Hi all - first time tegu owner here.
So long story short, I ordered a juvenile B+W Argentine and having previously owned pythons, bearded and Chinese water dragons, my definition of juvenile clashed with my tegu's definition, meaning the 100 gallon tank the wife's yellow belly sliders used to live in would not last him the year or two I figured I had to construct a proper enclosure.
The idea I ultimately came up with was scoring a 3x7 foot water trough from a farm and feed store for $200.
They're two feet high as well and light enough that the wife could easily help me carry it inside and it will fit through standard sized doors.
It has a large, rounded lip which allows lights to be clipped onto it, obviously won't leak or rust and gives Rex twenty one square feet of space to explore, dig, bask and do his thing.
Working from home, I've got it set up in my office so Rex can easily watch me from his basking rock.
Other than him exploring around and testing to see if he could climb the sides - sigh, that was a week of non-stop scratching of claws on metal - he's happily settled in and doesn't freak out about me coming at him from above.
For me personally, this was a great solution until I can make him a proper set up, then again, I may build a ramp or some steps and simply allow him to climb in and out at his leisure once he's too big to hide under the furniture.
The only drawback I see for others - beyond the appearance, although the wife has vowed to paint the exterior - is getting it home as this is something you definitely need a pickup truck for (rent one at Home Depot, Lowes, U-Haul, etc).
So what do you think - good, cheap, effective alternative till you can get a real enclosure for your tegu?
So long story short, I ordered a juvenile B+W Argentine and having previously owned pythons, bearded and Chinese water dragons, my definition of juvenile clashed with my tegu's definition, meaning the 100 gallon tank the wife's yellow belly sliders used to live in would not last him the year or two I figured I had to construct a proper enclosure.
The idea I ultimately came up with was scoring a 3x7 foot water trough from a farm and feed store for $200.
They're two feet high as well and light enough that the wife could easily help me carry it inside and it will fit through standard sized doors.
It has a large, rounded lip which allows lights to be clipped onto it, obviously won't leak or rust and gives Rex twenty one square feet of space to explore, dig, bask and do his thing.
Working from home, I've got it set up in my office so Rex can easily watch me from his basking rock.
Other than him exploring around and testing to see if he could climb the sides - sigh, that was a week of non-stop scratching of claws on metal - he's happily settled in and doesn't freak out about me coming at him from above.
For me personally, this was a great solution until I can make him a proper set up, then again, I may build a ramp or some steps and simply allow him to climb in and out at his leisure once he's too big to hide under the furniture.
The only drawback I see for others - beyond the appearance, although the wife has vowed to paint the exterior - is getting it home as this is something you definitely need a pickup truck for (rent one at Home Depot, Lowes, U-Haul, etc).
So what do you think - good, cheap, effective alternative till you can get a real enclosure for your tegu?
