Better introduce myself and my Tegu

[breezewon]

Hi Guys

I have been learning as much from all of you as I can as a lurker so now its time to come out of my shell as it were.

This is Kesha...who i now believe is a boy. However, when i got her back in february and we were bonding, i was sweet talking her in such a humiliating and ridiculous way that I decided there is no way this animal was another guy

Got her final enclosure finished up a few weeks ago. Still have some finishing touches to get done but its pretty much complete It is 4 ft wide, 7 foot long and about 42 inches tall. I had just finished a home project which required the removal of a perfectly good sliding door, so i tore that apart and used the glass for the enclosure. It has a pretty decent sized door at the end that opens for both of us to get in and out.

I know that tegus love to rearrange things. At the moment, she is small enough (little over 2 ft) that she seems to leave everything alone. So maybe all the decorations will work out, and maybe they won't. I decided if this enclosure was going to be huge, it better be nice looking.

I am still working on the waterfall. the hoses are all hidden now. I have plenty more pictures but i haven't transferred them all off the phone yet.

 

[WildlifeLover429]

Are you serious, Man your enclosure is gorgeous! I would love to know how how you made the Aztec or Mayan temple thing in your enclosure! Your tegu is a cutie too

 

[Rhetoric]

Wow crazy! Thats awesome, how long did it take you to put that together? Welcome!

 

[Kebechet]

Oh my god, your enclosure is incredible! Can you share the process with us that you used to make the fake rocks for the bricks and everything? Tell us how it works!

 

[james.w]

It looks amazing, but I see a few problems that may arise. All the stuff inside takes away from the actual space the Tegu will have. Is the top screen? If so, you are gonna have some issues keeping heat and humidity inside. The last thing is as cool as the waterfall is, it more than likely won't last long. Tegus love to poop in the water and unless you have an awesome filter on that thing it just won't work out.

Sorry to be the only one bringing out the negative, but I think it will help you and your Gu out in the long run.

 

[breezewon]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I will happily put together a bit of info on how I did it. I spent a pretty long time carving styrofoam into bricks. Then I mixed up some very thin grout and layered it on progressively thicker. I picked a grout color that would let me use the gray dry lock as a highlighting color and dry brushed the top of them.

The top and front are both glass and so fast so good for temperatures.

the pond is pretty well filtered, mind you probably not well enough to handle a giant tegu dump. But, thats why it is drainable. So far, and its only been a couple weeks, she stillonly poops in the bath tub so im hoping that continues.

As far as usable space goes, the pond is really the only thing not usable about the floor plan. Her basking area is the roof of a large hide box. But, like I said before, if she doesnt like things and starts moving it around, I will let her win. Im just making an attempt at having something less boring.

 

[james.w]

Sounds like you did your research before you built it. Way to go. I take back what I said, hopefully it works out for you and your Tegu.

 

[breezewon]

I hope it works out because it ready is neat but I understand I may have to remove some or all of the stuff that makes me happy if it doesnt work for her...but here is hoping!

 

[herpgirl2510]

Looks great very impressive. As he gets older you may have to adjust things but my guy is 3 feet I have alot of hanging plants and large fieldstone hides he doesn't destroy uch. I make sure he gets oueveryday for several hours though sometimes all day.

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You should take a full shot with the tegu in it it will give better idea how large it is.