Water dragon cage size

[TristanS]

would a 90(W)x120(D)90(H) enclosure be big enough for 1 eastern or gippsland water dragon.

 

[Pythonguy1]

I believe so

 

[TristanS]

ok thanks, i was actually considering building a 2x1x1 out of strong pvc pipe and mesh.

 

[nuttylizardguy]

This type of nylon joiner is very strong and is often used to build drawers and cabinets in 4x4s , campervans, caravans, camper trailers, long haul trucks, and boats , and even in homes and shops.

I'm in the process of assembling materials to build a brace of 120cm x 50cm tall x 60cm wide enclosures for my bearded dragons , standard 1" x 1" hollow Al tube lengths available at Bunnings are 2.4m , 1.2m , 60cm and 45cm .
The connectors are available at Bunnings but may be a special order item at the local branch.

General arrangement showing fixed 18mm thick ply base and lift-off style 9mm thick lid and use of angles to make the multibay enclosure modular and easily changeable in tank format.

No glue required , just a few selftapping screws ( timber to Al tube or Al angle ) .
Only tools needed are a circular saw to cut Al , and plywood if larger than standard 1.2x0.596 project panels and you wish to cut down from a standard sheet size of 2.4m x 1.2m .
Attaching wire mesh to the sides will be dead easy ( some 12x1.6mm aluminum flat bar riveted or screwed to the hollow square tubing will secure the wire mesh very nicely I think in your case ).
Only tools you'd need are circular saw, drill driver, hammer , riveting tool and something to cut the wire mesh.

Standard size in DAR timber closest to my need is 30mm square not 25mm square.

 

[TristanS]

great, i have all. I may be lazy and have less waste by using 1.2m longs (i will have struts in middle for support) better for me, better for dragon
[doublepost=1578633743,1578487434][/doublepost]

This type of nylon joiner is very strong and is often used to build drawers and cabinets in 4x4s , campervans, caravans, camper trailers, long haul trucks, and boats , and even in homes and shops.

I'm in the process of assembling materials to build a brace of 120cm x 50cm tall x 60cm wide enclosures for my bearded dragons , standard 1" x 1" hollow Al tube lengths available at Bunnings are 2.4m , 1.2m , 60cm and 45cm .
The connectors are available at Bunnings but may be a special order item at the local branch.

General arrangement showing fixed 18mm thick ply base and lift-off style 9mm thick lid and use of angles to make the multibay enclosure modular and easily changeable in tank format.

No glue required , just a few selftapping screws ( timber to Al tube or Al angle ) .
Only tools needed are a circular saw to cut Al , and plywood if larger than standard 1.2x0.596 project panels and you wish to cut down from a standard sheet size of 2.4m x 1.2m .
Attaching wire mesh to the sides will be dead easy ( some 12x1.6mm aluminum flat bar riveted or screwed to the hollow square tubing will secure the wire mesh very nicely I think in your case ).
Only tools you'd need are circular saw, drill driver, hammer , riveting tool and something to cut the wire mesh.

Do you have a pic?

 

[nuttylizardguy]

great, i have all. I may be lazy and have less waste by using 1.2m longs (i will have struts in middle for support) better for me, better for dragon
[doublepost=1578633743,1578487434][/doublepost]

Do you have a pic?

Pretty easy to find build projects for many of the above via google ie https://4x4earth.com/forum/index.ph...nnect-it-tubing.31513/#lg=post-405366&slide=0
an impressive setup , similar to what I plan for my trusty old 92 Pajero GLS LWB .

[doublepost=1578660367][/doublepost]Some progress pictures of my multibay build .

The cabinet base in construction

being stain vanished before adding coasters and kickboard mouldings to bottom.

Room for a AllSet 34L underbed tub ( perfect spot to store my live insects , simply slide out the tub to get the silkworms or crickets or bsfl or mealworms , or the supps ) = narrow deep nook.
I currently use a 35L plastic archive box to store my live insects in various recycled BioSupplies and Piscus tubs and TellFresh 1.5L and 4L tubs).

The wider nook that is shallower (38cm) is designed to take two 10L TellFresh oblong tubs or other handy storage for bits-n-pieces.

The cabinetbase completed with last coat of Cabot's outdoor H2O based stained vanish applied , sitting on my front patio where it's out of the way and has been left to completely dry and harden and finish outfuming for last 2 weeks , wont be coming inside until it's completely dry and smell free.

Here is building a prototype 1.2m L x 0.596m D x 0.5m T enclosure checking 1" square hollow tube lengths against size of base and lid ( standard sized project panels from Bunnings ) , note the size of a 2m x 1m work bench ( I have two , one low enough to sit on (for the garden) and the other with plywood topping is a handy work height for my shed , both are on casters to make them easy to move around as they are dammed heavy !!) .

Returning to project on 17th when I'll assemble two 1.2m x 0.596m x 0.5m bearded dragon tanks and a side by side convertible twin 0.6m x 0.596m x 0.45m water skink tanks (can be converted to one 1.2m x 0.596 x 0.45m water skink colony tank by simply removing a partition).

The Cabot's outdoor water based stained varnish on my cabinetbase , and the 18mm and 9mm thick plywood project panels should all be well set and dried by then .


Will add 10x10x1.6mm aluminium channeling to slide the 6mm acrylic sheets into ( 0.8mm expansion gaps ) , fix the 18mm vanish stained ply bases , add 25x25x1.6mm angle to the cabinetbase and top of each tank and the sliding door tracks and ventilation in end panels.

Yes I have invested in a special acrylic jig saw blade , acrylic router bit for straight bevels, acrylic drill bit set and circular saw blade for acrylics and soft metals - this wont be my last project if the multibay prototype enclosure works out well.

All my 6mm acrylic was supplied precut to my specs by ALLSTAR Plastics in Qld.

Then I'll move onto installing my ceramic e27 fittings and my Arcadia t5 slimline luminaires ( 12% tubes for the dragons , 2 x 26W UVB200s in micro-hood for the skinks ) and test to establish temperatures and thermal gradients and then I'll set up the two dragons and my 3 eastern water skinks in their new forever homes .
The water skinks might even get a bioactive setup complete with recycling aerating waterfall and pond stocked with freshwater shrimp and yabbies' and minnows (but that's only a maybe).

 

[St3v3]

Qubelok products page 47 & 48
Extrusions probably cheaper by the full length

https://www.capral.com.au/wordpress...019/09/Capral-Alu-Prod-Catalogue_Sept2019.pdf

 

[dragonlover1]

That's all pretty fancy and over my head, but do I understand you are using acrylic sheets for your dragon enclosure?
They will scratch the hell out of it mate, you should have used glass.
There was a previous member who did this after months of warning of it's unsuitability and spending hundreds of $$$ decided it didn't work and chucked it all in the bin.

 

[nuttylizardguy]

Qubelok products page 47 & 48
Extrusions probably cheaper by the full length


https://www.capral.com.au/wordpress...019/09/Capral-Alu-Prod-Catalogue_Sept2019.pdf

True : buy the full bar ( usually 6.5m or 6m ) and simply ask them to cut to length while you wait. This way you will know every piece is exactly the same length .