Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i'm going to be building a cage for my black throats (they are only 2 feet and growing fast) this week and wanted some opinions on where to place the door. the cage is going to be 6x3x3. money is really no object since i'm getting the supplies from home depot for free. any help and suggestions will be greatly appreciated

ian

....

8x4x3?

at least 10 ft long, unless you want to build a NEW new one next year : )
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

haha well i'm living at home right now but next year i'm gonna be in my own place and i'll have the room to build that 10 foot cage plus some. and I like building cages, and plus I get everything from home depot free (my uncle is a store manager so I really just might build a shed big enough for a enormous cage that's heated and insulated) each of my black throats grew about 3-4 inches this month. I love those little guys. once I get the cage built and set up i'll be sure to post pictures. thanks for the replies and the advice guys

ian

With proper husbandry, in one year, that cage will be way too small.

I have a 10x10 outdoor cage that I am very skeptical of putting another blackthroat in.

Rethink your situation.

At 4', my blackthroat just about dwarfed the 4x4x8 she was in last year. Numbers look larger on paper than in person.

Now at 5' and still growing, she looks "just right" in her 10x10.

Hello, if you can get everything for free... Why not get the biggest shed they have and pimp it out? This would all depend on where you live though. I've got a male and female blackthroat, 5 foot and 4 foot so far and I've got a little house outside (literally, a small house with insulation, a roof, floor, etc.) that is about 10 x 12 that I use for the monitors in winter to keep them nice in warm. I also have a 12 x 12 "open air" enclosure for them outside as well for the summer time. I live in the valley of California in which the summers can get 110 degrees during the hottest parts of the days and 25 degrees in the winter during the coldest days.

So what is this new place you are getting? Is it a house or an apartment? If it's a house, wait and build it all in your new place. If it's an apartment, try to do it all at your parent's house if you are able to. Apartments are kind of a drag for lizard. I had to have a huge ass glass cage for my male when I lived at the apartment which was kind of had to deal with as I lived on the second floor. Luckily I have a cool Dad who is interested in the lizards and helped me build the outdoor enclosure.

If I were you and could get free things from Home Depot, I would get a couple of their largest sheds that they tend to advertise in the parking lots. Perhaps you should did a trench along the perimeter and bury the walls of the shed so the lizards can't dig out. I put my cage in sand/dirt that if very tough to dig through (almost like concrete) once you get deep enough into. This seems to keep the lizards from digging too deep, along with the fact that I check on/feed them everyday to make sure that they don't dig out.

If you want pics of my cages, or more info on how I did it all, just let me know. As a matter of fact, all of the supplies I used were from Home Depot (as I have connections as well) and it was fairly easy to build. My lizards are thriving right now (and I've got eggs incubating), but I guess outdoor enclosures mainly depend on the type of climate you live in.

i would love to see pictures! the more i think about it, the better the shed idea sounds. i live in massachusetts though, and it get's pretty cold out here in the winter. but i'm sure i could insulate it and give it the proper heat through heat emmitters and lights and such. me and 2 friends are going to be renting a house (becuase in the town i live, there arn't to many actual appartments) so i think i'd have the room in the backyard. if you could show me pictures and explain how you did it, that would be awesome. thanks tons for all this help guys

ian