150 gallon terrarium set up

19 years ago

I have a 150 gallon terrarium that I have had many things in before, including anoles, emerald swifts, fence lizards, brown skinks and snakes. It has been very successful including having a green snake give birth to 6 babies and become a mostly self-sustaining environment. However, now I have a Chinese Water Dragon who is 3 months old and currently in my 10 gallon. In a few months I will transfer him into the 150 and I want to try something more advanced rather than my usual potted plant wood set up. The water dragons require land and water, and I thought that it would be if I could have a pool of wate, maybe 1/3 of the tank, where it would border the edges so one could see the water dragon swimming. They eventually eat mice and feeder fish, so I want to be able to sustain feeder fish in the pool so the water dragon can chow down on them whenver he wants to. My questions:

How can I maximize the potential of the 150 gallon?

How do I sustain live plants that are low growing, i.e. bromeliads, air ferns, etc.?

How do I make a pool in the terrarium that doesn't soak into the substrate?

Any tips?, esp. for water dragons?

What else animal-wise could coexist with the water dragon, fish, frogs, algae suckers?

Height disparity with wall plants?

Humidifiers, conditions, misting, water falls, streams?

Thanks, and I am looking forward to getting started.

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Comments (3)

deadhamster
19 years ago
There are plenty of posts for beginners here to go over all of that, just search the forums.

Here are a few useful links
Go here and here

-DH
jhendrix7000
Original Author
19 years ago
thank you, sorry about not searching beforehand. I know that gets a little irritating with new people asking questions that have already been asked.
thanks
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matt_19
19 years ago
Well what i did was i got a piece of plexiglass and placed it 1/3 of the length of the tank. My uncle secured it in place for me at his glass shop. I then filled the smaller area with water including a filter.I placed a turtle dock that you can get at any petstore for it to rest on. The bigger half i filled with subtrate (still experimenting). I placed 3 hides on the land part. I also put jungle vines on the back and sides of the cage so the chinese water dragon feels more secure in the cage. I also placed branches on the upper part as CWD love to climb. The subtrate gets pretty deep and is hard to clean so I only take the first 5 inches off then fill it back up. I replace it all ever 2 monthes or so. I'm working on making a stream going around the entire land part increasing in height as it goes around. Then when entering the water part making a little waterfall. It's a longshot but hoping it will work. I have an exoterra waterfall in there now but kinda sticks out so id rather it be more in the backround. It gets kind of crowded in there so i change it up every once in a while so my CWD doesnt get bored. I have a vibrating food dish for the worms i feed it. I also feed it pinkies crickets and the occasional feeder fish. I dont have any fish in the water part but im waiting to see if my stream idea is possible. That way when they swim through the stream it will be easier for Spike to pick them off. It took 3 summers to save up for the whole setup so it is kinda pricy. As for cage mates i dont know of any yet but possibly frogs, a turtle or something. I wanted to eventually put my anoles in, hoping if i keep them both well fed they wouldnt hurt eachother but my friend strongly discouraged it so i didnt bother. Any questions or tips for me feel free to email me. mattyrules29@msn.com.
Sincerely Matt