Grip

[spike]

How good is a water dragons grip
i.e. would they be able to grip onto fibre glass backing??

[Pooka]

Water Dragons have a good grip especially on substances that allow them to sink there claws into it. If the backing is stiff (meaning you can't make an indent with your finger nai) and sheer (meaning it goes straight up at a 90 degree angle or better) then you should be fine. Be careful because water Dragons can jumps almost the same distance as there length straigh up when they want to.l

[spike]

ok thanks for that..
it is pretty stiff and is sheer, but it has plenty of crevices and stuff... it looks good so it wont go totally to waste

[draggintails]

!! Fiberglass is never good to use in herp enclosure!!

Fiberglass has particulates that can come loose when exposed to activity, heat, humidity... then get stuck in your dragons lungs and cause respiratory infection. Think of people who use masks for protection when dealing with insulation and such, only on a smaller scale. I've heard it punctures your lungs like tiny pins and needles. Unfortunately, most ready made screens for homes are fbgl.


Stick to metal if you are doing a screen.
You can use fbgl as a structure for building, but make sure you seal or cover it completely with some kind of cement or water based sealant!!

Nomi

[jamesobrady]

Well i agree and disagree.
The difference between fibreglass used for insulation and fibreglass used for making anything is that in constructing something you use an epoxy resin to bond all the strands of the cloth together and its a solid piece akin to plastic. If done correctly there are no strands left uncoated with the epoxy and certainly nothing large enough do be inhaled....though it would be possible for loose strands to be ingested accidentally.
Fibreglass insulation is a loose blanket basically, and if shaken or even if you rub your skin over it, fibres insert themselves into your skin like little barbs. You def wouldnt even consider using it anywhere anything with lungs!
As stated, using some sort of sealer would be a good idea if you make anything with FG but even then you'ld have to research how well it'll stand up to heat etc.

Anything commercially available has to meet strict standards as regards safety for use around humans and pets and I would imagine anything sold for aquarium use made out of FG would be quite suitable for vivarium use.

Just my .02euro for what its worth.... $.03 ?? lol.

[MoMmYoF2DrAgOnS]

I have read somewhere (one of the forums I am on) that their waterdragon climbs their brick fireplace. So even if it at a 90 degree angle I would think that if they wanted to badly enough they would try and climb it. and this could lead to problems giving that they could not get back down or slip and fall while trying to climb it. I wouldnt think that it would be a good idea to use that. But thats just my opinion.

[spike]

i fitted the backing on the enclosure. They can climb it very well!!
It looks good too
I guess the have really good grip because the bearded dragons couldnt climb on it at all. Evcen when i held it on an angle

[dragosmom]

That's one of the reasons my arms always look like I've been in a fight with a wildcat! I don't like to trim their nails because I'm afraid it will negatively impact their ability to jump 2-3 feet and grab onto a new surface in the viv. Do yours do that? Mine think nothing of jumping from one basking spot to another-up, down or sideways, sometimes 2-3 feet away! It's a miracle they aren't ALL crippled!!!

[spike]

Yep
mine were running on the backing, right across it from side to side.
They are extremely fast and extremely good jumpers