Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi together!

even though you dont know me, you all together helped me a lot to confirm me in getting a tegu. it was a great help for me, to read through the whole board. =)

last sunday i drove about 1400miles (there and back) to get evita. she is amazing. yesterday i had here out on my lap for the first time for about 15 minutes before she started to explore everything.
she even lets me scratch her back already. building the cage, getting her and reading all the books and information was a lot of work, but it definitly pays off. =)

so here a few pics for everyone of you.

this is her new cage. =)

here she is eating, she first bit a couple of times into the plastic when trying to eat the egg. *g*

she is astonishing.

hope you like the photos and thx once more.

I also have been lurking here, thinking about getting a tegu. Your photos only make it worse! (But in a good way.) Looks like next month, some of my bonus might go toward a little tegu of my own. Only barrier, convince the husband.

I look forward to more photos of Evita. (Great name, too!)

maxwells

thank you. =) evita is awesome. today she came right towards the screen, so i opened hand held me hand there and she climbed right on my arm and took a walk in my living room. she also discovered the bathing tub today, she didnt have one at the previous owner. she went in and out and seemed to really enjoy that. of course you have to clean such a bathing tub every day, and put fresh water in it.

go for a tegu, they are the greatest lizzards ive ever seen. =)

so as you asked for more images here you go =)

evita on the stair to the upper floor.

evita basking

evita enjoying her bath

What is your cage made out of?
What are the dimensions?
how much did it cost to make?
How many hours of work?
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0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)

my cage is made of oriented strand boards. i made a few layers of child proof acryl lacquer (i think thats what its called in english) on the inside of the boards.
dimensions are 6ft x 3ft and the cage is about 5ft high. i would habe made it larger, but thats about the maximum that fits in my living room, and as there are 2 floors i hope its enough.
all together (boards, plants, lights) it costed about 500$. but lights are very expensive here in europe and i belevie you could build it much cheaper in the usa. =)
makeing it waterproof on the inside actually took the longest (the painting took about 1 hour each layer, with 1 day letting it dry).
i guess 3 layers would be enough. building it, took me and my brother about 10 hours all together. (including decoration, lights and such)

hope i could help and sorry for my bad english

Thanks for answering so fast. your english is very good. I didn't notice that you weren't american until you said you weren't.Your english is better than some americans here at some forums. For how much did it cost i meant the cage itself, just the wooden cage and the windows, doors, no the lighting heating etc.
could you answer how much the cage itself cost?
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0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)

ohh thank you =)

well the wood, profiles and glass costed about 250$.
but i got the glass and the profiles from a friend
of my brother and he made a special price

wish you a nice one.

thanks for the info. What size boards do the oreinted strand boards come in?
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0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)

ur welcome.

over here at the "home depot" shop they saw them
any size you want them.

do they come in pre cut sizes? or do the people at "home depot" cut them for you?
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0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)

do they come in precut sizes? or do the people at "home depot" cut it for you? also how heavy is it? how many pounds does your cage weigh? (an estimate is fine)
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0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)

well there are precut sizes but they also had bigger boards,
and they cut it at the measures i gave them.
humm the weight off the boards is about 260 pounds id say and the glass is about 90 pounds but thats only a guess. =)

Great cage! I am making the plans for mine right now, and I can't believe I never thought of a double decker style! She is gorgeous. They are awesome animals. Did you get her from Bert? Congrats on the tegu and much respect for doing all the research BEFORE buying one!

hi, thank you for the praise. =) i actually didnt get her from bert, i got here from someone in germany (im from austria, it was quite a road trip *g*) who imported her from a farm in argentina.
actually tegus from bert arent too healthy this year, because he shipped them to europe during their hibernation, so the young ones are very skinny because they couldnt hibernate. at least thats what i heard. i thought of getting a young one from bert, but then i decided to go for evita. she was born in june 2003.

in my opinion doing research is very important prior to getting an animal, because i want to be sure to do everything right.
and even with a lot of research you never can be sure to know everything, thats why i am so glad about this forum and all the great people here.

Welcome to the board and to the wonderful world of Tegus! I see from your screen name that you may be a Cresty fan? I too keep and breed the little sucky footed critters. Tegus are so much more interactive thought They are one of my favorite herps to keep but don't tell the others, they get jealous! " Started with snakes, added leos, then crestys, then beardies then came hog boy "tegan" the blue tegu and now Collareds! My name is Ken, I am a Repti-holic..... Join now! What a cool addiction!
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Peace!
KofSeattle
Reptile-Like
Here lizard lizard.........

hi ken,

you are right. =) i actually started with cresteds about one year ago. and herps are highly addicting. *g*
meanwhile i own a rhacodactylus leachianus henkeli too. i still love my geckos, but the tegu is much more interactive.

ps: just noticed that i was visiting your webpage before. =) you are also somehow guilty infecting me with the tegu virus. *haha*
nice page and great animals.

wonderful cage... i love it! great job. i was planning on a corner L shaped cage but now i might go with a two floor setup like that.

also, do you think you can share with me the plans just for the top of the cage? (the area around the lights) thanks

great i could inspire you =)

what exactly do you want to know about the top?

greets

ingo

well maybe just some pics to start will be enough

sorry aint got any pic of the top right now.
i got 2 long zoomed reptiglo 5.0 on every floor,
plus one 150w basking spot on both floors.

i got a 100w infrared nightlight to keep the temperature
up at night, and i got one extra 300w osram vitalux spot
at the upper basking spot, that is turned on for 15 minutes
every day. i dont know if you got osram vitalux in the states,
its a spot that emits a very very broad spectrum of uv-light.
its often used for iguanas here.

i hope i could help

ingo