Our Enclosure

What is the right size? If you ask me, I would say at least one room....but make it as big as possible. According to some books we've found: 150(180) x 50(60) x 60(90) (lxwxh) or 4(5) x 3 x 5(4) times stv 80(100) x 60 x 100(80) but it sounds small to me. Don't forget the 2 things I'd like to do most: swim and clime.

A depth of 60 cm sounds good to me, so I don't slam my tail against the wall every time we turn. A length of something between 100 and 180 should do. I'm not only a good swimmer, I can clime aswell so make it higher then 100 cm. A full glass tank is very stressfull, I don't like it when you approche my home from several sides. To enter a tank of 100 cm or higher is very difficult and you'd look like a praybird for me. So you have to buy or make your own vivarium.

We've got a handmade viv, made of wood. This material is cheaper and lighter then glass and insolates better. You can shape it easily and drill holes in it. Untherneath the viv is a storage room at one side and you can clean the pool (an old kitchen-sink) on the other side. Make a pool you clean very easily cause we defecate in the water. This sounds awfuller then it is, 'cause this way you've only got to refresh the water, while the rest stays clean. But please exchange our water every day or at least every second day. If you've got a build in aquarium, make it big and use a very large filter. Something like a cat-litter or paint-roller-dish are good alternatives, you can take them out easily to clean. Use a pool big enough, where I can sit in with the water up to my shoulders and which I can access to and from very easily. If not make a stairway of stones or branches.

From the floor up to the slide-windows, there is 10 cm wood for 3 reasons: first to keep the substrate in, second to cut a ventilation hole in and last but not least to prevent nose-banging. In a glass tank, make some kind of decoration for 7-10cm high along the side to prevent nose- banging.

The viv is made of 18mm (3/4") plywood. Everything is glued and screwed together. The shelfs are made out of the "left-overs". Because of the material all the ventilation and auxilary holes are drilled and cut. After that everything is painted 5 times with "marine-varnish". But I could not see al this 'cause I've moved in at least after 6 weeks of ventilation. Then the slide windows where put in. After the wiring was done, it was decoration time. The branches, stones and artificial plants, where put in place. The substrate is bark, not the best choise but we didn't knew better at that time. At the moment we're using for astroturf.