It is the cage I built when I bought my house, I designed it by its inside dimensions (not external dimensions) of 10ft by 5ft by 4ft. If I would have known when I designed it that she would continue to grow so much I might have gone a few feet longer, and wider.

The cage is almost 1 inch thick plywood with a layer of fiber reinforced plastic lining all but the top 1 ft inside (some other cages since then have been completely lined inside). The cage is painted using interior latex paint in 4 layers. I used a 5ft by 3 ft double layer glass replacement window for a door turned sideways.

The bottom has 2 ft deep of dirt with various very large pieces of corkbark some buried, some on the surface. I used several imported European hardwood pieces to make basking spots (one is only sometimes used).

The cage has a plywood light assembly that has 5 ceramic assemblies mounted to it so that I can adjust the amount of needed heat. One one end is another light assembly hanging to allow either use of the other basking spot or additional heat.

There is a large cement trough on one end with water to drink or to at least partially crawl into.

It was built in pieces before I bought the house, and assembled in the basement in one day except a few finishing ideas. It sits on several cinderblocks to get it up off of the floor, so it is limited in how high it could be.

The entire lining (FRP) is sealed with silicone 2.

I have some older pictures around on disc (computer crash a while back).

She has a few burrows, one goes under a section of plywood under the basking area, another goes into a cool side under another section of plywood. The center burrow can fit her entire body inside about arms reach away from its entrance.

The light assemblies in my larger cages are hung from chains and eyelets designed to hold alot of weight (cant remember if it was 75 or 150 lbs each). They are set up to allow adjusting of the light assembly in height and the angle it shines at (after all the surface may not be very flat underneath). This also allow them to climb the light assembly and get a higher point of view sometimes.

[ Show Entire Thread ]