KaGaOri
New Member
- Messages
- 12
- Location
- Czech Republic (EU)
Hello, I would like to ask you few questions about what properties should Tegu enclousure have, to make sure I won't end up with something dysfunctional by design. What I will likely go with will be melamine cage with glass / plexiglass side sliding door - size: 8,038' long, 3,937' wide and 3,11' high (I'm European, so I measure in centimeters and had to go with whole tens and fives for convenience, hence the weird numbers). The cage will be placed in a corner of a room under bed, which will have some sort of it's own support = not lying directly on top of the cage, but there will be still very little space in between the two (about 2"). Because of this I need to make sure everything works right from the get-go, since once it'll be in it's place it will be hard to add or rework something on it. Thank you for your patience .
So, my questions:
1) Ventilation
I would like to place few vents on both shorter sides of the enclousure. I assume they should be near the top on one side and near the bottom (near expected substrate level) on the other for the air to circulate properly. Should they be up on the warm side of the cage and down on the cold side, or the opposite, or it doesn't really matter?
2) Lighting / Heating
I'm planning on having two sockets for basking bulbs set up at warm side of the cage - should that cover enough space for adult Tegu to bask under, or would I need more?
Second thing - the UVB. Should I add one more socket (or several more?) for UVB bulb right next to the basking bulbs (so Tegu will get the UVB while basking) or is it better to use UVB fluorescent tube (one, or maybe two to cover whole lenght of the cage?) along the ceiling / back side of the cage? Or should I do both, just to be safe?
Are you using any additional heat sources in your enclosures, like infrared heat lamp or heating cable? (Taken the cage will be in room where the tempeture is usually between 68°F and 75°F.) Same question for lighting - should I add more than just the UVB lights?
3) Humidity
I saw somebody using electric humidifier for their Tegu cage. Is that necessary / recommended for cage like the one I have in mind, or should spraying substrate with water regularly be enough?
4) Floor protection
Would you recommend to use something like vinyl flooring to protect floor in melamine cage, or should be melamine enough if properly sealed around the edges? I saw some scarry images of cage with rotten floor (wasn't melamine, though, I think) and would like to avoid that.
5) Securing the door
What kind of measure can I use with side sliding doors to prevent my Tegu to open it and go for a walk? My stepmother has lock on her snake's terrarium with these doors, but when I look at it I'm not sure if it would work with big cage and big and strong animal like Tegu. Do you use these, or would you secure the door in different way?
Thanks in advance to anybody who will reply .
So, my questions:
1) Ventilation
I would like to place few vents on both shorter sides of the enclousure. I assume they should be near the top on one side and near the bottom (near expected substrate level) on the other for the air to circulate properly. Should they be up on the warm side of the cage and down on the cold side, or the opposite, or it doesn't really matter?
2) Lighting / Heating
I'm planning on having two sockets for basking bulbs set up at warm side of the cage - should that cover enough space for adult Tegu to bask under, or would I need more?
Second thing - the UVB. Should I add one more socket (or several more?) for UVB bulb right next to the basking bulbs (so Tegu will get the UVB while basking) or is it better to use UVB fluorescent tube (one, or maybe two to cover whole lenght of the cage?) along the ceiling / back side of the cage? Or should I do both, just to be safe?
Are you using any additional heat sources in your enclosures, like infrared heat lamp or heating cable? (Taken the cage will be in room where the tempeture is usually between 68°F and 75°F.) Same question for lighting - should I add more than just the UVB lights?
3) Humidity
I saw somebody using electric humidifier for their Tegu cage. Is that necessary / recommended for cage like the one I have in mind, or should spraying substrate with water regularly be enough?
4) Floor protection
Would you recommend to use something like vinyl flooring to protect floor in melamine cage, or should be melamine enough if properly sealed around the edges? I saw some scarry images of cage with rotten floor (wasn't melamine, though, I think) and would like to avoid that.
5) Securing the door
What kind of measure can I use with side sliding doors to prevent my Tegu to open it and go for a walk? My stepmother has lock on her snake's terrarium with these doors, but when I look at it I'm not sure if it would work with big cage and big and strong animal like Tegu. Do you use these, or would you secure the door in different way?
Thanks in advance to anybody who will reply .