Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I plan on building two enclosures to house 2 iguana adoptions. Eventually, these enclosures will likely be used for small arboreal monitors.

I've never built a blessed thing. I'm trying to plan everything correctly, so that I do not spend a great deal of money, only to discover that I'm horribly wrong.

Any input, critique or alternative recommendations are welcome.

Each of the enclosures will be 6'H,6'L,2'D.

Here is a very rough guideline of what I planned on doing.

I planned on using 3/4 inch melamine - unless someone can point out a more efficient or suitable material. Each unit will be outfitted with 48 inch, 1/4 inch, sliding glass doors, and will sit on casters - a total of 3 pairs per enclosure.

Given that I can't have a single panel across the back, I planned on using 2, panels that are 34.75 inches wide, and 69.5 inches tall.

Can I pull this off with just a drill, jigsaw, circular saw, caulking gun and a rabbit's foot?
Anyone care to speculate on whether or not this should work, or go bust?

Ok heres my input ,

If its a iggy cage i would do it as you plan but would choose t make the enclosure a framed one with hardwire cloth covering it ( hardware cloth aka the screen wire 1/2" x 1/2" sq wire.

By making it out of melamine its gonna way as much as a volkswagen bug ( maybe more ) lol this way you can make it so that they could even climb thewalls if they so feel inclined to do so . and would have free air flow and still place basking lights on the top for heat etc and they could climb under them to get there heat. Depending on the requirements for any monitor with heating etc you could then easily if needed apply a 1/4" luan board tothe cages to close them in if needed . i would use either a 2x4 or 2x2 frame for the cage brace as needed dont forget that you can make 45degree braces to give more strength to the frame work.

I just think that much melamine is overkill on the cage and your back along with the two guys who will have to help you move this cage. And lastly check your doorways leading to where the cage will go so you can determine if you will build it in place or build it outside and move it inside . reason being most homes doors ( interior doors) are no more then on average 32" wide with a 36" wxterior door. make syre how ever ya build it it can be moved inside or easily dissasembled to move if needed if you go 3 ft wide .
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I never quite understood why someone would use such an open cage design for an animal that requires high humidity as an iguana does. Also, the open design allows the temperature to fluctuate a lot, and it will make it hard to mainain good ambient temps...in the long run it's just a harder to maintain cage.

Also, 2' deep is much to small for an adult iguana to turn around. 3 is usually the minimum, but that will make it extremely hard to get through doors. I'd say you could probably pull of making them as deep as the openings of your doors are wide. If you're going for a more permanent enclosure though, I would go all the way to 4' deep.

Also, I wouldn't quite do the design you're planning on. Those sliding doors are going to be heavy and probably sort of fragile. I would try to reduce the doors to probably 3-4' tall. You could do that by having the upper part of the front of the cage be covered in about 1' of plywood (which also makes it nice to conceal lights if you have them inside the enclosure), and the litter dam would be extended up so it's about 1' or so high.

These are just a few criticisms, because I'm not really a believer in screen cages for anything but outdoor basking cages, and reptiles that specifically need them (like chameleons). You can do whichever way you want. If moving it around is an issue, I had an idea for a cage that would split in two. From the outside it would basically look like two terrestrial cages stacked on top of eachother, but with no floor in the upper one, if you understand what I'm saying. They're still not light, but take the glass out and you can move them with the help of a friend.

I have a 5 ft Ig...you need to make the cage deeper so your igs can turn around easily.
Remember to house them seperate from each other. If they see each other, that will stress them out....
Good luck!

Whats the rabbits foot for? LOL