Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone, thanks to anyone who can offer either advice, help, or constructive criticism lol. Sorry for the low quality design, it was the best I could do with photoshop but it gives the basic idea.

I am receiving a full grown gila male shortly and want to build him a really nice cage. This is what I came up with. I am thinking of making it out of some really nice birch wood or something other then melamine to give it a nice look. I know gilas need somewhat high humidity, but if there is standing water in a bowl and not much direct water to wood contact, do you think this would be a problem if i don't seal the wood. I don't want to use chemicals.

Cage would be roughtly 49" x 24" x 24". The plans describe basically what it would be. The botom of the cage would have two holes cut out so the gila could move down to the next level and access it and use it as a cave/burrow. The trap doors would be on hinges and allow it to swing open for that compartment to clean and remove the gila if necessary. Flexwatt heat tape would be used on one end for heat, the other side would be the cool zone.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

brandon
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Dragons by Nature

If I were building the cage I would size the trap/hiding area spaces to fit low Rubbermaid (or other brand) containers that could slide in like a rack system. The Gila would crawl down one of the holes in the cage's false floor into one of the containers. With the hinged wooden doors on the front the hiding areas would be nice and dark.

Using containers would facilitate cleaning of the hiding area as well as removal of the Gila.

Also, if it were me doing this I would install a radiant heat panel in the inside cage ceiling above the warm hide area. The radiant heat panel would warm the cage air.

One thing -- when placing the flex-watt on the floor of the hiding area be sure to leave breathing room between the bottom of the container and the flex-watt. Also note that it is not good to slide containers on and off of flex-watt; eventually it could wear through to the wiring.

Regards,

Bill

Hi Bill,

Thank you very much for responding. That is a great idea about the container, and the thought never crossed my mine. dUH! I was thinking that it would be difficult to remove the gila safely when he was down in the "trap" safely, but with a bin I could simply slide it out, which would make cleaning easier as well, as you stated, i could swimply swap containers with a clean one and pop him right back in with no problems.

I was searching a bit through the forums and saw another good idea from Chris Harper. I could do the same thing with another container and utilize that as a waterbowl, for gila's like to get in them and soak. The only problem I can see with that is having three holes in the cage might be a lil akward, don't want to go hole happy.

I thought about the ambient cage temps as well, and was thinking of adding a low wat incandescent bulb to provide some heat. You suggested a heat panel and I was curious do you think that would work better then a low wattage bulb, or was it just for looks to hide it up out of the way?

Yea, I was thinking about building like a 1/4" track guide to slide the containers on and put the flexwatt down inbetween the guides so there is no direct contact. Do you think that would be safe is the flexwatt is attached to a dimmer and has no direct contact with the container? I'm assuming it would be safe to place directly on the wood?

Thanks again for the info, I really appreciate it.

brandon
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Dragons by Nature

Hi Brandon.

Yes, a bulb would be fine, and it would light the cage during the day as well. I suggested a radiant heat panel because that's all I use, so it's the first thing I think of when it comes to heating cage air. I love the panels for a number of reasons: no light output, safety with snakes and large active lizards, even heat over an area the size of the panel, warms the cage air as well, doesn't burn out, can be controlled with a proportional thermostat for night drop, looks nice.

Anyway, I agree, three holes in the cage floor would be a bit much!

Flex-watt does well on a rheostat. Just a suggestion -- get a decent quality table-top lamp dimmer switch like the ones made by Lutron. The reason I say this is because I once had a wallswitch-type dimmer (with the round rotary knob) fail in the off position. No output. I didn't know it for a few days.

I like the track idea to keep the container about 1/2-inch off the flex-watt. 1/2-inch is usually the recommended height.

Now, one other thing comes to mind -- if you make it too nice underneath the cage, the Gila might rarely come out! It would be a shame to have such a great animal and not see it.

That's why I've always used only one hide in the cool end for my animals; if they want to warm up they need to come out. That's like nature -- the burrows and crevices are the cool, humid areas and the warm basking spots are outside.

With this in mind (and it's all just my 2 cents), you probably wouldn't need a heated hiding area if you use the bulb or heat panel. Just place a slab of slate underneath the heat source to soak up the heat and work with the wattage or dimmer until you get the basking temp you want. I think that's about 80 for Gilas, right?

If you use only one cool hide, and place the water crock in the cool end of the cage, you'll see and interact much more with your Gila. That's going to be one fantastic pet!

Bill

Gila cage opinion:
I Would lose all of the hot spots and heat lamps unless your indoor ambients dip too low. I wouldn't worry about high humidity. a very wide low water dish will provide sufficient
moisture. Gila's will do everything you don't want them to do in a cage so the more complicated the cage , the more problems you have. Gila's are not cool display herps. I've cared for many and
they disappear and remain motionless for long lengths of time.
When they do come alive, they dig non stop in a corner and will pull up any carpet and scratch all plastics. They are the anti
display herp so you could save a little real estate by building a smaller cage. Most of the time , the cage will look empty.
Keep the water low in the bowl because it will soak for days at a time. Gila's are subjected to a wide variety of conditions in the wild so research the lizard first. They remain underground
in cool spots and may only be seen at night and in the morning.
Keep the cage abbout 30 inches long and cage props to a minimum
so you can see him. Kenny S>

I can save you money and time so feel free to contact me
freeformdesigns@cox.net
Kenny S.