Tegu enclosure

[Lynn Whipple]

My husband and I are planning on getting a B&W Tegu and I am looking into building an enclosure for the winter to keep in the house. We have a large rubber stock tank like the one pictured that we are going to clean out, and cut a piece of plywood for the top with hinges. Im thinking to use a Kane heat pad (during the winter) inside on cypress mulch. I also want to also have two lights: a "night" light and Powersun bulb.

Couple questions: general thoughts on the use of a tub? and what size bulb would I need for heating something like that? I'm thinking the 160 watt Powersun... also, due to the size, would I need a second UBV bulb?

Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Walter1]

Hi Lynn,

That's a nice stock tank. Would you consider overwintering your tegu? If not, what would be the ambient winter temp in the house where the cage would be? If room temp or better, keep at least 1/2 top screen for ventilation. Must not ever be trapped in heat. = hot end and cool end for tegu to choose gradient.

 

[Lynn Whipple]

The ambient temp is pretty cool in the room the tank would be in. Probably around 65 degrees (it's a very old house and hard to keep warm). When considering the top, we were thinking to have two screen "windows" on each end. These would also be where lights would sit. In the center of the top would be a "door" that we can use to get into the cage.

 

[Walter1]

As long as you can provide that gradient and some air flow, you're good. If animal is WC adult or nearly so, it may really want to overwinter, something to be mindful of.

 

[ChomperThe Tegu]

Don't use a heat pad. If he digs to the bottom and rests on it, it can burn him. I just wouldn't take the chance.

 

[Walter1]

Me neither.

 

[Skeep]

I bought some ZooMed under aquarium/terrarium heat mats, stuck them to some glass and put them in the bottom. They work quite well and can't burn my gu, or me. I put tile ontop of the glass so she can lay on that without it being too hot. Not familiar with the Kane ones. You'd definitely want to get strong glass though, and that's smooth on the edges, like those glass bathroom scales.