Tegu cage building thread

[rrcoolj]

" melamine is a no no", where did you hear this? melamine is the best thing you can use for reptile tanks. it may be alittle expensive. but you basically just screw it together and call it done, theres no priming, painting ect. it has a water proof membrane on it. so who ever said it was a "no no". is seriously mistaken. and im pretty sure you used OSB board. which will soak water up like a sponge and rot, so keep an eye on that

Are you basing this off personal experience? This is information I get from other people on various forums. Based on what I have heard people who have built melamine enclosures eventually switch to plywood. Yes melamine is very water resistant but it is very heavy and can be expensive. The thing that people seem to not like is that because of the material you have to constantly re-silicone the enclosure because the silicone doesn't adhere to it well. There are a couple of other reasons I can't remember right now. I was told that plywood is better in the long run. I also think you might be right about me using OSB board which I regret to say is a particle board. Hopefully the killz and drylok will do it's job and I won't have to worry about mishaps.

 

[pondguy]

yes im basing this off personal experience. plus a friend of mine use to breed RTB's and all his cages were made of melamine. and really, its not that expensive. when you add up the cost of ply wood, primer, paint ect its more then a sheet of melamine, plus its 3x the work.

 

[rrcoolj]

Well a bit of an update on Riley and the enclosure. He is doing very well and eating but he seems to be slowing down a bit for his up coming hibernation. I added more mulch which he LOVES. He likes to bury himself in the mulch and I actually think he sleeps more under the mulch than in his hide which is filled now with the coco fiber from his old tank. He has since dug many small burrows in the cage. Humidity remains very high(never dropping below 70% and mostly in the 80's). I don't know if it's necessarily a bad thing. The cage does hold humidity very well though as well as heat. Another thing I miss seeing and i see now that he has a larger home is the way he uses his front legs to smooth a path to his hide. I have seen him do this many times. I am not exactly sure why he does it but he is very specific about it. Some pics of the enclosure and the last two are of the burrows he dug.

 

[snakeguy101]

wow, looks great. I bet he is happy! how big is he now?

 

[HPIZZLE]

i recently added mulch to my BTS cage and she loves makin the burrows.

riley looks awesome man. sweet cage.

 

[rrcoolj]

@snakeguy101- thanks I think he is pretty happy. Last measurement was last week and he was 37" if I remember right.

@HIPIZZLE- yep I am convinced that all burrowing lizards really need is a nice deep substrate. He doesn't climb on the branches at all. I think I will just add more dirt and maybe a few pipes for him to go in.

 

[olllie]

Wauw! Now thats suitable for a big tegu!
IMO its a sign he uses his front paws to smoothen the way into his den.
He has the room to act more naturally.
Its a new surrounding for him so he takes care to be able to 'dive' into his
hideout. You gave him the space to do so.
Very nice.

 

[Citrinellus]

Very nice, Riley looks fantastic. The enclosure came out great too, I especially like the water dish. I'll have to remember that for when my tegu puts on some size. How many cubic feet of mulch did it take to fill that enclosure?

 

[rrcoolj]

@Ollies- thank you very much!

@Citrinellus- Thanks, the water dish is just a kitty litter pan. It is bg enough for him to soak in and keep water in for a long time yet not so big that it takes up too much floor space. Believe it or not the tank isn't full with mulch yet but were getting there. I have added a total of like 10 bags of cypress mulch which is like 20 cubic feet. It can probably hold like 10 more cubic feet of substrate.

 

[RiskEE]

lookin real good