New enclosure build

[snibborsirk]

so my dad volunteered to build me a new tegu enclosure. He's retired and looks for projects to keep him busy and out of the house - so he thankfully jumped right on it when I mentioned needing a new bigger cage! So far he's finished the stand - just needs to stain/clear coat it and put the cabinet doors on. The cage is going to be approximately 90" long by 42" deep by 40" tall. Stand is obviously the same length and width and around 32" tall. can't wait to get this thing in the house and setup in my office. My office has morphed into more of a man cave with craft beer and now tegus...and various other manly things! Unfortunately my office is only 13'x14', with two sets of French doors, a wall of windows, and a large desk as I work from home a decent amount, so I squeezed every inch I could out of the area left to put the new enclosure. I'll try to post new pics as my pops sends them to me.

 

[snibborsirk]

I figure if I happen to get more tegus and/or I'm able to successfully breed these darn things, I should be able to covert the stand to one large or two smaller enclosures fairly easily. Or I can put a mattress in there to sleep when the wife sees how big it is!

 

[snibborsirk]

Here's the new progress made on the enclosure. Coming along nicely. My dad is an ex defensive end and it makes him look tiny so I guess that's good for the tegus!

 

[snibborsirk]

Staining and clear coating the outside now. Going to match my office furniture perfectly I think. My dad designed the top 1ft of the enclosure to be a fully enclosed canopy that is removable in two pieces/halves. It will have a couple vents in the back for airflow just as the sides of the cage will. At the bottom of the canopy will also be a removable heavy duty screen layer that covers the cage to place all lights and heat sources. In other words the canopy will hide the light/heat sources and the screen will protect the tegus from touching them all while keeping the enclosure sealed as though it were one piece.

 

[Walter1]

Will the unit rest on floor or raised closer to eye level?

 

[snibborsirk]

Its going to be around eye level. the first pic is actually the stand - the cabinet doors just haven't been put on yet. The stand is approx 32" tall and the enclosure itself is around 42" i believe - so it will be just over 6' tall total when its fully assembled.

 

[Walter1]

Like an interactive aquarium. Just about any lizard in the world is afraid of things looking down on them, that's why I think tegus tame so fast when sitting on the floor with them. I think keeping them at or near eye level speeds up trust and reinforces it. It doesn't hurt that they'll look stunning as well as they grow into their new digs.

 

[snibborsirk]

Yes - its an adventure most of the time now having to reach in from above to get them out. As soon as they are out they are perfectly calm - def do not like me hovering over them in the cage!!!

 

[snibborsirk]

Almost done!!! Just need to seal up the inside, add the vents, and attach the door locks. Can't wait to set it up and get it decorated for my two!

 

[snibborsirk]

The almond color FRP paneling was installed today. Cage is finished and should be here Friday afternoon!

 

[Walter1]

Fantastic. Can hardly wait to see them in the "tegarium".

 

[beantickler]

Looks great! Very nice work.

 

[Jrock23]

Looks very nice....

 

[snibborsirk]

Cage was delivered and finally set up. My two are still acclimating but love exploring the large enclosure. Extremely happy with how it turned out. Just have to completely rearrange my office now!

 

[Jrock23]

Wow, this is awesome...

 

[Walter1]

Wow, Snib, it's beautiful. A great centerpiece and tegu home.

 

[snibborsirk]

Feel stupid for not thinking of this sooner, but I picked up a 1 gallon sprayer from Home Depot today to mist my large enclosure. A hell of a lot easier than the spray bottle! Only took a few pumps and a couple minutes to mist the entire enclosure evenly. Figured I'd share this in case anyone else is tired of the old spray bottle like me. FYI - Home Depot also has the smaller sprayers that are almost identical to the reptile specific ones at pet stores - and at almost half the price.

 

[Maggie87]

I need your dad to come help me build one lol

 

[Walter1]

Yup, maybe "PappaSnib Tegu Home , Inc.".

 

[Maggie87]

Yup, maybe "PappaSnib Tegu Home , Inc.".

Yes! I'm still trying to figure out where to even start with an enclosure. Good gravy