Mr. Magoo's new house

[aambumann]

Hi, all. Mr. Magoo ( red tegu ) is having a new home built. He has out grown his current residence. He has decided on a 8x4x3 ( due to height restriction ) basic ranch style floor plan for now, interior design changes are sure to follow. It has to built in 2 pieces and connected in the reptile room in order to navigate the stairs and doorways of the house. The bottom half consists of the floor and 1 foot walls lined with frp. I chose to use an external frame design made out of osb and 2x2's. I know, osb is not the ideal material, but 3/4 oak plywood was just out of the budget right now. Using an external frame, I like the looks of the interior better and it is easier to seal , and it will allow me to insulate the enclosure with styrofoam panels on the exterior if needed. The upper half will consist of the top/ ceiling and 2 foot walls sealed with dry loc, color and decor to be determined later. The front door area will be sliding glass doors. I plan on covering the exterior to make it look nice but have not decided on the material yet. The interior layout for lighting, humidity, wall decor, hides and such is still being thought out. I have not decided if I want to use substrate over the whole floor or section an area off, spot cleaning is so much easier on a non porous surface, but yet I would like him to have a natural habitat as much as possible. Will post pictures as we progress. Anyone is welcome to send questions, comments, suggestions or ideas. Thanks.

 

[aambumann]

A few more pics.

 

[chitodadon]

Nice

from Samsung Galaxy S3

 

[aambumann]

More pics. Getting closer to the finish. Had to down size the width to 3 feet due to size restrictions, so it is now 8x3x3. Mr. Magoo has moved in but there is still plenty to due to get it looking nicer. The interior is pretty minimal right now, wanted to see Mr. Magoos routine in the new cage to better understand placement of interior items. The exterior frame is going to be covered, just have not decided how I want to do it yet. I used plastic track for the sliding 1/4 inch plexi glass doors and found a really good product for gluing the track to wood, it is made by Dap and is low odor, fast curing, high strength. (Dap Dyna Grip Hp) Comes in a tube for a caulk gun, it is a really thick product so it takes a little effort to squeeze the trigger on the caulk gun, but I glued the track down, pressed it into place and let dry over night without any clamping or bracing.

 

[aambumann]

Oh yeah, I found some 3m grey round knob like adhesive hooks at Home Depot that work well for the handles for the sliding doors, got the 4 foot fluorescent fixture at Home Depot, it to was grey, so it all worked out well the knobs and light fixture match the color of the dry loc nicely.

 

[Aardbark]

Nice work. Mr Magoo will be happy.