# A little cage help.



## Zoomin31 (Jun 28, 2011)

So I am planning to build a cage for a single tegu I am thinking 8x3x3. My thought is it will be in my snake room which is already in major use so I can't build an enclosure in there. Also its in my basement which is a tight corner to cut for a cage that size. I am thinking about making two four foot sections carry them in slide them together with some sort of device that would pull it tight together. Not quite sure what I would use but I will look around. Any helpful ideas on a good way to do this would appreciated.


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## montana (Jun 28, 2011)

Do the work in your basement and assemble in your [snake room ]

Maybe change the height dimension to 30 inches so it will fit through doors..


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## Zoomin31 (Jun 28, 2011)

montana said:


> Do the work in your basement and assemble in your [snake room ]
> 
> Maybe change the height dimension to 30 inches so it will fit through doors..


My basement was completely finished here recently. The wife dosen't want me to turn it into a shop all cutting and painting needs to be done in the garage. I guess I could just bring it all in when its ready to be screwed together. I just thought to 4ft sections would be easier to move if I ever buy another house. I have three snake racks in there so its kinda cramped once the tegu cage is finished I can stack on it or build a bp rack ontop of it. I wish I could take over here exercise room lol put that stuff in the garage. I already have a snake room and a rat room she won't give me a third. Anybody wanna buy a couple kids lol


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## james.w (Jun 28, 2011)

I would try and build it the best you can and then bring in the pieces and screw it together in the room like you said. Two 4' sections would work as well as long as you caulk the seam once you put it together.


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## rrcoolj (Jun 28, 2011)

What I did was I built each side outside then assembled them in my room(which is in the basement).


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## wallace&amp;mick (Jun 28, 2011)

i had this problem i was building a 9x3x3 and when you went down stairs is was a uturn basically so i build it with predrilled hole and no glue built the full thing then left it for 24 hours took it all apart and then took it into the roo and put it back together with contact adhesive then painted it black with acrylic paint then i used yacht varnish to seal the wood and paints and went over every seam with aquarium silicone added my runner and glass then turned my 2 250 watt ceramic on left it for about a month and the cage is solid no fumes and on the plus side the varnish one cured is marine safe so its none toxic and very very tough i have a 4x2x2 thats now on its 4th year and only thing wrong is thecorners when its been getting moved ( several times) are chipped


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## Zoomin31 (Jun 28, 2011)

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Still up in the air on my build design. I am uncertain on how to do the windows though I plan on using tempered glass. I am not sure how to make that part work?


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## rrcoolj (Jun 29, 2011)

^Yea the doors can be tricky. I used tempered glass also and bought my tracks from rockler.com. Placed them on the top and bottom parts on the front of my enclosure, measured, then bought the glass according to the measurement. You want 2 pieces one like 2x longer than the other.


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## Maro1 (Jun 29, 2011)

I used sliding glass doors on mine. For most installations you would only need plate glass as opposed to tempered. Your glass supply can tell you at what point they recommend tempered. plate is still very tough and in all the cages I have I have tempered in only one. Tempered is about twice the cost and if you are not in a situation where the door can be dropped plate glass will be tough enough.


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## rrcoolj (Jun 29, 2011)

Woops I did use plate not tempered. Plate was much cheaper.


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## wallace&amp;mick (Jun 29, 2011)

the sliding doors i have for my 9x3 front are 6MM tempered gass and they are both the same size half the size of the front but with added 1 inch for over lap and they work great i got my runners off of ebay


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## Maro1 (Jun 29, 2011)

Tempered glass has some benefits. The main one is that if it breaks it does so in a million little pices rather than shards of glass. However never sand or try to grind tempered as it will pop like a balloon or rather explode!


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## Toby_H (Jun 29, 2011)

I used tempered glass for my doors... if, in worst case scenerio, the glass breaks I surely do not want large chucnks falling and slicing my arm or my lizard in half. Also, I was comfortable using thinner tempered glass than I would have been standard glass.


Building a two piece enclsoure shouldn't be too awefully difficult. if the open end of each side has a lip, that lip can be predrilled with matching holes then anchored together with a bolt & wing nut (use washers to protect the wood). If the two pieces were built to stack vertically, then I would suggest a simple pin & groove set up held in place under it's own weight.


Lastly... I keep my adult male B&W Tegu in an 8' x 3' x 3.5' enclosure in the winter and a 6' x 12' outdoor enclsoure in the summer. Having seen how much my guy uses his space in the summer and after seeing how antsie he gets in the indoor enclsoure in spring, I think you and your tegu will be much happier with a larger year round enclosure....


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## rrcoolj (Jun 29, 2011)

^I agree about the space consept. My tegu is in s 8x4 and she's a female and is full grown around 3ft. Still she gets really fidgety and will start clawing on the door and vent of her enclosure if I don't let her out. These are extremely inquisitive animals and I know my girl loves to simply explore and find new things. Time inside her cage is just as important as time outside her cage.


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## Zoomin31 (Jun 29, 2011)

That's awesome I wish I could do a cage that big outside or any cage outside. I live in wyoming and even in the summer its just not all that warm.


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## montana (Jun 29, 2011)

Up here in Montana it was 85 today and I took Darwin out to get some sun and fresh air ..

Supposed to be 43 degrees tonight [about normal] so I have to bring mine in in every night ..


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