terrarium for mountain horned dragon

i was wondering if anyone had any tips for setting up a living terrarium. we got a mountain horned dragon a few days ago and want to set him up in mini ecosystem. the basic idea is for the substrate to get to the point were it can break down the waste from our lizard and for the plants to make use of these nutrients. i was thinking I'd use pea gravel or this expanded clay stuff that i've seen recently in a pet store, separate that from the base substrate with some sort of really fine mesh screen and put composting leaves on top of the base. i was talking to someone the other day at work (i work at a pet store) and he said not to plant the ...plants directly into the tank, but to put em in pots so they wont overrun the tank... i kinda want em to do that though - he needs a lot of foliage n' such...
AANYway, if anyone has set up a tank like this I'd really appreciate any tips i could get.

I don't think you should use that loose of a substrate. It could cause impaction and kill youre creature. And i need to google this little guy it sounds interesting. Did you have a setup when you bought it or just want to expand?

"I don't think you should use that loose of a substrate"
what do you mean? the ecoearth? cuz thats basically what the 'base substrate' is going to be. the little expanded clay/pea gravel is under that and separated with a mesh screen of some sort. least thats the idea.
and yeah, we already have the little guy (got him on the 5th) but he's in a 40 gallon which is fine base dimensions, but he needs it quite a bit higher. we got a tank that seems to be about a 40 gallon (or a bit bigger) from someone for really cheep and we're turning that one into his final terrarium (complete with a top about twice the hight of the actual aquarium (3 long by 1.5 wide by 2 high). our ball's going into the 40 once the mountain horned gets moved.
and yeah, btw, he's gorgeous. i'd put up a pic of him but our camera's busted and we've yet to get a new one.

I recommend picking up the book "the art of keeping snakes" Vosjole (sp?) talks indepth about his active substrate system. it is an excellent book and what i think you are looking for. click here for amazon

I've been looking a lot lately into building vivariums for a colony of poison dart drogs. I am absolutely obsessed with it! But if you want some GREAT info on vivarium building, check out www.blackjungle.com. They have really nice step-by-step instructions with pictures of each step of the process including laying the Terralite bedding, the base soil substrate, planting live plants, both terrestrial and epiphytes, and even waterscapes. That's one thing you'll definitely want to look into. Mountain Horned Dragons won't drink unless there's a running water source.

They're definitely gorgeous lizards, good luck with him!

www.vivariumfourms.com/community

That is a vivarium forum. It's still small, but they have some nice setups mostly for frogs (poison dart, green tree, red eyed, etc.), to give you ideas if you need any. As Connie recommending, The Art of Keeping Snakes is a great book to have. And as Esponage mentioned, blackjungle.com is a good place to start too.

Also you may want to look into http://www.herpsupplies.com/category.cfm?id=13 for supplies. Most of them you can find around time during spring/summer at garden centers and pet stores, but if your interested in what's online in the way of supplies that's a good place to look.

Have fun!

what got me into this whole thing was a book i got at work - Natural Terrariums by Philip Purser. i can't seem to find it anywhere though- it just disappeared. i have faith that it'll turn back up ... ya know, whenever the little gnomes are done with it >_>. anyway, would you recomend the snake book above this one?
i've been to black jungle before - and their forum as well, though i couldn't stand it's format - too difficult for me to find my way around there.
i know they won't drink w/o the water running, which is where i'm running into my biggest problem(and yeah, i've seen the little step by step picture thing - do you know if there's any text to go along with it?). *shrugs* i'm hoping i don't just cop out and buy some sort of waterfall thing for him >_>.
just checked out that herp supplies site - that Flourite stuff ok for em? any chance i could buy it at a garden shop cheaper? and how well do you think the bed-a-beast/forest bedding/ect would do in this situation?
btw, thanks much. i don't think i've ever run into a forum with more helpful people.

The cool thing about Bed-a-Beast is that it's digestable if ingested. It's some sort of coconut base and works well with the other animals I've kept with it (Burmese python, Pacman frogs, Anoles, Long-Tailed Lizards, Russian Tortoises, Veiled Chameleons, etc.) I've seen all of them eat a little from time to time and they pass it without a problem.

Black Jungle does have text with a few of their step-by-steps, here's one:

http://www.blackjungle.com/gallery2/...g2_itemId=3362

Just click on the next button from each page, the text is at the top. There are two different types of vivarium in that slide show. It'll be a little more large scale for yours considering these were designed around small animals such as dart frogs, but you'll get the general idea. The waterfall is probably the best part of it. Good luck!

Something I was considering for a large natural setup was that darned substrate. I liked Vosjoli's book, and the use of the active substrate, because the setup would only take a few weeks for the ph levels, and after that it's just regular watering. (Basically, a little more goes into it than that) It seemed a great alternative, a very natural vivaria.

The coconut bark in particular is excellent. It is mold resistant, biodegradable, and won't impact if a little is ingested.
Coconutbark is also used in hydro gardening. Which is gardening without soil. The plants get their nutrients from the water. So it's pretty good stuff in my book. You wont need any soil in a setup if you were to use the hydro method for your plants too lol. :)

For the enclosure bottom though, if you use coconut bark, you will have to change it once a month. Maybe more depending on how much the animal defecates. The cocobark will not help break down any waste. Spot cleaning is still a must.

I think you would want any plants to still be potted, and leave the cage furniture so it can be taken down quickly, and changed completely. I think daily monitoring is a must with this substrate, as you don't want any waste decaying and growing mold and bacteria. So yes, the bark is a little more high maintance, but it is a great choice. :gj:

wait - would coco fiber work or should i just give up and find some sort of potting matrix that isn't going to kill him? cuz breaking down the wastes is kinda a must if i go all out on this thing - it would be way too much of a pain to try to break the whole thing down on a regular basis.