# nice indoor enclosures pic?



## adam1120 (May 1, 2011)

anyone got pics or videos of youlls indoor tegus enclosure gettin ready to built one soon and need some idea wanna make it 8x3x2 will this work for b&w his whole life? hes gunna have my whole room to roam allday just sleep manely in it but still want him to be comfortable


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## Rhetoric (May 1, 2011)

I would do a little big taller, more like 3-4ft tall if you plan on putting the light fixtures inside the enclosure. Once the substrates in there its going to be more like 1- 1 1/2 ft for your tegu.
I haven't made an enclosure before, I bought mine already built. There are tons of do-it-yourself threads, hopefully someone can help you out more.


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## adam1120 (May 1, 2011)

yea true i might go up to 31/2 feet i frogot about the subsrate.. wouldnt the lights get messed up with the humidity in the cage? electricty+water=bad??


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## Rhetoric (May 1, 2011)

They've been fine in mine. One of the enclosures has a mounted fixture for the MVB bulbs (heat & uvb) but I think its the wrong wattage because it keeps flickering when the lights are on. The other enclosure has regular light "domes". They're screwed into the support beams and up higher. The humidity is usually 50-60% in the 2 enclosures, some people aim to have it higher, to help with shedding. I have large soaking dishes in both enclosures and I haven't had any issues with sheds. One of my tegus has some missing toes (bad sheds) but she was like that before I got her, shes been doing great so far.
As long as you aren't getting the bulbs/cords/fixtures drenched they seem to tolerate some back-splash from a mister.


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## adam1120 (May 2, 2011)

are the mvb bulbs the best or would the 10.0 repti sun tube not coil just ass good i now nothing about mvb never used just reptisun tubes always tho but idk if people just choose them over or whay? and i saw your videos i kinda want my enclosure to something simliar to yours the one on the bottom. my humidty dont stay high here im in texas it always falls to like 17 in my 40 breeder i got my colmbian in there but i keep my substrate moist i mist him 3 times daily

kinda didnt finsih that last post his shed are greet but he sleeps for a long time comes up around 12 30 gos bak till 4 come out for 20 mns and gone till 12 30 this normal or what? healthy as a horse hes a fatty and big and very active idk not worried hes heathly and happy


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## chelvis (May 2, 2011)

The nice thing about MVB is they can be futher from the animal than the florecent tubes and give off better waves of UVB. If your going with a cage where the roof is going to be 8" or more off of the subsurate (ie more than 2 feet high with 12" of bedding) your best bet is to go with a MVB to make sure enough UV reaches the animal. With the tubes you would have to lover the lighting so that the tegu could get within 8 inches of it.


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## adam1120 (May 2, 2011)

but yea im probly gunna end up buyin the mvbs which one should i get?? i only trusted the uvb tube idk why always have never the coils or bulbs.


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## Rhetoric (May 2, 2011)

I would still stay away from the coils, I'll admit I have one in my "female" enclosure but its in an area they are never in. This might make me sound bad but I didn't want to spend that extra money for an area they are NEVER in. They don't give off nearly as much UVB as the tubes or the bulbs. That being said, I have 2 MVB "solar-glo" bulbs by exo-terra. Another common brand I see is "powersun". I don't have experience with the powersuns but the people who do use them love them. Either of these brands should work great for you. If you decide to do tube style bulbs too I would go with reptisun 10.0. I forget the other brand but it should be the desert style or T8, I think its zilla something.


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## adam1120 (May 2, 2011)

yea thats what i wanted to do is install it into the tank i built the 4 foot uvb tube in there enclosure yea the coil make the reptile goes blind cus the amount of uvb put out is too strong i read that somewhere or something like that


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## Toby_H (May 2, 2011)

I built an 8' x 3' @ 3.5' tall enclosure for my Adult Tegu's winter enclosure (he stays outside in summer). I do not feel it is large enough for him year 'round. 

"Free Roaming all day" is a great idea when you are planning, but is a much different reality as things progress. You will quickly learn that big Tegus have big poop and it quickly becomes unacceptible to allow 'accidents'. You will also find out that "potty training" your Tegu does not work nearly as well as you hoped. Also keep in mind that this animal will live 15+ years and 5 years from now your living situation may not tolerate a 4' lizard wandering around all day. 

In my experience/opinion the most well behaved Tegus live in enclosures that are quite large. I also find the vast majority of aggression issues reported on the forum are from people who failed to upgrade the enclosure when it was needed. Well behaved Tegus have very low stress leves and stressed Tegus express themselves through aggression. Being locked in too small of an enclosure is sterssful.


I would go an absolute minimum of 8' x 4' for a male, and then understand in the warmer months the Tegu will need a lot of time outside the enclsoure. My Tegu spends summers on a 6' x 12' outdoor deck/balcony and I feel that greatly contribtes to his super sweet behavior. 


I built my indoor enclosure to hold up to 13" of mulch. I quickly learned that 9" of fresh, loose, fluffed mulch is more than enough for an adult Tegu (My Tegu is 50" and 10~12 lbs). In time it will compact to 6~7" if it were level, but your Tegu will keep hills and valleys everywhere despite how much you level it. 

I found a great "hide" is simply a 3' x 2' piece of sealed (Drylok) Plywood laying on the mulch. My Tegu dug out under the board and moves mulch around as he needs to stay 'happy'. 


I have two 100W incondescent bulbs (not UVB) on different timers as 'heat lamps' (cheap yet effective). I have a 10.0 UVB Fluorescent tube mounted to the bottom of a shelf. The bulb is 8" above the substrate which is 5" from my Tegus back when basking. It is laid out so the Tegu can bask in UVB & not, UVB without heat or heat without UVB. He most commonly basks in both at the same time, but is often seen basking in one or the other. 


My Tegu has an approx 10 gal water "dish". I feel it is very important to keep a water "dish" with fresh water large enough for the Tegu to soak in. There are many times or reasons your Tegu may want/need to soak. 


I've used both, but I chose to use swinging doors on this enclosure. That is the single regret I have with it too. Sliding Glass doors are less expensive, easier to construct and more practical in application. In every case I've thought swinging would be better in some way, I've proven myself wrong. 


I don't worry much about humidity. I pour a gallon of water onto the mulch in his hide every 3~7 days as needed to keep the mulch moist. He moves it around to balance the moisture levels in the hide. If it gets to dry he soaks more, so I know whenever I see him soaking that I need to check the moisture levels. 

I've built aquarium canopies (100% humidity) using standard light fixtures that have lasted several years without issue.


In the planning process... I highly encourage you to research the product "Drylok". It is a concrete sealer that has been proven to work great on plywood also. The search engine on this site should bring up several threads where several people share experiences and tips regarding it. I've used it on many projects both animal related and in 'industrial applications'. 








That's my enclosure. The single point I am unhappy with is the swinging doors. Also, I do not feel my 8' x 3' enclosure is big enough for an adult male Tegu all year 'round. But I am completely happy with every other aspect of my enclosure. Though mine is structually overdone to allow it to up to a 240~300 gal aquarium. This makes it terribly heavy.


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## james.w (May 2, 2011)

I found sliding doors are way more expensive when quality parts are used. If you use plastic sliding tracks it will be cheaper to use sliding doors.


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