# Paludarium - half wet/half dry tank



## t1gerbee (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi, I'm new to lizards but have years of experience with fish, and have recently become interested in setting up a paludarium.

What i need to know is what type of lizard would work in a set up like this? Ideally i'd need on that liked or at least could swim, incase it fell into the water...!

The plan would be to have a wet area leading to a built up dry area, that extends up the back of the tank.. then also having branches extended over the water, to increase the amount of room for the lizard to explore..

I've reseached how to make them, but any tips/tricks would be very helpful...

I could have UV tubes in the current lid, and a heat lamp ....

but i need to know the names of potential candidates lizard wise (if there are any?) so I can go and research them properly.

I hope you can help,


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Honestly, I don't like using reps in these types of set ups... dont see the point of risking it....

its great for things like caecilian worms though. Even african clawed frogs... mine liked to have a run around! :lol2:


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## Ruby Rue (Mar 21, 2008)

you'd be better off in the amphibians or lizards section, my mates just building his salamanda a new 70/30 land/water mix as his sally loves a swim. 

As to lizards, I'm not sure of land loving lizards, monitors like a swim as far as I know but I don't know which ones stay small. Lizard section will open more doors, or are you trying to mix fish and lizards? if so most people are very against mixing, do a quick search and you'll save yourself ear ache.


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## t1gerbee (Sep 7, 2008)

Interesting. So it's considered a no no...

I wonder why when they come into contact with each other in the wild...?


It would have to be a lizard that enjoyed/could swim ... and remained small .. 

(any risj at all of the lizard drowning and i'd not even start..


I'd probably go for fish from the same biotope as the lizard... 


adding the UV and heat lamp is easy.. separate feeding is easy...

external canister filters would deal with waste, as would water changes..


can't see where's the problems are but more than happy to learn...?


(will search!)


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

its because if the water was large enough for there to be fish, then the rep would probably die.

but if you got a semi-aquatic rep/amphib, then all would be good!


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## t1gerbee (Sep 7, 2008)

a semi aquatic rep/amphib like what?

That's what i'm stuck on...

being new to reptiles i'm not sure where to begin looking....


Have a map turtle and have cared for him/she for well over a year now with great success...

but now i'd like to try a lizard ...


Need a heads up though, as typing in 'lizard that likes water' isn't coming up with much on google... !!! :-D


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## jesuslovestheladies (Apr 30, 2008)

perhaps water dragons or basiliks? though it would need to be a pretty large paludarium


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## t1gerbee (Sep 7, 2008)

thanks for that.. only have a 60G and i'm guessing that's not big enough..

(would love a water dragon.. how cool! But wouldn't want it to rub it's nose off because it's home was too small. That would be so sad. :-(


I have posted in lizards so i'll see if there is anything possible..


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

well as i said, caecilian worms are awesome creatures. :no1:


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## t1gerbee (Sep 7, 2008)

i'm not keen i'm afraid.. really not into eel type things, sorry...

thanks for replying though, all ideas very much appreciated.


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## Kage G (Nov 2, 2008)

*Day geckos*

I have kept day geckos for several years in a paludarium set-up with out any issues. As you rightly said, if it is a lizard from a rain forest biotope, or any environment with a river system, it is an instinctive thing for the lizard to get out, if it can't swim. It is all down to design, if you make it difficult for the lizard to get out, he probably will drown but if you have lots of shallow exits, branches etc, out from the water, there aren't many lizards that wouldn't be able to get out!


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

In any case never should a non semi-aquatic lizard/rep be kept in a 50/50 set up. It causes unnessacery stress and ill health.. (not hving a go)

It would be better if you had a semi-aquatic animal.. Your best bet is with amphibians. The most easiest to keep would be Fire-Belly toads or newts. Some tree frogs like the American Green and Whites enjoy the odd swim but a 80/20 would be better due to the chance of drowning.

Possibly you could create a poison dart frog vivarium, its set on the same set-up you want, a little costie at first but makes a great addition, but remember to atleast 2months worth of research as they are very delicate creatures.

Possible candidates:

Best:

fire-belly toads/newts.
African Clawed/dwarf frogs
Posion dart frog set-up

Maybe:

The majority of Tree frogs - especially agtfs

Never:

Anole lizards

Gecko's

Monitors...

Invert:

caecilian worms
Millipedes
some T's
dont know but scorpions? (ash?)
Crabs ect....


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

There are a few lizards such as water dragons and their relations who could live in such an environment, but the size would need to be large, 4 x 2 x 4 sort of size (feet) as a minimum. I can't think of any small lizard that would be suitable. A problem with any large lizard also is anything in the water, ie. fish would be consumed rather quickly. It really is best done with an amphibian, but even they can eat the fish.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

herpmad_boi said:


> Possibly you could create a poison dart frog vivarium, its set on the same set-up you want, a little costie at first but makes a great addition, but remember to atleast 2months worth of research as they are very delicate creatures.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## johndavidwoods (Nov 18, 2008)

You question why we don't keep species together that might come across each other in the wild. But think about it - the wild is a great deal bigger than a 4 x 2 fish tank or whatever. Creatures are forced into unnaturally close proximity and don't genuinely have the opportunity to behave exactly as they would in the wild.


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## Kage G (Nov 2, 2008)

Does this then not raise the question, What ever gets a chance to live exclusively in there own environment? I agree that you shouldn't keep different species in a small tank together, but feel its only natural to for them to come into proximity with species they naturally would in the wild, if the enclosure is of a decent size!


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## Kage G (Nov 2, 2008)

Also, I have never, and mean, never seen my gecko on the floor of his tank! He loves the humidity that the water provides, just as much room to move around, as he is arboreal. What would he benefit from an extra piece of land he won't use?


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

2 months research? It's that 8 hours a day reading or the occaisional flick through a book over a two month period? Sorry but time-scale research is bollocks. 5 minutes a day will not give the same results as 12 hours everyday.

Yeah a fair bit of research is needed but they aren't as delicate as some will lead you to believe, especially not the more commons species (leucamelas and auratus).[/quote]

yes, that is recommend before any animal is tooken on... there is so much conflicting information on animals on the net/books and 2 months doesnt mean all day every day or 5mins. half hours look on the internet everyother day would do... its just some people get ideas like the OP on things like this, ask questions about what animal(s) can go in it, then get them not doing research.. im not saying that the OP would do this but its just one of those things. Just do loads of research and ask as many questions as you like on here to get things right.

Also, compared to the hardy amphibs I.e WTF, they are quite vulnerable and arent recommended to the novice so thats why i said 2 months research or well aslong as you want till you feel ready to be able to act on a crisis that might happen and act upon it quickly instead of asking questions on here about what they should do!.


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