Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all. I'm planning on building a permanent cage for my six month old teguixin that grows, eats and then grows and eats some more. I have a good idea of dimensions 8l, 3w, 3h. I just would like to know if anyone knows what sort of floor material I can use with a big UTH or heat mat. She basks under a mercury vapor for a couple of hours a day, but, being a tegu she burrows most of the time and seems to love the UTH in the cage. Appetite and growth also went through the roof when I introduced it. I'm scared of the fire hazard using it on wood or plastic. Also, with the foot of mulch I'd like to use, what's a good way to set up a front opening cage with a deep substrate? I was thinking or just having doors on the top half of the front and the bottom half be dammed. Anyway, any images of big indoor tegu enclosures would be much appreciated.

When you say permanent cage, do you mean a cage that will be built as a permanent part of your home, or a long-term cage for your Tegu?

If you mean the latter, you'll need to make the cage modular if you ever plan to move it again. You won't be able to fit a cage that size through any normal doorway. My home is considered to be handicap accessable and I could not fit that cage in my house.

For flooring I would use a plywood base for structure and laminate FRP over it. FRP is extremely scratch resistant and transmits heat fairly well. I would cut a rectangle out of the plywood floor that is just a bit bigger than the UTH that you'll be using. Then laminate FRP over all of it and attach the UTH to the underside of the FRP.

The doors are straightforward. Just have them built upon top of a deep substrate dam like you mentioned. For a digging species like a Tegu I would probably avoid sliding doors, even though I prefer them in almost every other application.

Thanks, man. I have given a lot of thought on how this cage will break down to get from my workshop to my house. Unless I was willing to settle for 2 ft of width (I'm not) then I have no other choice. I may make it top- opening with viewing windows that do not serve as doors. The top would be solid, not perforated or screened with the exception of a fixture for lighting. Thanks for the advice on the UTH adaptation. I was really stressing about potential fire hazards, but pretty unwilling to make her go without a subterrainean heat source.
Regards.

i always make mine 30 inches tall. tegu's arent much for climbing. you can tip it on its back and fit it through a standard doorway.