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! The tegu hatchling will be arriving from Agama in 3 days. I'm very excited about it but I'm sure I will have more questions for the forum. 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* Elaine
that is awesome. I suggest flagstone for the inside though. you can make awesome little caves and basking spots with it, and its either cheap or sometimes free
Picture Updates Tegu has been shipped from Agama! He's currently (according to tracking) in Kentuky *grin* I hope that he's enjoying his flight *grin* He should arrive sometime today! 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* I'm so excited!!! I will post pictures when it arrives ... Elaine
Tegu Arrived! The tegu is here! Wooot! My buzzer went off at 10:15am and I went downstairs to greet the UPS man who was holding a small box! I brought it upstairs to my apartment and I was thinking the whole time ... this doesn't even say LIVE ANIMAL or anything. It just says, "Avoid Extreme Heat" that is if you can read Bert's (from Agama International) handwriting *grin* I carefully opened the box and inside there was this piece of foam and a small tupperwear container. And I saw something moving around ... So I pulled the lid off ... ! Hey! There's a tegu in there! A beautiful green hatchling! So cute!!! He looked like he wanted to crawl out so I carefully picked him up and held him in my hand. He seemed just fine with it and he flicked his tongue out a bit at me and crawled around for a few moments. He's so soft! I put him in his nice new CONDO *grin* And I went back to get the camera and he had already buried himself. I can see him moving around underneath the substrate though. Maybe he will peek out later and I can take a picture. I hope he likes his new home. I noticed when I opened the lid of the enclosure it was SO HOT. The temperature is about 85. I guess that is ok right? (according to mcfreshdeli) however my humidity is low. I watered the substrate and I have a waterfall running and also one of those tricking water bowls also. How else should I try and maintain humidity? He hasn't surfaced for a while ... I hope he is ok down there ... Elaine
There's a heat pad in there a Cobra pad ... but I think I will need to mount a spot lamp also but it is already quite hot ....
really nice vivarium, helps me solve alot of problems with my designs great looking tegu also how much was he/she? and also how much was just the materials, i already have all the tools i will ever need
i wanna see more pics, and a materials price list . . . something that size would be a nice fit for that burm i've always wanted. hmmm. ~Will.
