HeatherN
Member
- Messages
- 429
- Location
- San Luis Obispo, CA
Soon, i will be moving into a pet friendly townhouse with my animal-loving friends. It will have an actual backyard!! Though it will be pretty small and i want to leave as much room as possible for the two medium dogs. This expansion of living space and new backyard provide new housing possibilities for me just in time, in my opinion. Tarot is starting to fit a little snuggly for my taste into his 4x2x2'.
Tegu Enclosure:
Sorry for the huge post, and thank you for taking the time to click and read! I'd love hearing about anyones experiences building any sort of related project. Criticism welcome. Have a good day
I plan to house my small rabbit and numerous breeding pairs of button quail outside in a type of hybrid coop/hutch. i'm also toying with the idea of making a rodent rack to keep outside as well. While i'm taking on building projects, i figured i'd start on Tarot's adult (and hopefully final) cage. I was hoping to draw on other people's experiences in building these types of enclosures to help me. i have pretty decent carpentry experience, but i'm no master. I'd appreciate any form of advice or input on anything.Tegu Enclosure:
Since i live in an apartment, i like to preserve space whenever humanly possible. i was hoping to build an enclosure that is reasonable to transport but is still multifunctional. Tarot's current cage serves as a kind of table and sits flat on the ground. It's pretty much a box with plexiglass doors.
Now, the extreme giant argentine is getting bigger (and stronger) so i'll probably need framed doors.. i would also prefer to keep it without any form of "legs" just to make it a tad easier to transport. Preferably, it could serve as a surface to place other cages on top of. i have some questions i'd really appreciate input on!
-Should i stick with a wire top? lately he's been jumping at the ligh and scratching himself up. Or perhaps mount a light on the inside with vents in the sides, but how would i keep him from jumping into the un-covered bulb?
-Two feet high should be fine for an adult tegu, right?
-If i wanted to make a sort of shelf under the main enclosure, do you think the weight from above would be fine?
Outdoor Enclosure:What i intend to house in this kind of combo multi-cage thingy include a single rabbit (non-dwarf), four-or-so pairs of button quail (separately), and perhaps 3 groups of breeder mice. For those not familiar with button quail, they dont need more space than maybe a 7 gal aquarium and are terrestrial. Full grown, they are around the size of a small fist.
Ideally, the whole construction would minimize floor space taken up to take up as little backyard space as possible. I was thinking about housing the rabbit in a long cage at the bottom and have all those small enclosures up above that. The quail would probably be best housed the same way they house caged chicken. The mice would probably go in some kind of rack system. I'm still in the brainstorming phase. Questions! ^.^
-I would like the thing to be covered to protect it from the (mild) elements, should i just extend the top piece to make a kind of awning? Or just throw a tarp over that bad boy?
-Would mice be ok in the typical Mouse rack with bins and wire tops outside? i was planning to just build the style where the tubs slide into shelves topped with wire. I did a horrible job explaining that. Any alternate designs that would serve me better or links to good how-to guides on building racks?
-Being outside, this should probably be on legs, yes? how high?
Sorry for the huge post, and thank you for taking the time to click and read! I'd love hearing about anyones experiences building any sort of related project. Criticism welcome. Have a good day