New Tegu Enclosure Built

techrev · Member Joined: Jun 26, 2005 Posts: 29

JULY 19th 2005
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Hello everyone! I just wanted to share some pictures of my enclosure. It was built by my roommate, Laurence and I pretty much laid out the very basic idea of the cage in Photoshop with measurements ...

... and gave them to him. The measurement is 7.5 feet long (I have a shelf that I couldn't move *grin* x 3 feet wide x 3 feet high. He went to Home Depot and purchased materials. He started by building a basic frame out of 2x4s and then nailed on the MDF board to complete the box. All the wood is veneered with about 3 coats of polyurethane for water proofing and moisture resistance due to the MDF being somewhat pourus.

He added a hinged lid so that we can get into it and change the bulbs (which are top mounted to the inside of the lid so that we can use the top area for plants, books, and other stuff) easier and also if we needed to gain access to the inside from the top. The bulbs are two 36" fictures (one repti 5.0 uvb and one standard flourescent) and four regular incandescent fictures. (zoo med bulbs night and day)

The front has sliding doors made out of plexiglass. (about a fourth of an inch thick). It should have been thicker but we would not have been able to cut it. We worked around this that by raising the door further above the substrate level so he won't really be able to reach it until he's much larger so he won't really be able to press against it.

The floor and walls are lined with Modge Podge (clear acrylic finish and sealer) and then clear contact paper and another coat of MP. The corners and everything are sealed with silicone caulk. The bottom also has wheels for easier moving on our carpet. There's also three cord holes center and bottom corners.

The outside is tightly wrapped in ebony fabric to match the interior of our apartment. (Everything in apartment is black wood or black metal except the futon frame. Really annoys me *grin*.)

And that's pretty much it. The only thing left is to decorate the inside. We have about a ton of Repti Bark (recommended by Bert over at Agama Internationa) to pour in and also add the decorative elements. I have some stones and such and waterfall etc to put in. I will also add a nice laminated background in there for scenic effect.

The entire structure took about 2 weeks to build. (in between work and on weekends) Everything was purchased at Home Depot including saw blades, wood, nails, staples, etc. The total cost for everything (just building) was about $450 (Probably would have been less but we had to buy almost every extra tool like drills, electric saw etc, because we didn't have them laying around the apartment). But now we have them for any future projects

I saw cages of this type and size online for like $800 or $900 so we definately saved some money and have the same features. All of the supplies for the tegu ... bulbs, substrate, decorations, and stuff like that were additional costs but not bad. Maybe another $250 or so. I got everything online and offline at various stores including Big Apple Herp, Petsmart, etc.

It is all very exciting!

Everyone has been very helpful to me over the past few months while I have been deciding on whether to get a tegu. I have never kept any reptile except an iguana when I was in college over 10 years ago and I didnt know much of anything. Now I am looking forward to getting the tegu. So thank you everyone.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and I hope they help someone who might also be building an enclosure also! It feels good to build your own! Just like computers! *smile*

JULY 20th 2005
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Here are some updated photos. I still have some decorating to do but I think I have enough for him to have some fun when he first arrives.

*grin* I still need to get a nice backdrop. Not sure what to get. Also I need to mount my thermometer and humity gauge somewhere. I also need to VACCUM *grin* I have substrate everywhere *grin*

Elaine

alexisonfire · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 11:51 am Post subject:

great looking tank

shawnathon · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:39 pm Post subject:

WOW!! That's a nice enclosure.

I am trying to build one up for a pair of Uromastyx (6x2x2) I will be getting this weekend at the herp show in san diego. I am having trouble w/ the sliding doors.

I am also using 1/4 inch plexi-glass.

Is your on some type of track or is there just a recess in the 2x4 that allows the doors to slide?

-Shawn

alexisonfire · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:53 pm Post subject:

you can pretty much do both but you can buy a simple track fitted for your size plexi glass it's just a simple piece of plastic that you can buy in lenghts of 5 feet (here might be different anywhere else) and you just staple gun or screw it in place( flat top wood screws so theres no bumps when you go to slide the doors! good luck

techrev · Member Joined: Jun 26, 2005 Posts: 29

Shawn

Its on a track that is screwed into place. Everything was bought at home depot. You can buy the tracks there.

Elaine

Teiidae · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 5:35 pm Post subject:

Very nice enclosure

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Tara_Richelle · Member Joined: Jul 22, 2005 Posts: 24

gorgeous enclosure! It's inspiring.

Johelian · Retired Mod Joined: Nov 22, 2004 Posts: 848

Very nice

Can I just make a suggestion? You many have taken it into account already, but if your rocks are just sat on the top of the substrate there is a chance that they will squish a tegu thats digging underneath them. Its not so huge an issue with large tegus (provided you only have small stones), but a hatchling may be injured if it dislodges one while burrowing.

Darkangel92 · Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:14 am Post subject:

WOW!!!! THATS AMAZING!!! Im really want a b/w columbian but im still tryin to talk my mom into it but for right now im doin some reaserch on tank ideas for when it would get bigger...can you give me some ideas and prices and stuff that i would need to build one...

Thanks,
Sara

meanah · Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:21 am Post subject:

great house u built for them.. nice work.
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bubbasherps · Respected Member Joined: Dec 16, 2005 Posts: 478

nice looking cage

great job

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txrepgirl · Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:45 pm Post subject:

Hi Sara.It is nice to see that you are doing your research on Tegus before you are getting one.This is the way to go.I'll try to find some info for you about the enclosure as soon as I can.