Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I'm currently a E. Collard Lizard owner, and I'm considering a beared dragon. I was wondering what kind of materials to build the cage/tank out of? I know you can't just use any ol wood, and i know from doing my research it should be atlest 38 -40 gallons for adults. I was just wondering if you all had any ideas? Especially when it comes to placement of the spot. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it.

welcome to the world of dragons We use melamine to build our cages for our dragons... even though melamine is not the prettiest "wood" to work with, it has a lot of advantages.

The biggest advantage is it's white and helps keep the cage bright which helps the dragons maintain their colors better. The melamine is also smooth and harder for the crix to climb out of. It also does not need to be "finished" with any chemicals which is always a plus.

We build our adult cages 48" x 24" x 16" and use a dual strip bulb for light and a porcelain socket for heat. The heat bulb is placed in the back left corner of the cage, but it could go on the right. Having it off to one side helps keep a hot and cool zone.

G'luck with your dragons. One note however, obviously if you get a hatchling to raise up you wouldn't put it in a cage that size.

brandon
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Dragons by Nature

I just built a new cage for my bearded dragon if you would like the plans i can make some up for you the cage that i built is 4`l x 2`h x 2`w and i use a 3` strip light and a 100 watt powersun bulb in it to get the right temps.I used melamine it is pretty easy to work with just heavy I used white but you can get some that is brown from menards that is made for shelves and it is 2`w x8`l and i think that it would be cheaper to use that then to by whole sheets of melamine but im not sure yet cause i havent checked it out yet. Have fun and if you need any help let me know. Steve

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Owner of:
0.1 Red Tail Boa,
1.0 Red Tail Boa,
0.1 Reticulated Python,
0.1 Green Burmese Python,
1.0 Bearded Dragon,
0.1 Leopard Gecko

I'm not fimiliar with melamine? Would they have something like this at a hardware store? and what is the going rate as far as price goes? My other question is, i was thinkn of a box type enclosure, with a sliding front, i was wondering whether to go with glass or plexi glass. Glass seems like the more sturdy choice, but its hard to work with as far as making some type of notch to open the door with. I'm thinkn of an enclosure, 36 inches long by 24 wide, and 16 tall. (inches) To house one dragon. Thanks again all

Yea, they sell melamine at Lowes or Home Depot. All it is, is particle board with a white coating on it. You can get it in different colors at different places sometimes, but the white holds the light intensity better. They sell it in 8' x 4' sheets here for $25. You can also buy precut pieces but they are more expensive but you don't have to deal with them trying to cut it or you cutting it yourself. We always buy the sheets bc we build a lot.

Glass works but plexi is easier. It can scratch pretty good though if you dragon puts his mind to it. We use a 2" lip on the top and a 3.5" lip on the bottom. We then run plastic track guides on the top of the melamine lips for the plexi glass. We prefer plexi over glass. The doors slide left and right. The bottom lip is important to keep the substrate from falling out or getting on the tracks and causing problems.

We can build an entire cage complete with flourescent fixture, uvb bulb, and ceramic fixture for about $100. Most of that is the lighting and UVB bulb and the plexi glass.

brandon
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Dragons by Nature