Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well i built a cage for my baby tegu its only 4x4x2 and was thinking about when he gets a little bigger giving him a whole bedroom. has anyone in here done this before? if so any ideas on how id set it up, as far as bedding and heat,... im a little confused on how to go about this. i dont wanna just start throwing mulch on the ground or something. any info would help out a lot! thanks justin

You know I've thought about this too when I was preparing to take my tegu on vacation with me. I took one of those 5" tall rubbermaids and put a cardboard box around it to make sure there was no light getting in. You know by making a sort of tunnel going around the inside of the box ect. I think a regular basking spot on the floor would be fine for them as far as a heat source. My tegus right now are kept at room temp. You might consider humidity but if you go to bluetegu and Bert’s site and read carefully you'll notice that the humidity concern is focused on the hide box. I think all you'd need is some moist substrate in a rubbermaid provided that he sleeps in there.

so if i make him a hide box that holds humidity. i could pretty much leave the rest of the room alone???

Many years ago, I had a female Colombian and a Water monitor living together in a converted bedroom. I ripped the carpet off the floor which exposed some really old, ugly linoleum and dumped about 2 inches of cypress mulch over the whole thing. They had an extra large cat litter box for a water bowl and multiple heating pads setup for warmth. The closet had several shelves where I had 3 clamp lamps setup and the over all temperature in the closet (no door) would stay around 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the room. There was also a sliding glass door with Western exposure so they would get a nice dose of sunshine in the afternoons. I had several BIG basking logs/branches setup in front of the door. All the outlets were taped over with duct tape. The mulch was replaced about every month or so and sprayed down with a hose roughly once a week to keep humidity up. It worked well and I would do again with some modifications like adding one or two large, dirt-filled nesting/burrowing boxes. I would also install several heat panels to keep ambient temps up and offer different basking zones (hang them from chains at various heights above the ground. I've already told my wife that the next house we buy will need an entire room to be dedicated to just our lizards (one tegu and two growing Waters). I think if done right, a whole room is a great way to interact with your large reptiles. Start making plans now as your little one will outgrow that cage soon! Billy

>>well i built a cage for my baby tegu its only 4x4x2 and was thinking about when he gets a little bigger giving him a whole bedroom. has anyone in here done this before? if so any ideas on how id set it up, as far as bedding and heat,... im a little confused on how to go about this. i dont wanna just start throwing mulch on the ground or something. any info would help out a lot! thanks justin
>>

My Argentine stayed with me at my office for a long time, and pretty much had the run of thep place (15'x7') He had a 7'x3' enclosure with basking lamps, substrait, soaking dish, etc., but could come and go as he pleased. Since changing employers, I no longer have an office as I am back in the field. As such he has been residing in my bathroom until my new "reptile shed" is completed and then reside in the 7'x3' cage. Sadly now I'm not sure I have the heart to move him and the family is OK with him being in there too. He keeps socialized with all the human interaction he recieves, has his "hides" (old towel, under the shelves and in the dirty laundry), heating pads, radiant heat while hiding under the claw-foot cast iron bathtub when in use, and of course the humidity too. Last week the door was left open. He came down stairs for a quick visit and a meal, and when finished eating he went back upstairs to his favorite hide all of his own accord. I'll feel bad moving him now.

GD
do geese see god
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I don't believe in luck. Luck is God covering your a** when you screw up.

i've used outdoor green patio carpet(available at home improvement centers--cheap easy to clean) for a blackthroat monitor.make sure you use double sided carpet tape so tegu doesn't go underneath----everything you put in room has to be bigger----lots of wood (treestumps,grapevine,driftwood etc.)hotter basking lights and make sure to shut down a/c vents--as far as mulch goes i would set it up like a kids sand box with a ramp(hibernation/brumation)--large reptile heat pads(for pythons,anacondas)would be a good idea in hot zone---BRIAN