Tegu Plumbing...

[RickyNo]

So repticon is coming this weekend. Super stoked to finally get my black and white tegu this weekend. I have a couple of 20 gallons laying around here so I am just going to put him in one of those till I get this new enclosure together. Im thinking this will take me a month with the way my work schedule is but I have a few questions. The enclosure is for indoors 8x4x2. In one of the ends of the enclosure I want to make a small pond area for drinking water and for him to soak in if he wants, so im going to need a pretty nice pump in there to keep it clean especially for when he is older. What kind of recommendations on a pump could you refer me to? And what would be the preferred method of mounting this thing?

This enclosure is going to be in two pieces. The lower half will be a foot deep for substrate and house the pond area so im trying to think of where to put this pump and how I plan on separating the substrate from the water and correctly sealing it off from the wood. Any experts around here?

 

[RickyNo]

Also at 2 feet high do you think i'll need more than 150watt basking bulbs to get desired temps?

 

[RickyNo]

or should i go a foot and a half?

 

[KritterKeeper]

I would say go 8'x4'x3'..is there a reason you want the ceiling so low? I use a tube UVB and a regular 40watt flood light for basking. If you plan on using a MVB i cant really comment since i dont use those.
As far as the pond idea..Ive looked into similar setups quite a bit and youd probably be better off just adding a drain instead of a filter unless youre ok with getting a rather expensive filter setup and even then youll still have to change the water fairly often..

 

[RickyNo]

well he won't be climbing as far as I know as adults they don't do that or require huge amount of head room, but also even with a 150wat basking light at two feet I won't even get 90 degrees so with a 250 I should be able to get 110

 

[RickyNo]

the drain idea was perfect thank you for the idea why didn't I think of this earlier lol

 

[RickyNo]

with the humidity how do you keep the wood from rotting? There is this stuff called never wet that seems pretty legit do you think it would be safe to use?also how deep do you think this pond should be.?!

 

[apocalypse910]

I actually tried adding a fountain pump to give him a nice supply of fresh water. He stuffed it full of dirt and moss every single day until I gave up and tore the damn thing out. I keep thinking I want to try it again but it is such a pain whenever he gets in bury everything mode.

 

[KritterKeeper]

Hmm looks like my post didnt post so ill try again..Alot of ppl use Drylok for the inside of their cages and thats what i intend to use when i build my tegus final cage.
As far as the pond i would make sure the tegu can touch the bottom and make sure theres an easy way out.

 

[Michael Soto]

forget about ur basking light, your wasting wattage for no reason, use a flood light, uses less watts and can get a nice basking area. I use 1 for my baby and depending how high i have it make the basking temps from 109-125. saves money on the electric bill.

 

[reaper44]

forget about ur basking light, your wasting wattage for no reason, use a flood light, uses less watts and can get a nice basking area. I use 1 for my baby and depending how high i have it make the basking temps from 109-125. saves money on the electric bill.

Is there any reason to worry about hurting your tegus eyes? I was just reading on another post that certain lights can cause blindness??? just wondering as this would be an ideal path to heat.

 

[Chris23039]

Snake charmer did a thread about flood bulbs not that long ago

Here it is http://www.tegutalk.com/index.php?threads/Using-outdoor-flood-bulbs.14544/

 

[Michael Soto]

After I read that Article is when i made my switch to the flood blubs.