hello, my name is chris and I live in indiana, i have five children and one grandaughter. i havent been on here in a long time and decided to check in and see whats new since I am starting a new viv for my 3 year old chinese water dragon. she is currently in a 4ft long x 2ft deep x 6ft high enclosure that I am sick of looking at.!!!! it was my first attempt at building a viv and it was fine for a while but now we need a change. this site was so helpful in the past and skitz is proof of that. she is very healthy and doing great. she is a little spoiled. she only eats if hand fed, which is kind of nice since we dont have the loose cricket problem any more!! she likes to come out of her viv and play but only when she feels like it,. when shes in the mood she jumps on my arm and climbs up on my head. she sits there a minute then heads for the couch. when she is done exploring she goes back to her viv all by herself!! my goal is to come up with some kind of filtration system to cut down on the frequent water changes, there has to be something out there that is strong enough to clean up drangon poop!!! if not im thinking maybe just putting in a big drain in the bottom of her pond and just running water through every few days. any thing has to be better than scooping water with a cup ( my current method of cleaning the water pond) my kids think im nuts, but I think she is a great little friend!! and worth the trouble.
we also have 2 green anoles,3 firebelly toads (4 yrs old) 2 hermit crabs, a hamster named shelby, some fish, a 9 yr old parakeet named cat, 6 dogs peaches, coda, buddy, durby, ricky and lucey ,8 ponies named buttercup, trigger, daisy, reese, wild fire, jax, joker,and soldier. 2 horses Sonny and Pheonix, its a small zoo here! never a dull moment. we have alot of fun, and the local petstore loves me and my credit card!! the vet likes me tooo!! i guess every one needs a hobby. i just have alot of them!!
i hope every one has a great holiday
thanks for reading!
chris

wow you do have a fun zoo
I cant answer your questions but I am sure the experts will shortly
As my dragon is a free roamer.
I know how you feel about the pet stores loving you~~I have that problem also LOL.
Nice to meet you....pics please??

Welcome back Chris! Glad to see you back and posting.
As for the viv.
I would build it with a drain. Even though you have a strong filter it is still going to require the water change. The filter will remove solid particles but not the dragon's liquid waste. Without the changes the water will foul quickly.
And be sure and document the building of the new enclosure and post it!
You might give someone else some ideas.

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Nice to see you back Chris. As Merlin said water is one of the biggest culprits for harbouring harmful bacteria. The cleaner the safer. Welcome back.

__________________
Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

you could try a very large canister filter, but as everyone said, water changes are important.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Welcome back

__________________
MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

Welcome back!! Now stay around for a while....enjoy!!!

__________________
Warmest Regards from Lyn

welcome back! if you wanted to go to a happy medium between the cup and the drain, a python would work great. It hooks up to your sick and becomes a siphon. and then you just turn the thing on the bottom and it would refill. Made water changes for my old 55 lots easier!

No Spill Clean & Fill Python Productss

__________________

welcome back!

__________________

yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear

Welcome, I too have a zoo! Sounds like you have a lot of fun things going on!

__________________
Kat