# 4x8x5 in the making...



## RickyNo (Oct 10, 2013)

I have to say this is the most amount of money I have ever spent on an enclosure but I think my chacoan/blue hybrid is very much worth it! Here is a small video of what I have done this past week after work so far. Hoping to have it inside the house and ready to be pertied up by monday. Lucky me my gf is going to more so take over on the custom backwall while im at work, im thinking 16 ft of wall to customize is going to take a lot of freakin timeeee. I really want to go with a rainforest type theme on the back wall but finding how to's on realistic themes is pretty difficult. Ive come up pretty empty handed on it but maybe my gf can take some cork tile and make it into something spectacular...

http://s246.photobucket.com/user/Ric...808d5.mp4.html


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## RickyNo (Oct 10, 2013)

tonight i got the inside substrate wall in and sealed, tomorrow I will start the framing on the top half of the enclosure which would be his actual living space. I cant wait till he is able to run around his home he is going to be so happy to be out of that 20 gallon! You know 3 weeks of waiting in a 20 gallon I had laying around, to go into something like this I think he wont mind lol


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Oct 11, 2013)

Looks great! Are you planning on having deep substrate?


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## RickyNo (Oct 11, 2013)

What you see in the picture is all for substrate


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## Roadkill (Oct 11, 2013)

Lol, looks a lot like some of the stuff I've made over the years - while the 2X4s are strong, they are also excessively heavy. Is everything straight cuts or did you dado some of that? Glad to see you went with structurally sound as opposed to cheap OSB/MDF.


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## RickyNo (Oct 12, 2013)

me and my buddy used a normal saw to cut everything but it is zeroed out. I plan on putting some wheels on the back of the enclosure so when they are moved in 2 pieces I can roll the *****! Here's what I accomplished last night. The top half was a ***** to zero out but we're good! My only concern is what to coat the inside of the enclosure with to keep the wood safe from humidity. I was looking at marine paint but that would cost me a good $200 to coat the inside with and I'm not willing to spend that lol. I want something I don't have to recoat every year or two.


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Oct 12, 2013)

Expensive but worth it, line the areas holding substrate with FRP (fiber reinforced plastic) similar to what they make shower stalls with. Then polyurethane the top portion with about 3-5coats and you'll be set.


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## RickyNo (Oct 13, 2013)

Outer shell pretty much complete, just have some little things to finish up before completely closing it in. im going to fiberglass the substrate level and using a badass black outside high gloss latex paint for the upper half of the enclosure. The only part of the paint that will actually be exposed is the ceiling of the cage. The side and backwalls are going to have a half inch thick styrofoam sheet on the walls as a mounting point for the custom rainforest backround I still have to figure out how im going to do...


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## RickyNo (Oct 13, 2013)




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## RickyNo (Oct 13, 2013)




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## RickyNo (Oct 13, 2013)

Im going to have to have a window show custom order me some windows because thick plexi seems to be just as expensive as glass and im not a fan of the crap it scratches too easily. Pics do this no justice, its freakin huge!!!!!! and holy hell heavy!!


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## RickyNo (Oct 15, 2013)

all is going well, working on it little by little each night after work. Tomorrow I will finish the skin of the enclosure and then start fiberglassing the substrate level and painting the top half to seal it off.


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## RickyNo (Oct 15, 2013)

this thing is insanely heavy. Think once I have 20 bags cypress mulch this thing should weigh well over a ton lol


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Oct 16, 2013)

Have you thought of using top soil or peat moss x sand instead of cypress. With the ability to hold so much substrate it might be best to use something that can hold burrows better than cypress. You could even try top soil or peat mixed in with cypress.


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## RickyNo (Oct 16, 2013)

do you have any links to people who have shown that have done that? Also do you tegus like to soak in water inside their cage much? I had plans of a pond area but if he isn't going to use it it's just going to be a glorified drinking water area


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## RickyNo (Oct 21, 2013)

Substrate level has been fiberglassed, living space with 5 coats of outside high gloss paint. Inside wood now safe from humidity! Wiring for the heat emitter and 2 4ft uvb bulbs in! Just need to get the outside surface mounted up and painted, order windows and thermostat. Lastly build custom 3d wall background and im done!


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## Chris23039 (Oct 22, 2013)

Good job looks great


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## Midwestmonster (Oct 24, 2013)

Wow, very nice!


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## RickyNo (Oct 25, 2013)

This has been such a long process and so much money! Im sure I could have built something more simple but I would have always lived in regret by cheapin out... I cant wait till this is over and I can get back to the gym!


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## RickyNo (Oct 26, 2013)

how big and what should i use for a vent hole? I bought 2 trailer ac floor vents but im thinking two would let too much humidity out. What has everyone else been using for vents on a 4x8? I dont really like the idea of using these vents to begin with... need to know soooon!


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## Chris23039 (Nov 5, 2013)

Have you done the vents? Any new pictures?


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## RickyNo (Nov 5, 2013)

Not yet. Waiting on my window guy to get my custom windows done before I can proceed unfortunately


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## RickyNo (Nov 11, 2013)

just a quick update on my progress, i hired a Master Craftsmen to custom build me the windows and do the laminate on the encloser. He'll start on the project on the first and I'll have photos to follow.


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## Josh (Nov 13, 2013)

Can't wait to see how this project wraps up! You've done a fine job thus far!


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## RickyNo (Nov 14, 2013)

I have to say this is a very pricey build. I want it to look up to par for when I move into a bigger house. I really want a nice finish that I will enjoy and really set of whatever room its in. The contractor will be by the first and just the bill for him to build the windows and finish work on the exterior of the cage is going to run me $730. Add on the cost to actually build it with all the lighting, thermostat and custom backround I'm looking at at least 2 grand lol


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## RickyNo (Nov 24, 2013)

Custom glass windows coming along nicely!!! Will have exterior of cage complete first week of december!








Once the exterior is finished and im ready to bring it inside unfortunately there is going to be hours upon hours of more work to do! I am going to try and come up with a rough draft sketch of how i want the custom interior design to be and I'll post it up for you all. unfortunately my uvb bulbs dont reach 2 feet effectively like i was hoping so Im going to have to make some type of basking rock that he walks up on so that he is high enough to get uvb.


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## RickyNo (Dec 1, 2013)

Well this has been a long process and too many hours of work but finally ready for the master craftsmen to come out tomorrow and install the windows and exterior panels so I can start staining the wood. on the enclosure is inside I can start on the Waterfall and custom 3d background. So many more hours to go.....


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## RickyNo (Dec 2, 2013)

Well this has been a long process and too many hours of work but finally ready for the master craftsmen to come out tomorrow and install the windows and exterior panels so I can start staining the wood. on the enclosure is inside I can start on the Waterfall and custom 3d background. So many more hours sto go


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## RickyNo (Dec 2, 2013)

Wow this came out great! Now time to stain!


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## Brettm (Dec 6, 2013)

Looks great


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## jaydsr2887 (Dec 7, 2013)

wow.... I wish I had something like that for my iggy


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## RickyNo (Dec 7, 2013)

this is so time consuming and expensive it's not even funny lol. I should be ready to start staining the wood tomorrow. I could have started on it days ago but I was having trouble deciding how to paint or stain the exterior of the enclosure. I'm going to go with oil based gel stain hopefully it comes out great. The custom windows are made out of maple and there are two other types of wood for the trim and surface cover. So I think the only way to get an even stain is with gel.


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## Chris23039 (Feb 9, 2014)

Any updates?


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## RickyNo (Feb 11, 2014)

Yes. Loki is finally inside the cage. I want to say about 2 months of this project was wasted on finish work. I should have just paid to have the contractor lay formica on the exterior after he finished the trim and windows. I work a lot of hours so its very hard for me to fit in time to even work on this cage at the moment especially when still trying to spend time with Lokie. I originally wanted the stain look on the enclosure but due to some bad advice and my first time staining it did not come out right so I was forced to scratch that project and settle with a paint job. I went with an expresso look, I went out and bought a new gravity gun and started spraying away. Time between coats were a few days at a time, lets just say I quickly figured out how difficult it was to work with this type of paint. 

I got the same type of paint that builders use on trim and some cabinets inside new homes. Because the cage is so big I couldnt paint all at once, I only have a 1 car garage so it made things difficult on me. In the end I quickly grew very disappointed. I notice the flaws in the finish work and it grinds my freakin gears. Nobody else notices it, they say its amazing but when you have spent so much time and thousands of dollars you expect perfection. In normal lighting the cage looks like a nice dark expresso, flash your camera at it and the flash makes it look like a giant **** stain... Maybe I am just too picky, maybe I am just filled with more anger than usual because I quit smoking this week...But fuc kin A you watch, 6 months down the road i'll have the windows redone and formica put on the cage. Nice simple dustable black...

But heres the scoop... Loki loves the cage, he just got put into it last friday. The humidifier keeps having water build up so its off at the moment. Im going to try and set it on a bar stool and maybe a downward slope will allow any water build up to drain in the cage. I have a good 500 pounds or more of a soil/peat moss/play sand mixture inside and thats after building a false floor covering 5ft of the 8ft cage. I hold about 60% humidity without my humidifier on. I have a heat emitter and a 150 watt bulb basking light alone with two 4ft uvb 10.0 bulbs. With the cage sealed my thermostat doesnt even turn my heat emitter on because the basking bulb is raising my ambient temps into the high 80's. I just checked it a half hour ago and I was at 88 degrees with two vent holes open which is royally pissing me off. 

He has a ghetto rigged basking spot to raise him up high enough to get to 120's and a cardboard box house till I can make him something to suite his size as an adult. The custom waterfall and backround are going to take a longgg ass time. Going for the natural look, make him feel like his in his native home... Sorry for writing a book, I just having talked to anyone about this and I guess I needed to vent? lol


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## RickyNo (Feb 11, 2014)




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## RickyNo (Feb 11, 2014)

The cage makes him look small. He's actually a good 30 inches now.


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## Chris23039 (Feb 11, 2014)

Ha vent away, Still looks impressive though, good job


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## RickyNo (Mar 19, 2014)

Finally started interior work **** this is messyyyy


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## RickyNo (Mar 24, 2014)

Im done for tonight. Finally getting motivated again. I have so many projects I want to do that taking my time isnt getting me to those any quicker. Started on the stairs. Will tweak it once is all one piece. This basking spot will look over a waterfall and pond when its all wrapped up.


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## Rebecca Stout (Apr 16, 2014)

Have a stupid question here for you all.. Im brand new. And never built anything this big. How do you get the enclosure inside after its built. Every one that I see built is outside or in the garage .. then its magically in the house.


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## Chris23039 (Apr 18, 2014)

Usually built in two halfs, each half being able to fit through a door and then joined together in the room you want


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## RickyNo (Apr 24, 2014)

you build it in two pieces...

You would never be able to move it if it was just one piece


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## TheOneKimchi (May 16, 2014)

RickyNo, what did you use to waterproof the inside of the cage to prevent bowing of the wood?


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## RickyNo (May 19, 2014)

This cage is framed out correctly nothing will ever bow. But the inside of the enclosure top half i used outside high gloss paint and the bottom half is coated in fiberglass resin. the paint though he is having fun peeling off. Will have to come up with an alternative soon.


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## RickyNo (Jun 21, 2014)

Just put my misters in. Next will be the filtrated pond. 

New misting system for the tegu. Done with foggers. I get so much better humidity if the soil is wet, humidity just irradiates from it. So instead of spraying the cage down 2 or 3 times a day I am thinkin this will work out much better for me.


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