Enclosure weight on second floor?

[Rebecca Stout]

Hi guys, I'm a new owner and I am wanting to build a 8x4x4 tegu enclosure. But ... Im puzzled about a few things. Such as ... how do you build or get an enclosure that size into a house and into the room. I mean I'm not so crazy about the thought of "construction" going on in a room. Lots of mess and even damage can happen. I have a huge concern about weight. We are planning to put the tegu on the second floor of a home with us. The house is nice. But its from the 70's and the floors arent as solid/stable as a new one that is built well. If you jump up and down .. things shake lol. I'm thinking though that its fine to have a heavy couch with 250lb + men sitting all one it so ... Anyway, I'm scared of that. If I build one I decided on plywood and plexy instead of melamine and glass which will reduce a lot of weight. I plan on only haveing 8-12 inches of bedding. Thoughts?

Also, if there is a company that builds good tegu enclosures for prices that aren't outrageous, I need to know now because we've started eyeing materials and want to get started. I'll put up a picture or two of what we found on the web that we like. I thought it might be good for someone with experience to eye it up to make sure they are okay.

 

[Rebecca Stout]

I was looking at this one, but not with melamine or glass. Just for a basic idea to get going...

My son liked how these doors worked better. He is worried about sliding doors getting stuff in the runners and just stupid things like that. I'm kind of at a loss really.

 

[Rebecca Stout]

Here's a real important question. We are scared that if the enclosure is coated with layers of drylock it will be rough ... and that the tegu could rub his nose on it? So what about doing the whole drylock thing from the bottom of the doors down (or a bit higher), then have just one thin coat of drylock on the rest of the cage and paint it over with something that will be smooth? Anyway, I'm just worried about texture a lot.

 

[marydd]

I have dry lock covering the whole cage for my mangrove monitor as well as my carpet python and it has never been an issue. I love it. Keeps moisture out of the wood and I added cement coloring to make it a nice almost burnt orange.

 

[marydd]

Here is an enclosure fully covered on the inside with dry lock. Behind the ladis you can see the orange dry lock. My critters rub up against it every day and have never been scratched.

 

[Rebecca Stout]

Look at that! That is beautiful!! May I ask what lives in there?
Thank you for answering. I feel better now! One less thing to worry about in trying to finalize my thoughts on how to do this.

 

[marydd]

My mangrove monitor lived in there but he passed so now my carpet python is in it.

 

[Josh]

That is a great looking enclosure, @marydd !

 

[SamBobCat]

Hate to revive an old dead thread, but I was just wondering if you got it figured out? I've got a huge enclosure on the second floor of my house and it worked out just fine for me. I even sleep on it! However, my house is pretty new (somewhere around 10 years or so old I think) so the architecture is definitely going to be quite a bit different. The cage I have is completely wood with some tempered glass windows and it's really not all that heavy.

 

[Roadkill]

I generally build my own, and with very much the same concerns as you have in mind, Rebecca, I build mine to be modular, so that they can be taken apart and moved, if need be. As for their weight....well, I'll share a story with you. I have a large collection of herps, not just in number but in size, that includes a lot of aquatics. Water will always outweigh other set-ups (unless you're building with solid stone...), and I once had an apartment in a really old walk-up. Must have had a combined weight of about 1000-1500 gallons up there. Never had a problem. However, one can never guarantee the quality of the construction of their house without tearing out a lot of walls, so if you're still concerned, try to place the enclosure close to load-bearing walls.

 

[Rebecca Stout]

It's a worry, although I try not to let it. This definately helps. As far as we can tell there are no issues (but gosh, until detectable damage is done, who knows). I can push the enclosure around a tiny bit (slide it). And from what I can sense, this thing is lighter than a bed... It's made up of 2x4's, 1/2 inch ply wood, and a large heavy window. I am keeping four large bags of cypress mulch in there (about 8 inches deep). I have it flush to the ground for several reasons and one of which is because of the floor. I figure it would disperse the weight.

I have reread your post a few times Roadkill just because it makes me feel so much better lol.