This is my first water dragon and I had some questions.
1. Ive had alot of difficulty in keeping up the humidity in his tank. Ive heard that if you cover the screen top and put holes in the cover then that helps. However, dosent this keep the UVB light from getting to him and dosent this reduce air circulation.

2. When it comes to plants, I have two Ivy plants in the cage with him but these dont seem to be helping much as of right now. Ive heard that peat moss is good but is it safe and where do I get completely organic moss?

3. Is there anywhere that I can get a cheap and SAFE water heater to help with his water and with the humidity? My girlfriend makes pottery and is going to basically make his a swimming pool that covers clost to a third of the 40 gallon tank.

4. Where can I get organic substrate?
Sorry, I know these are alot of questions however I just want to set up him habitat right. He's still young (maybe 3-4 months old) and I just want him to be taken care of. Ill send pics later of the habitat.

Hey man. First off the screen will block a lot of the UVB so I'd work on changing that if possible. These guys are almost like iguanas in their UVB requirements. Not sure what kind of light your using but if it's a fluorescent it's not giving off the optimum UV in the first place. Check out Welcome To ReptileUV - Mega-Ray® UVB lamps for reptile lighting worldwide.
Okay, on to humidity. The best way to keep up humidity is to mist a few times a day. Plants help slightly and so will the pool. If you put a little filter and sprinkler or waterfall in the pool you'll get a more noticeable increase. The heat light should keep the pool warm enough that you won't need a water heater.
For a substrate try the cocofibre bricks that you soak in water they hold a huge amount. They sell under names like forest bedding. You shouldn't have a hard time finding the stuff at any pet shop. Make sure it is sufficiently packed to avoid the little guy ingesting any, impactions can occur. I've never had a problem with firmly packed soil/peat/cocofibre.
For young dragons temperature and ventilation are very important. They can easily succumb to respiratory infections from too low/high temps and stagnant air. If you haven't already head over to Tricias water dragon page. It's the most complete care guide you'll find.
Good luck and have fun.

What should I replace the screen with in order to not block the UV?

UVB fluorescent tube lights are fine so long as they are at LEAST 5.0 - although I would recommend a 10.0 such as the Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0. Avoid compact UVB lights however; the linear UVB fluorescent tube lights are fine.

It is true that some UVB is filtered out through screen so the UVB light should be kept inside the enclosure; especially if it is less than a 10.0. How near to the dragon's basking area the UVB light must be kept depends on the specific light. You cannot replace the screen with anything that will not filter out some or all of the UVB - unless you had no cover at all. Anything the UVB must go through filters out the UVB. Screen does not allow some UVB to pass; glass or plastic does not allow any UVB to pass.

1. Gewanchuk gave some information on keeping up humidity. Definitely cover at least 50% of the screen top if not 75%. You need some ventilation, but screen tops let out much of the heat and humidity. Vents are better positioned on the sides of an enclosure. Soil as a substrate helps humidity as well. Moving water, warmed water, a humidifier, and/or etc. also help. Misting an enclosure with a fine spray bottle is the "best" method to keep up humidity.

2. Plants do not help humidity significantly. I do not think peat moss would do much, even if it was alive. I have used live moss and it really did not make a difference. You could try though. Pet stores sell dry moss; I suppose you could find moss at a garden store.

3. An aquarium heater would work fine.

4. In my opinion, pet store substrates are scams. Coco fiber is known to be an eye irritant. The "Eco Earth" or "Forest Bed" substrate is a waste of money. Ordinary, good ol' dirt works great. You can buy big bags of soil at garden stores (this soil must be free of additives such as manure, etc.). You can also dig up soil in a pesticide, etc.-free area. Soil should be baked at 350°F for 15-30 minutes in an oven to kill any "bad" bacteria, "bad" insect eggs, etc.. You can introduce "good" insects to the soil such as earth worms if you like. Soil is a natural substrate that helps with humidity and provides females with digging material when gravid.

Soil is not going cause an impaction if the animal is healthy and proper care (such as proper temperatures - basking spot: 90-95°F; warm side: 84-88°F; cool side: 75-80°F) is provided.

They are not too many questions - ask away!

As far as keeping up the humidity when Im away at work, what is a good market humidifier or mister that will keep a 40 gal. tank around 70-80%? Ill try the top soil tomorrow.

I use a fogger in mine made by ZooMed. That really helped my humidity issues out. The only problem with putting the fogger in their main water area is, that since they use the water as their toilet, the screen on the fogger gets clogged rather easily. I would recommend putting a separate water container in the tank for the fogger to be in.

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"Dare to Dream! Without dreams, there is no Hope."
***Tami***

This is what I did with my water dragon.I went and bought some reptile carpet and some of those little suction cups with the little hooks.I attached the cups to the inside of the tank then put the carpet over the hooks.I used 3 on top 3 on the bottom to hold it good.I then would spray it with cold water getting it good and wet so water would drip a little from the bottom.That add'ed alot of humidity for my dragon,plus she would climb up on the carpet.I would spray it a couple times a day.If you build an enclosure a good humidifier is one made from honeywell its a cool mist its round and has a blue light on it.I got mine at wal-mart for around 40.00 bucks I think.It's an awesome humidifier,I use it for my iguana's and I have a huge enclosure for them.It keeps their humidity at a 85-90 percent.I hope something work's for you,they are wonderful rep's.

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Chopper

Ditch the fogger. Its been know to shock animals.

For humidity, cover whatever area is not where the light is with plexi glass.
If your screen top has holes that are 1/4 inch or larger, then its OK for the uvb. If its a standard screen top, cut out every other wire line and pull out (if its woven). This will enlarge the holes and still prevent escape.

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

Also, make sure that the pond that gets made is glazed with FOOD SAFE glaze. some glazes even after fired can still be toxic. She should also use one that doesn't have a bunch of minerals in it that burst. these look cool but when the bursts are their they sometimes aren't as smooth and have very sharp edges.

Until you get your pond installed, you can just get a simple bubble stone and put that in the existing water dish.

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Thanks Liz...did not know that. Yanked it out tonite. Will just have to mist the tank down frequently until I can get her cage done.

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"Dare to Dream! Without dreams, there is no Hope."
***Tami***