Caging for small semi-arboreal lizards

[AB^]

Most people just fill cages for climbing lizard with sticks and think it is great. Well I disagree and there's an easy way to nearly triple the amount of usable space for your small climber.

First your supplies

Tank (pictured 29 Gal)

Double sided stickies

The most important item, the cork tile

A sharp box cutter will come in handy too

OK so the rest is pretty simple.
Apply the mounting squares to your cork tile

and atach it to the tank

Now that you're this far you'll need to grab that box cutter and cut a pice to fit the gap that is left

Now basically you have it down and continue around the cage

Now that the background is complete you can add some substrate

and some cage decor

and you're done. Now your small climber can actually climb and the cage is more suitable for them. This type of caging will work for many small species (larger lizards tend to destroy cork tile rather quickly). Podarcis,Sceleoporous, Many small skinks etc etc etc can make use of these walls. Even if you have sticky footed geckos or anolis sp. it still just makes the tank look nicer all the way around. Total cost here is about $35 - Cork tile can be expensive. I'll post some pix once I put some lizard in it to show the effectiveness of this method

 

[PuffDragon]

Definetly sweet and simple, Kev. I can never seem to find corkboard sheet though!!! I'd rather not have to order something so cheap online too. But awesome none the less. Hopefully someone will use this info!

 

[ApriliaRufo]

Thanks Kev, that's nice and to the point. One question. Where'd you get the cork tile?

 

[AB^]

I got the Cork tile from Michael's Arts & Crafts, I'm sure with some looking around you can find them a lot cheaper than the price I Payed (12.99 per 4 tiles :roll: )

 

[striggs]

that's a cool idea. nice way to cover the bare glass.

 

[DaveDragon]

Looks great!!! That's much better than the fish tank background we're using.

 

[greentriple]

And you get added insulation at no additional charge....

 

[nat]

that's a really awesome demonstration. Gave me some ideas. Thanks for posting!

 

[KoreanDeathKid]

that's pretty awesome, hey, do those things like rip, or get easily destroyed? i'm thinking about getting my monkey tail skink a new enclosure wiht a background, but cement and foam seems too much work and money so......

 

[AB^]

A medium/large prehensile tailed skink would thrash them eventually, But it would work for a while.
They are too expensive to replace often that's why i only suggest using this method for smaller species.
I know some monitor keepers that use shade cloth for climbing purposes that may be an option for you.

 

[playlboi]

that is looking sweet. i'm gonna get some cresteds pretty soon and that is a great idea for them.

 

[dicy]

the lizards whill love it

 

[KoreanDeathKid]

well, mine is a 2.5' long, so i guess that idea is out for me, lol
what do you plan on putting in there?

 

[Mike]

Nice idea, thanks for sharing.

 

[AB^]

well, mine is a 2.5' long, so i guess that idea is out for me, lol
what do you plan on putting in there?

Italian wall lizards (should be arriving thursday)

 

[AB^]

So they arrived just fine.

Here's a video that shows this male wall lizard making use of the background


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[dorton]

I really like the setup, and thats a cool looking little lizard.

 

[Mike]

Nice vid, it looks very happy.

 

[AB^]

Looks like the wall lizards are doing quite well in their cage.
Here's a gravid female

and here's a couple eggs she dropped

 

[shiftylarry]

I love it. Great post. For Extra large enclosures, you can also use lattice.