made for fish. Turtles have a much larger waste output than fish.

 

Well the filter I have now is made for turtles. But I see what you're saying. But I will use the 50 I have now until I can save enough money to buy something bigger. Thanks for your input.

 

To make a lay box all you need is an appropriately sized box (a lot of people use a litter box for beardies) and fill it with a vermiculite/sphagnum moss mixture. That way it can be far away from food and it is alot easier to harvest the eggs.

 

Just a statement of fact:

In the wild, bearded dragons, as well as many other reptile species that we can keep *IE: Uromastyx* live on sand.

It's not like they go " OH hey, this isn't good for me, I need to walk over to that side of the road where the tile is" lol

I don't have sand in any of my tanks, but thats because it's hard to clean and it makes SO much dust I can't even tell you
how many times a week I have to dust my room *hint: its more than 3*

But yea, just an observation of a fact for you all.

And I think, if two bearded dragon's have been together their entire life thus far, and have had no problems and both eat well and are thriving
then why not let them live together? It's not like something's going to change to make it worse for them.

 

They may walk on sand in the wild but they don't live in an enclosure in the wild. They do not sit on sand 24/7 in the wild. They have multiple terrains that they venture through on a daily basis. I'm not against putting playground sand in the enclosure as long as that is not the only substrate that is there. I use newspaper for my Beardie because it's free. And my neighbors give me their old newspaper so I have an unlimited supply.

 

thye can write things on there because there is no restrictins on those types of products

 

Two of my beardies had lived together for months, not quite a year IIRC, with no problems. I had to move them into another container to take them with me when I left my house ahead of a possible hurricane strike. The moment they went into the new container, they started fighting. I had fully intended on housing them together, but the fighting instantly changed my plans. Fortunately I had some spare containers where I was headed so I could separate them.

Moral to this story is, Bearded Dragons are not social animals and your situation could change, RAPIDLY and UNEXPECTEDLY, forcing you to separate previously co-habitating dragons for their own health and safety.

 

Yes sir that is totally true.. but we are not in the wild.. and the reason most reptiles live LONGER in captivity... would be??? Yes your right.. because it is not the wild..

 

It's cause they don't have to look out for Hawk Owls while they're eating.

Plus we, at least I do, take our pets to the vet for check ups if we think there might be even the slightest thing wrong with them.

I only house Leo's together, but I give them plenty of hides and a big enough tank that they might not even see each other for a day or so.

And it would be yes, MA'AM or Miss.

I'm no man, and just an FYI for those who don't know, Volcom is just a company name, they support the same sports I do *ie motocross, BMX, skateboarding and roller blading. as well as snowcross which is a mix between snow boarding and motocross (they just have several ppl run the slolems at once instead of a single person)*



I spend my spare time reading about all the herps that I keep. If you experts think he needs to change it, then more power to you.

If you do, I suggest a tile from Lowe's (its the cheapest I've found it anywhere and they will usually cut it for free in small amounts)

 

In the Australian wild the sand is evidently usually mixed with dirt and compacted into a "desert pavement" where it is less easy to ingest. Auatralia is not a Saharan-type of desert.

 

There are areas with sand dunes in Australia but that's not all there is. I think if you're going to use sand (not calci-sand) then use sand and don't make it the only substrate in the enclosure. There are nice naturalistic enclosures with Dirt/Rocks/Branches/Sand and even grass areas. Though I doubt you could do that in a 40g Breeder, but you get the idea.

 

Mine are approx. 4 years old, I think they'll be fine.

 

I know this is going to sound bizarre, But bear with me this will relate.

Ever seen those shows on TV( i.e. "Ripleys" ) Where you have some idiot who can eat glass? Well I saw something on some "DiscoveryHistory" channel episode where they stuck a camera down the neck and intestinal system of one of these "Glass Eaters" and guess what? Their digestive system had tons of scar tissue from all the abrasion.
Glass is made from sand. Sand does not soften up in the digestive track.
I guess I need to go back to ground wallnut. At least it softens up.

 

but ground walnut is still a bad substrate that can still cause impaction.

 

Volcom you say you house leo's ONLY together but you give them plenty of hides...and you give them a big enough tank so that they won't see each other for a day or so...

Forgive me but I find this hard to believe. They are in an enclosed area and these are wild animals. Most of us dont spend our nights watching our leo's. I'm sure each night they run into each other more than once. This isn't a personal attack, just my common sense kicking in.

You may spend your sparee time reading about herps, but so do we. There is a lot of conflicting information out there. I've read that leo's (being the primary herp I keep) should have temperatures ranging from 82-88*, 88-92*, 90-94*...and the list goes on. I've read that leos should never be kept on sand, should only be kept in sand, etc.

It all comes down to what information is correct. I have gotten a lot of information off of this site and I believe MOST of it to be true. I agree with Leo temperature requirements, I believe sand is a big no-no, and yes, I believe leos are solitary creatures. I kept 2 leo's together. Guess what? It didnt work out. Even if you think it does, theres probably a lot more going on behind the scenes (like when you're sleeping and your leo's are roaming their enourmous cage...).

Again I'm not making this a personal attack. Its been found that sand can cause impactation. I suggest you go read the leo forum. Someone sent a letter to the makers of Calci-Sand. It really has some good information...


And Savvy_Sav, please dont go to walnut shells. Keep with a good solid substrate. I forgot where I read this, but I believe walnut shells can also cut up the intestines of animals.

This is my 2 cents.
TimothyTodd I hope you get your animals off of sand. Impactation may take a while to develop.

Cheers.

 

They have been off of the sand for quite some time now, thanks for the concern.

 

My savannah monitor is about a foot long and I really haven't been satisfied with any substrate. I was thinking that the wallnut would be small enough to pass.