what is the best way to keep my cage humid

[Monster]

Hey, I just joined today. woot!

I am planning on building a new cage for my BW Tegu, its about 2 and a half feet long now. and I am planning on building a cage that can house my tegu and my girlfriends 3 leopard geckos. I plan on building it 6 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3.5 feet tall, with the top foot for the leopard geckos and about 6 inches in between for plugs and lamps and heat pads (for the geckos) I plan on making it out of wood. and Plexiglas for the front. I know I need to seal it and have good substrate, I am just wondering aside from spraying the cage every day, what is the best way to keep the humidity up without spending a lot and without making it very noisy, I am willing to spend like $50 for some type of humidifier/mister. is there something you may recommend? I am also wondering what size water dish it should have, and where is a good place to get one? thanks alot!

[HernandosMom]

Hi, welcome aboard and congrats on your new tegu! That's an interesting idea you have, for a multi-unit reptile condo complex . Wow, if I had those building skills I'd aim for a longer tegu compartment, like 8 ft. It may be hard to imagine now, but within a year that will probably be a good size for the little guy.

Regarding your question, I know others with cage building experience will jump in and give you good advice on how to seal the interior wood. I can suggest i large, shallow dish right under the strongest heat lamp to help with humidity. We use those big, black, plastic, pizza-pan shaped trays that you get from a catering take-out place like a grocery store deli. I'd also suggest an ultrasonic fogger. We use a ZooMed Reptifogger. It's a bit pricy but has worked great. We don't sleep in the same room as our tegu, but I can barely hear that motor going when I'm in the room. It's still good to spray the substrate, but you generally can't be there all day to do that.

[Pikey]

i too would say at least 7x4 ft for the length & width. you can seal with what is now one of my favorites (thank you Toby_H) Drylock cement sealer.
It can make it water tight, It makes a rough stone like finish, & most places carry a tint for it.

Humidity - Yes water dish under a good heat source or a heat pad under the water will usually get 5-10% increase in humidity
I like to use a Cat Litter Pan as a water dish (comes in many colors and like 3 sizes usually under $5 for the XL)
Zoo-Med repti-fogger is good, or even a child's cool mist vaporizer right in the cage set on a multi-time timer, Or many companies
offer "do it yourself" misting systems (or even google it and you can make a nice homemade one)

[Monster]

cool, thanks for the great advise, I would like to build the cage bigger, but due to the size of my room this is the biggest I can make the cage, and I do take him out every day and let him walk around, so hopefully it will be big enough at least for a while. I'm wondering though, should I have a heat lamp dedicated to going over the water dish, and another for his basking spot? I currently use a powerful heat/UV light combo, and I'm not sure he will get enough UV if its over the water dish. Do you have any recommendations?

[Monster]

I was also wondering if Melamine wood would be a good material to build the cage out of? is it good with humidity? and would I still want to use the drylock? and is there a way to make the drylock look a little nicer?

[HernandosMom]

If you put the pond under the heat/UV light IMO it will encourage him to soak as well as bask. But it all depends on how the heat gets distributed in your terrarium. In ours, the UV/heat is over some tile, and the heat-only is over the pond, and overall there is still a gradient with the hottest corner under the UV and places he can clamber into away from the heat sources.

I don't have any building experience, but I have seen postings and videos using it. The key is to caulk all joints -- all edges -- completely and smoothly. A good, well-maintained caulk should not require additional sealing over (more experienced members, please correct me if I'm wrong). Providing you've got your joints and edges all sealed, the Melamine itself is your moisture block. Drylock would be like wearing suspenders with a belt.

Melamine is trickier to saw and work with than regular plywood because the outer laminate can crack. Also, for appearances sake, know that when you cut a piece of Melamine you need to glue a new Melamine strip onto the cut face.

Personally, I like the looks of it so much better than stained wood and painted wood that I would be thrilled to hire someone locally with cabinet maker skills who could build an enclosure to our specifications.

[Pikey]

i would not recommend melamine, it is nice, it is strong, but if you do get a leak any where the fiber board will be a sponge and soak up that water & humidity then rot if it doesn't fall apart first. I know people use it & have no problems, but most use it for smaller cages & ones that dont hold 70-85% humidity. It would be good to build a wood cage seal the inside & glue the plastic sheets to the outside to get the same look.

[DaremoAlpha]

Get a thick plastic sheet and cover up half of the top mesh with it to help hold in the humidity. Cheap and easy to hide. I used one of those clear plastic table cloth cut to size on a few of my enclosures.