Enclosure Drainage

[nicolie85]

My little iggy Delana is getting closer to a year in age and is more than ready for an enclosure upgrade. I have been doing some research on what makes a perfect enclosure and I want to make my plans ahead of time.

The small cage Delana is in now has paper towels for floor cover. Because there is no drainage system in his/her cage, I try to only mist for about a minute or so twice a day to prevent flooding. My question is: Should an iguana's cage be misted so much in a day that their enclosure requires a drainage system? I haven't seen one in any of the cages I researched online or on this forum.

If a drainage system is needed, then I plan to level the enclosure floor in such a way that all the water runs to a drain on one side. I would raise the cage off the floor a bit and rig a drainage pan underneath it.

I am only really concerned because I made a chameleon enclosure myself and it definitely required a drainage system. Through the day there is so much water going through my chameleon's cage that I needed it all to collect somewhere. Would an iguana enclosure require drainage or am I just rambling craziness?

Thoughts?

[Jen]

What alot of us do to meet humidty requirements without misting is to use a humidifer. Some still mist anyway while having a humidifier, but it should not be enough to need a drainage system.

[prism_wolf]

I agree. Ig enclosures don't need so much humidity that a drainage system is required. Even a chams enclosure can be done in such a way that a drainage system is not needed, but it is a little involved. The only time I see drainage systems necessary is for the large pools some make for their enclosures. Otherwise, don't worry about it...

[iggy1021]

hi there you guys guess what im a bit late on this one to but what the hey you dont really need the use of a drainage system in an iggy viv if it have all been setup right espacially in a home made one you have to look at all the factors involed not just heatting lighting etc my viv has a misting system which i built myself and works very well it is also on a timer aswell however i dont get any flooding on the floor but if you feel that you really need one then its best to make the new viv with a completely watertight bottom and build what the call a false bottom to the viv which has very tiny holes in for the water to drain into but think carfully as this will add a lot of time and money to your project
hope i could help