8'x4'x4' Tegu Cage Tutorial

[CuriousTegu760]

Yes this was a great post, I'll have to make this!

 

[Wooly]

Hey these are some awesome plans. I will for sure make this very soon. I was going to buy a boamaster, but I think I may give these plans a try first. Thanks alot for the detailed list and instructions.

 

[RehabRalphy]

Re:

For an indoor setup. Do you find the 2 light fixtures on each end enough to provide the proper heat gradient? I plan on using this template for my 10x4 and would like some input.

I know that you posted this a long time ago, but I'll see if I could provide some input for future readers.

I use 3 light fixtures. On one side I have a MVB and a floodlight. On the other I have a regular house light. Surprisingly, yes, the temp gradient is perfect. The flood is wired to a dimmer. Without the dimmer, it was reaching temps of 130*F+ on the hot side (tested before anything was placed inside the cage) and literally melted my digital thermometer. Last temp read was 135 but like I said, it melted, so it could have gotten hotter, and this was only after 30 mins of being on.

 

[RehabRalphy]

On a side note, I did have issues with humidity during the dry seasons. If you do choose to use this tutorial and live in a dry climate, you may want to possibly consider using a plexiglass front door instead of the mesh. Or... do what I did, connect a series of PVC tubes to a humidifier and route the tubes into the cage. Solves that problem

 

[RehabRalphy]

Re:

I used the $6 250lb casters from Home Depot.

Discount hardware stores are the best. Big box stores over charge the simplest things.

 

[LouDog760]

What about the Linoleum you were talking about?

 

[RehabRalphy]

At the time, I didnt think about using it for this monster sized cage.

 

[LouDog760]

I see, do you think it would of been better or is the cage fine now.

 

[RehabRalphy]

Nah its fine at the moment. It would take a lot of linoleum and patience to put it in this beast, and that my friend I dont have

 

[Strange_Evil]

*Bump* For all the new members who didn't see this yet, its really helpful, i might(maybe) actually try to build my own enclosure now .. Really useful!

 

[chr0nus]

im thinking of building this myself but im wondering if im missing anything important with stuff like this: Other common house hold supplies:
4Ã?¢ââ??¬Ã? screws
3Ã?¢ââ??¬Ã? screws

and like this:
You will need to put more on the bottom due to thatÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢s where the weight will be.

whats up with all those symbols? anyone have the whole plans?

 

[Rhetoric]

http://www.redtailboa.net/forums/how-tos-tutorials/27834-8x4x4-tegu-cage-tutorial.html

 

[chr0nus]

thanks, looking forward to building this.

 

[Rhetoric]

If you do, I would suggest doing glass instead of the mesh. The mesh doesn't seem like it would be able to hold humidity well. I was planning on building this for my savy before I had to re-home him. I think there are a few members on here who have built this enclosure or something very similar to it.

 

[adam1120]

you dont think the mesh will work?what if you keep the mulch moist ?i was thinking if it didnt work i could but just put plexi glass put it on some hendges and make it come either up/ down easy but will work i think.

 

[Rhetoric]

You can certainly try it, I think the holes in the mesh are too large and will make it very difficult if not impossible to keep humidity in. You could also try adding moist/humid hides to help with sheds and humidity. When I thought about doing it for my savy I had thought about doing the mesh but also doing plexi glass or glass doors as well, I hadn't thought about it too in depth.
I think James built something similar to this enclosure, you can probably ask him his thoughts on it as well.

 

[james.w]

I don't think the mesh would work unless you are using it outdoors in Florida. It allows too much heat and humidity to escape. I would use glass because it won't scratch like plexi, but plexi will work.

 

[chr0nus]

good thing i live in central florida : P

 

[adam1120]

you dont think glass is too heavy? for hendges? if not ill buy the slider thingys online.

 

[fisheric]

Plexi does scratch really easy. If you could find a used 50 gal aquarium on CL just cut the silicon and use the two 4' sections as doors.