Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've heard of people making perfectly good, inexpensive cages for reptiles out of rubbermaid containers... With the high heating needs, would this work for a Uro as well? I've got a modification design in mind for a 55 gallon container(42.2x21x16.6, will this be big enough for an adult mali? he's just a baby at the moment, so I was going to make a divider for it if it's too big for now)... using chicken wire and such on the lid so the lights are nowhere near the actual plastic... Creating in essence 2 lids so I can remove one half without disturbing the lights... will this work? I don't see why not, but I wasn't sure if anyone here has tried that or not... open to suggestions. Thanks!
-----
1.0 RES, Spunky
0.2 Gerbils
3.1 Cats
0.1/2 rabbit (friend and I went 50/50)
1.0 Betta, Nigel
0.0.1 Mali Uro (coming soon!)
*Wishlist*
Argentine horned frog
fat-tailed gecko
Snake of any kind(Corn, hognose, sand boa, really want a Dumeril's)

I've not tried it, but I hear of people who do just fine with Rubbermaid uro houses. If your Mali is a baby, a 55 gallon will be fine. As an adult, though, I feel that's too small, though people do keep adults in 55g aquariums. The cage "rule" is the enclosure should be 4x the length of the lizard long, by 2x the length of the lizard wide. If you have a 15" adult, that's a pretty big cage.

Let us know how it works out if you go for it!
-----
Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
2.0.1 Uromastyx Dispar Maliensis (Tank, Turtle, and new neighbor Spike)
1.2 Anolis Carolinensis (Bowser, Leeloo, and Sprocket)
1.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Bruce and Sheila)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)
And several miscellaneous community fish

k, thanks... one other question, how big is too big as far as housing babies? I can't remember offhand how old the one I'm getting is... I need to doublecheck. But he(?) is only about 4-5 inches at the moment. Since I was going to try to make a divider in the cage to adjust accordingly, what is the ideal enclosure size for a Uro that size?
-----
1.0 RES, Spunky
0.2 Gerbils
3.1 Cats
0.1/2 rabbit (friend and I went 50/50)
1.0 Betta, Nigel
0.0.1 Mali Uro (coming soon!)
*Wishlist*
Argentine horned frog
fat-tailed gecko
Snake of any kind(Corn, hognose, sand boa, really want a Dumeril's)

I haven't had a little one, but I figure they're fine out in the open in the wild, so a big cage shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure he's finding his food dish to eat. If he can't seem to find him food or basking areas, then maybe divide it. But, that's just what I would do, since I haven't had a little one before!
-----
Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
2.0.1 Uromastyx Dispar Maliensis (Tank, Turtle, and new neighbor Spike)
1.2 Anolis Carolinensis (Bowser, Leeloo, and Sprocket)
1.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Bruce and Sheila)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)
And several miscellaneous community fish

yeah. With uros as long as they know where the food is and there is enough basking spots and hiding spots, it's hard to find anything that's really too big. At proexotics they house groups of uros in 10' diameter troughs with 2 ' of dirt, and I think they have been keeping some of them in those since they were babies.