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I have my eye on a sunshine cage. It is made from 1/4 rigid PVC foam core. It expensive (approx. $375 with shipping) for a 4x2x2 cage. It would be used to house a bearded dragon. I am wondering if I am going down the correct path in buying this cage. Should I buy a wood cage instead? What I like about the PVC cage is that it comes std with Heat flex,flourecent and Heated lights, 6 vents, and a sliding or hinged front and seems to appear by the add, to be built very well for strength and durability. Also the PVC cage should retain heat better. I feel cleanup would be easier with PVC. Am I wrong in thinking this? I am not sure which type of door to use. Should I go sliding front or hinged? Do I need to worry about the crickets escaping with a front mounted door?
If anyone can assist me with thier thoughts or experiences with these two types of cages (PVC or wood), I would appreciate it.
thank you

IMHO the plastic is mutch better for the cleanup issues.
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tends to smell after time, no matter how thoroughly you clean it. By virtue of being wood, and wood being porous, it absorbs odors. The PVC or similar material cage is the easiest for hygiene and health. Just some thoughts. . .

How much naturalistic cage decor are you planning on? The reason I ask is that I've kept my adult beardie in several types of enclosures, and I like the 75 gallon aquarium she's in at the moment. She has plenty of room to move, and the arrangement of cage furniture can be changed from time to time--gives her interesting new possibilities. Because there is a screen cage top, I can move her basking and heat lamps around as needed. This isn't an option with many moulded enclosures. I've even grown a type of edible grass (which she loves) under a grow light in one corner of the enclosure.

As far as cleaning, she has several different shaped "sand boxes" which get changed out, newspaper substrate, and various combinations of wood and rock. To clean I soak the furniture in bleach and water, then rinse/air dry; roll up the newspaper, scoop the sand box. When the cage is empty I vaccuum with a shop vac, disinfect with a novalsan spray; wipe down; rinse with a spray bottle of water, dry--then replace everything. It's pretty straight forward and not very time-consuming.

Before investing a chunk of money in an enclosure, give serious thought to the type of daily living experiences you want your beardie to have. Keep in mind that beardies enjoy variety, and that they can become depressed without enough stimulation. No matter what your decision on an enclosure, place it where the beardie can see people and activity. Best of luck!
regards,
althea

Thank you for the advise. The BD cage will be located in the family room. I have kids. So, the BD should see plenty of attention. There are other considerations about the PVC cage. Do they stain easily, if so can the stains be romoved easily? Since the front of the cage is where the door is located, how easy is it to place crickets in the PVC cage and shut the door prior to them attempting to escape. Not having a BD yet, I imagine that I need to dump at least a dozen crickets in the cage at a time for the BD, and am concerned about them getting out, prior to me having a chance to shut the door. Then I am running around the family room attempting to catch these crickets. Any thoughts?