Tegu Enclosure.. How am i doing?

[EchoTheLeoTort]

okay so I came into a little bit of money after my birthday and I decided that by the time I need to update my tegu's cage into a bigger one, it'd be dead winter here in south dakota. Sooo I decided to build while i can. I had a blonde moment and when home depot asked me if i needed my wood cut, and i said i needed 4 pieces of 6x4 plywood, and i needed one piece cut in half so i had 2 pieces of 4x4. The only thing i would of wished i could have changed was made it 6 ft long by 4 ft wide by 2 foot tall. Instead i have a giant 4 ft tall cage... whoops I have no carpentry skills whats so ever so I am aware some boards may be a little crooked but i did my best! Heres what i have so far. I don't have the door cut and the windows installed so thats why the front panel is missing. Oh and here's a recent pic of Cato, the soon to be resident of Cato Condo

 

[Levi the Leopard]

That is a beast of a cage!

I have no lizard experience but these thoughts come to mind..
You could take the wood back to be re cut for 2'height. They should do it no problem.
Or, can you make a second story run along the back wall? More floor space and it will help fill up the behemoth box

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[EchoTheLeoTort]

The way i see it is i can deck it out and make it awesome looking inside im thinking possible camoflauge painting, hanging vines from the ceiling and other plants, a big log somewhere, a
Cave on one end, a big hide on the other, basking rock, and other decor. The possibilities are endless

 

[jtrux]

I like it, I especially like the idea of having a second story for basking and increase square footage. You should never need another cage. Is it in the room you plan on keeping it for good because I doubt it will be easy to reposition. Looks great!

 

[Tom]

Very cool. Looking good so far. When I had mine indoors I made him a humid cave by cutting a hole in the side of an 18 gallon dark green tote and filling it up to door hole level with peat. He loved that thing. In it all the time. He always had perfect sheds.

 

[Millerlite]

Looks good, I like how it's like right in the middle of your room. Just taking up loads of space! Like a try reptile owner. When your enclosures take a good amount of room out of room... You have a reptile

 

[EchoTheLeoTort]

Haha thanks guys! The story is is that we assembled what we could in the garage which was basically the 2x4 frame and the top and bottom panel. Then we had to move inside to my room where the cage will be cause it couldnt fit into my room completely assembled. Its in the middle of the room so i'd have room to work i have this stupid organ of my grandmas that needs to come out so i can fit the cage in along the backwall. Its comin together really well

 

[Millerlite]

What I did for my bearded dragon cafe was get big pieces of drift wood and bolt them to the back and side walls to makes levels for them to climb on. Then I had a high basking area under that was a hide and just bunch of other fun stuff for them

 

[EchoTheLeoTort]

I have a plan drawn out that will look spectacular when finished. I want driftwood for a log but its impossible to find in south dakota. If i ordered one online its $70 bucks just for the wood and then another 60-100 for shipping. That shits crazy to me lol. I might sneak down to a river and see if i find anything but im no where near an ocean

 

[Millerlite]

Looks on river beds, I like freshwater drift wood over the ocean, but I've had both. Just boil it if you do find any

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Come on girl, when are you going to finish it so we can see it???

Just teasin' but I really look forward to seeing this decorated and set up

 

[EchoTheLeoTort]

here is a sneak peak. I did the camo painting yesterday and got such a bad migraine from the spray paint i quit. Today i measured the windows and started to cut them out for the door. I go really slow because i have no experience so it takes me longer to find solutions to how to do things. And guess what.. I have no table saw. Im working with a jigsaw, which is basically a saw you guide on your own so making straight lines sucks :/ and i have a couple drills thats about it for tools. I have to keep running back to the stores too to buy more supplies i'm as noob as they come. But its comin along! All thats left is mounting the front panel and door and then laying a tarp down and decorating. Decorating might have to be put on hold due to cash funds but luckily my tegu is just now a foot long so i have a couple months to spare

 

[Jd3]

I have a plan drawn out that will look spectacular when finished. I want driftwood for a log but its impossible to find in south dakota. If i ordered one online its $70 bucks just for the wood and then another 60-100 for shipping. That shits crazy to me lol. I might sneak down to a river and see if i find anything but im no where near an ocean

I live in South Dakota... Lots of driftwood here. Where are you located?

 

[jaizei]

here is a sneak peak. I did the camo painting yesterday and got such a bad migraine from the spray paint i quit. Today i measured the windows and started to cut them out for the door. I go really slow because i have no experience so it takes me longer to find solutions to how to do things. And guess what.. I have no table saw. Im working with a jigsaw, which is basically a saw you guide on your own so making straight lines sucks :/ and i have a couple drills thats about it for tools. I have to keep running back to the stores too to buy more supplies i'm as noob as they come. But its comin along! All thats left is mounting the front panel and door and then laying a tarp down and decorating. Decorating might have to be put on hold due to cash funds but luckily my tegu is just now a foot long so i have a couple months to spare

A straight edge of some sort and 2 clamps make a decent enough guide.

 

[EchoTheLeoTort]

I have a plan drawn out that will look spectacular when finished. I want driftwood for a log but its impossible to find in south dakota. If i ordered one online its $70 bucks just for the wood and then another 60-100 for shipping. That shits crazy to me lol. I might sneak down to a river and see if i find anything but im no where near an ocean

I live in South Dakota... Lots of driftwood here. Where are you located?
[/quote

Sioux Falls. I made plans with a friend to go out to the river tomorrow in sioux falls and brandon till i find the perfect log. hopefully i can sneak it home. I'm just worried about the possibility of bringing bugs in. I'll have to figure something out. I'm not sure how you boil the log if its really big to whoever suggested that. Consider me "blonde"

 

[AustinASU]

It'd be cool to add fake rock wall to it using foam and epoxy resin pretty cheap to do just like at diy fish aquarium backgrounds.

 

[Jd3]

I have a plan drawn out that will look spectacular when finished. I want driftwood for a log but its impossible to find in south dakota. If i ordered one online its $70 bucks just for the wood and then another 60-100 for shipping. That shits crazy to me lol. I might sneak down to a river and see if i find anything but im no where near an ocean

I live in South Dakota... Lots of driftwood here. Where are you located?
[/quote

Sioux Falls. I made plans with a friend to go out to the river tomorrow in sioux falls and brandon till i find the perfect log. hopefully i can sneak it home. I'm just worried about the possibility of bringing bugs in. I'll have to figure something out. I'm not sure how you boil the log if its really big to whoever suggested that. Consider me "blonde"

Lots of driftwood to be found on the big Sioux and splitrock. Less in town In sf as they clean up the banks.

The local lakes have some too. Alvin, wall, etc. I've found tons for aquariums in the last.

Think creative. I often get pieces and cut the back flat so they fit flush against the wall. A simple hand saw will do it. Thou a chain saw is faster.

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You can also spray with dilute bleach and rinse. Then allow to air dry for a few days in the sun. Bleach evaporates and leaves behind salts. Rinse again and it is safe. Using a dechlorinaotr to rinse would be extra cautious but totally unnecessary.

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[EchoTheLeoTort]

Okay everyone. All my decor is ordered so give me a couple weeks and youll get to see the unveiling