# New Enclosure and New Bed



## rmzsuzuki89 (Nov 24, 2010)

Well I figured while Apophis is hibernating I would start on his/her new cage. As I was measuring things out, I realized that I was gonna loose about a quarter of my floorspace. Between my bed and the tegu cage, tv, desk, speakers, and such, I was looking at only about half of my room being walk-on-able floor. Then I had a bit of an idea.....On to the pictures.
































That's all I got done today, well with the help of my gf and dad. The bed part will be finished up pretty quickly, but the enclosure part may be drawn out over a few weeks because Apophis is in hibernation, so there's no real hurry.


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2010)

What no water bed ????


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## Curtis T (Nov 25, 2010)

Looking good I know a guy thats into Retics and he did the same thing to save on room. Curtis


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Nov 25, 2010)

montana said:


> What no water bed ????



Lol na.



Curtis T said:


> Looking good I know a guy thats into Retics and he did the same thing to save on room. Curtis



Thanks


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## tora (Nov 25, 2010)

Amazing idea, I think I'm going to do this too.


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2010)

Pool table would be cool ...


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Nov 25, 2010)

tora said:


> Amazing idea, I think I'm going to do this too.



Thanks, and go for it lol.



montana said:


> Pool table would be cool ...



That would be interesting, idk if the tegu would appreciate it though lol.


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2010)

I had a friend that did something like this for his tegu, it seemed to have worked great for him. Keep us updated with pictures as you finish it!


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Nov 25, 2010)

RHETORICx said:


> I had a friend that did something like this for his tegu, it seemed to have worked great for him. Keep us updated with pictures as you finish it!



Ya, I'm hoping to get back to working on it tomorrow. I'm hoping to get the bed portion finished up maybe this week, and work on the enclosure portion little by little. We'll see how that goes lol.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Nov 25, 2010)

Decided to take a couple pics of his "baby enclosure" inside of what will be his new enclosure. The tank is a 30 gallon long.


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## Guest (Nov 29, 2010)

looks great


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Nov 30, 2010)

rybrgu said:


> looks great



Thanks, and welcome to the forum.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 3, 2010)

Got it painted and the trim done. Gonna start work on the floor of the actual enclosure tomorrow.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 3, 2010)




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## Guest (Dec 3, 2010)

Nice work !!! corners look great . It will be fun to see the windows in ...


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 3, 2010)

montana said:


> Nice work !!! corners look great . It will be fun to see the windows in ...



Thanks, and ya it will lol.


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2010)

that looks fantastic!, im actually in the middle of designing a similar cage set up but will more then likely be moving in july so ima hold off on my build. did u say the dimensions? im just curious what size matress that is cause ima be building mine with a queen, and actually hope to incooperate steps into it so i dont have the 3 foot jump lol


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 4, 2010)

Mr Nice Guy said:


> that looks fantastic!, im actually in the middle of designing a similar cage set up but will more then likely be moving in july so ima hold off on my build. did u say the dimensions? im just curious what size matress that is cause ima be building mine with a queen, and actually hope to incooperate steps into it so i dont have the 3 foot jump lol



Mine is a queen too. And I'm either gonna build a ladder, or just use a boat ladder, just haven't gotten that far yet lol.


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2010)

Fold up steps ???


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## MuddyRedneck (Dec 4, 2010)

yeah i considered a ladder, but i got knee problems so a 3 foot high bed is already gonna be a trip, lol so i figure go the extra mile with the steps and then if i can do em right he can even use them as a hide. yours really does look good so far tho, cant wait to see the finished product. what is it like 8x4x3?


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 4, 2010)

montana said:


> Fold up steps ???



Na, I think I'm just gonna make a ladder and hard mount it.



MuddyRedneck said:


> yeah i considered a ladder, but i got knee problems so a 3 foot high bed is already gonna be a trip, lol so i figure go the extra mile with the steps and then if i can do em right he can even use them as a hide. yours really does look good so far tho, cant wait to see the finished product. what is it like 8x4x3?



The steps doubling as a hide would be cool, I didn't think of that...And it's 81" x 61" x 34"ish, so 6' 9" x 5' 1" x 34"ish.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 4, 2010)

Started on the floor of the cage today. 












Just used the primer from painting the bed part because it matched my carped and looked better than the raw osb. The whole inside of the cage will be DryLocked when done. Haven't decided if I wanna go with about the same gray that it is now, or a darkish green, or a tan, or a darker brown.





Tomorrow I'm hoping to do a little work on it. Gonna go back around the bottom with black to clean up the primer overlap.


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## Guest (Dec 5, 2010)

Looks great but you may wish you had used plywood instead of the chip board ... I was thinking you could use a two foot ramp with a flat step into the bed .. Some time ago I wintered in a small cabin I built in the wilderness . It was heated by a small sheet metal stove and the only [warm] spot was in the loft .. The cabin was to small to build steps so I did the old ladder to the loft thing . The ladder was ok for getting into bed but getting out when you are tired and in the dark to feed the stove or go outside to do your business was at best dangerous..I am not real big on ladders [tho they are easy to build] .. all the same your enclosure is way cool ..


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 5, 2010)

montana said:


> Looks great but you may wish you had used plywood instead of the chip board ... I was thinking you could use a two foot ramp with a flat step into the bed .. Some time ago I wintered in a small cabin I built in the wilderness . It was heated by a small sheet metal stove and the only [warm] spot was in the loft .. The cabin was to small to build steps so I did the old ladder to the loft thing . The ladder was ok for getting into bed but getting out when you are tired and in the dark to feed the stove or go outside to do your business was at best dangerous..I am not real big on ladders [tho they are easy to build] .. all the same your enclosure is way cool ..



How come you don't like the osb for cages?


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## Guest (Dec 5, 2010)

Plywood is stronger and more water proof .. I would use 3/4 inch ... I just dont like the stuff where moisture is .. Long ago it was real crap .. It gets moisture in it and puffs all up then falls through .. I`ve been recently working on old trailers for some one and they had been previously remodeled with that and thats all I needed to see .. If thats what you have go ahead and use it ... but its not forever ...


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 5, 2010)

montana said:


> Plywood is stronger and more water proof .. I would use 3/4 inch ... I just dont like the stuff where moisture is .. Long ago it was real crap .. It gets moisture in it and puffs all up then falls through .. I`ve been recently working on old trailers for some one and they had been previously remodeled with that and thats all I needed to see .. If thats what you have go ahead and use it ... but its not forever ...



I'm not too worried about it's strength, its braced beneath with 2x4s and can support my weight without any problem. And it will be sealed completely so moisture won't be a problem.

I do know what you mean about wood swelling though. I use mdf wood in my car, and if it gets even the smallest amount of moisture on it, 3/4" will turn into 1" lol.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 10, 2010)

Got the back on today, now I gotta go pick up some more wood.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 17, 2010)

Got a lil more done today. Just one side, but some progress is better than no progress. With Apophis hibernating, there's no hurry lol.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 17, 2010)

The inside will probably be pretty similar to the gray that it is now.


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2010)

It looks nice almost there now!!!


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Dec 18, 2010)

montana said:


> It looks nice almost there now!!!



Lol ya, actually starting to look like an enclosure. Thanks to hibernation, I can do a lil work every few days, and still have plenty of time left over lol.


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2011)

anxious to see more pics on the bed/enclosure


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## Guest (Jan 18, 2011)

I really like this idea. I'd like to see some photos of the completed enclosure too!


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## Guest (Jan 27, 2011)

Bump... Always wanted to say that !!


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## Toby_H (Jan 27, 2011)

^^You've come so far Montana!!!

and yes rmzsuzuki89, we really do need to see another round of pics...


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## turtlepunk (May 2, 2011)

man i would REALLY like to see how this turned out!! rmzsuzuki you really need to post some pics!! 
Im definately going to have to build an enclosure/bed like this to save some floor space in my tiny room! Im in love with this idea!


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## rmzsuzuki89 (May 9, 2011)

It's been a while I guess lol. Apophis hibernated for a while, and I ended up getting caught up in a lot of stuff for school. But now that he's awake and growing like a weed, I guess I need to get back to work lol.

Hot a little more done today. Now I just gotta DryLock it all, and mount the door, plexi, lighting, and the fogger and hygrometer. 

Door hole and one of the vents.










Front





Window holes.










Does that look to be enough ventilation, or should I add some more somewhere?


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## james.w (May 9, 2011)

Should be plenty.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (May 9, 2011)

james.w said:


> Should be plenty.



Ok cool.


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## Kebechet (May 10, 2011)

Definitely looks good  you don't want too much ventilation otherwise the humidity won't stay high enough.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (May 12, 2011)

Did a little painting yesterday, and just got done doing a little work tonight. Not too sure why I decided to work on it so late haha.























































There will be another 24" uvb bulb somewhere in the middle.





There will also be 3 more heat lamps for the basking spot.


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## turtlepunk (May 12, 2011)

wooowww!! its looking pretty awesome!!! I like how you kept the windows as windows and didnt turn them into doors!! seems like it saves you a little work. the wooden door seems much easier to make than having to measure exact measurements of glass/plexiglass to fit into a frame and what not. hmmm. nice idea!


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## james.w (May 12, 2011)

I also like the window/door setup. Only problem I see is can you reach the entire enclosure from the door or do you have to climb inside to get to the end?


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## adam1120 (May 12, 2011)

i wanted to nknow that ima big guy i dont think i will fit in there at all and if i uilt a bed like it i think i would break it lol but i like the idea it looks clean and neat like i like good job lets see it all setup and those plants


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## rmzsuzuki89 (May 12, 2011)

The door isn't too bad to fit through haha.


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## james.w (May 12, 2011)

So you have to go inside to reach all parts of the cage?


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## rmzsuzuki89 (May 12, 2011)

james.w said:


> So you have to go inside to reach all parts of the cage?



Ya haha.Got the mulch, 9 bags in total.





Also figured I'd have some plants until he destroys them haha.


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## adam1120 (May 12, 2011)

it looks nice i wanna see it all complete with the guy in there thats alot of mulch lol


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## rmzsuzuki89 (May 12, 2011)

Just gotta screen the vents and mount the other two heat lamps, then just add the tegu haha. Also got a ReptiFogger and HydroTherm coming for the humidity control. I'll probably rig up some pvc pipe contraption to get relative distribution of humidity.


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## adam1120 (May 12, 2011)

you think it be a good idea to screw two of those tubs you used and use them like you did it be like a humid hide kinda you now what i mean? its looks good you should put a rock or something so he can bask


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## turtlepunk (May 12, 2011)

lookin AWESOME!


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## rmzsuzuki89 (May 12, 2011)

adam1120 said:


> you think it be a good idea to screw two of those tubs you used and use them like you did it be like a humid hide kinda you now what i mean? its looks good you should put a rock or something so he can bask



I will be adding rocks and such tomorrow probably. 



turtlepunk said:


> lookin AWESOME!



Thanks




I'm a little worried though. I just realized that the mulch I got is cypress blend, and not pure cypress. So I'm not sure what the other "naturally harvested woods" are.


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## james.w (May 12, 2011)

rmzsuzuki89 said:


> I'm a little worried though. I just realized that the mulch I got is cypress blend, and not pure cypress. So I'm not sure what the other "naturally harvested woods" are.



I noticed that on the bag as well. Is that all it says is "naturally harvested wood"?? I switched to just using a sand/soil mix because it is hard to find cypress here in Las Vegas. Only negative I have seen with the sand is that it weighs a ton. Cypress costs me $13 a bag and $10 for delivery for the entire order no matter how big or small. I got 8 15 gallon buckets of the sand/soil mix for $6.


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## adam1120 (May 12, 2011)

it should say the blend on the bag in the front or bak


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## rmzsuzuki89 (May 12, 2011)

james.w said:


> rmzsuzuki89 said:
> 
> 
> > I'm a little worried though. I just realized that the mulch I got is cypress blend, and not pure cypress. So I'm not sure what the other "naturally harvested woods" are.
> ...



It doesn't say anything on the bag, but it does online. And ya, that's all that it says.

And damn that sucks, I get it for less than $2 per bag haha.But I got the other 2 heat lamps in.


























adam1120 said:


> it should say the blend on the bag in the front or bak



That's what I would think too, but I looked all over it and couldn't find it.


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## james.w (May 12, 2011)

I wouldn't worry too much about the mulch, but one thing, make sure your lights are secured well. My gu insists on jumping up and trying to knock anything down that he can.

What type of plants are you using?? I need some ideas for my Melinus enclosure.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (May 12, 2011)

james.w said:



> I wouldn't worry too much about the mulch, but one thing, make sure your lights are secured well. My gu insists on jumping up and trying to knock anything down that he can.
> 
> What type of plants are you using?? I need some ideas for my Melinus enclosure.



I had a beardie that had that same goal haha...And I'll see if I can find the little stub things that came in them.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (May 14, 2011)

Here are some of the finished product minus the water in the blue bin.


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## Rhetoric (May 14, 2011)

Aww I love it! Is s/he in there all the time now? It must be fun watching him/her explore it all!


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## Julio C Garcia (Oct 1, 2011)

what paint did you use to cover the walls so good and how did you seal it to prevent water damages


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