Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was thinking about getting a few female leos. I want to build a cage that is light and opens from the front. I wanna put it on a shelf so weight is an issue. I was wondering if anyone could give me plans/ ideas for building a cage for leos. I was thinking about making a cage thats
3"L X 18"H X 18"W I was thinking about PVC plastic but i am not really sure how to work with it, heat it just dont have any knowledge about the stuff. If anyone could give me ideas i would appreciate it greatly.
material, blueprints, heating, lighting... ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING
Thanks
Joey

Hi, I hope you don't mind me piggybacking on your post, but I too want to build one, so maybe together we could ask the right questions to get the best one built. Mine is, is it better to use dark, opaque pvc panels, or something like clear lucite (I don't know if PVC comes in clear.) I've seen a lot of pvc enclosures that are black. But would geckos be happier with the "view" that clear glass or acrylic aquariums provide?

(my vote is for one to three sides clear, possible with the bottom 1-2 inches opaque. i think leos like to see out too)

Here's another place you might want to look for ideas. There are some truly obsessed folk over there
Cage & Habitat Design Forum

Ro Hill has a nice plan here

http://www.freewebs.com/herptips/multiunitenclosure.htm

It may be overkill for you if you only want to house a couple leos, but check it out. If you do decide to build this, make sure you attatch your light to each "shelf" prior to screwing the enclosure together, otherwise your screwdriver/ drill won't fit in the space. Also, if you live in a colder climate, I would recommend looking at a different heat source than the halogen lights, I am in WI and find I can't get a high enough temp, I did find that Menards sells the halo's with a red lens on them, they are special order though, so plan ahead. Just incase you need to leave the "heat on" 24/7.
Hope this helps a little.
Robin

Thanks for the cool link.
That looks like an awsome idea and i was thinking about just doing one of those. I wanted to house the females together instead of having a whole rack system. I was just thinking about one large cage, lots of hides and an attractive "PICTURE" tank.

I did however wanna put the tank on a shelf over my desk but i was worried that, that type of single unit tank might be a little heavy for a shelf.
Thanks
Joey

Maybe you could incorporate the "tank" into a hutch over your desk, it would be very easy to do. Would be very cool! You could make additional storage also. Probably to heavy to hang on the wall though. Also, I could not find the tracks that RO talked about, I had to make 2 passes on a table saw in order to mount the glass ( I used acrylic).
Good luck and post a pic!
Robin