New 8X3X3 - Talk about a spoiled tegu...

[Guest]

Dartos now officially eats, sleeps and lives nicer than I do. The 8 foot enclosure needed some work but it was well worth the effort. He was 22 inches today when i measured him and is still growing like a weed. The enclosure is lit with two 100watt powersuns and a tight beam 100 watt basking spot lamp. The powersuns are expensive in stores but I have gotten my last 3 on ebay all for under $25 each, you just have to check from time to time and stock up when you get the chance. Let me know what you guys think or if you have any advice. Thanks!

 

[Bwindi]

NOICE.

 

[slideaboot]

Sweet cage! You build it? Or?

 

[Guest]

Didnt build it. Its an older neodesha that I found on craigslist. The cage itself is incredibly light but the two 4 foot glass doors are pretty heavy (and fragile - already broke part of one). The tegu seems to love it, its a big upgrade from the 55 gallon he spent the first month and a half of his life in.

 

[Guest]

That is an amazing cage!!!

 

[Dom3rd]

Very nice!!!!

 

[JohnMatthew]

Awesome enclosure, great yawn shot too!

 

[isdrake]

That's really nice. I would more stuff to climb on. It seems like they love to climb then they are small. I think it's look a little dark but that might just be the photo.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the complements! The camera I was using made the photo's appear a bit dark. I tried a few different cage enrichment items to see if Dartos would climb on them but he never did. He seems to only like to climb on me, which I no longer allow since his nails are now capable of doing some damage. It is amazing how fast these guys grow in their first 2 months of life, I feel like he gets bigger every time I see him.

 

[Dom3rd]

To help with the nails you can always get some slate tiles to put in the enclosure and as he walks on them they will help with his nails. I have done that with mine and it has helped a little bit.

 

[james.w]

awesome enclosure. i am curious how you will go about cleaning/changing the mulch. i have mine in a 40 breeder aquarium and just spot clean, but will eventually have to replace all the mulch with new. with an enclosure this big how do you maintain the mulch?

 

[Toby_H]

Nice enclosure!!!

My 4' male seems quite content with his 8' x 3' x 3' so I'm sure your youngin is loving it!

I agree that some "clutter" in there will hold some advantages. My adult likes to climb things and often will perch himself high in his environment. Also breaking the line of sight within the enclosure will give him reason to explore his enclosure.

My method of cleaning a large enclosure is to use a plastic grocery bag to grab a large handful of soiled mulch. I'm not shy about removing mulch and remove a larger handful than seems necessary to leave little to no waste behind. Once a year I replace all of the mulch and at any time during the year I feel the need I add more mulch. This method has worked for me quite well so far.

 

[Guest]

That is a cool looking enclosure.

 

[isdrake]

awesome enclosure. i am curious how you will go about cleaning/changing the mulch. i have mine in a 40 breeder aquarium and just spot clean, but will eventually have to replace all the mulch with new. with an enclosure this big how do you maintain the mulch?

Tegus are large digging lizards. There will be a lot of mulch and there will be quite some work to replace it. But that's something you will have to consider before getting a large lizard.