Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was thinking that these specs would be good for the following:

Bearded Dragons:

2 1/2 ft long

2 - 2 1/2 ft tall

2 ft wide

Mali Uromastyx:

3 ft long

2 1/2 ft tall

2 1/2 ft wide

Egyptian Uromastyx:

3 1/2 ft long (3 1/2 - 4 ft in length)

2 1/2 ft tall

2 1/2 ft wide

Let me know if those measurements seem good or not.

I think that other variables need to be considered. Size of the individual reptiles, how many per cage, etc. Also, I've found that with uros, which don't have to have a "tall" cage, a shorter cage allows for more effecient and controllable heating. This turns into less bulbs needed to heat and therefore less expense.

Just a thought.

-Jim
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2.1 - Rocky, Runako, and RoxyIII (my care sheets)

i would say the egyptian cage needs to be longer like closer to 6 feet, but that is just me
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

I don't know anything about beardies, so can't comment. But I would suggest longer cages for both the Mali and especially the Egyptian. I'd add another foot to the Mali cage and you should at least double the length for the Egyptian. Did you realize that some exceptionally large ones can get three feet long? A 2-3 foot long lizard in a 3-1/2 foot cage is NOT feasible in any way.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Uromastyx geyri (Joe and Arthur)
3.0 Uromastyx dispar maliensis (Tank, Turtle, and Spike)
1.1 Uromastyx ornata (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
2.1 Anolis carolinensis (Bowser, Sprocket, and Leeloo)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

There's only going to be 1 reptile per cage.

1 bearded is full grown, the other is still growing.

My bearded likes jumping so his cage has to be tall because he likes to jump and show off a lot.

The mali's will have a cage of their own. They have been caged together ever since we got them. So they will both be moving into new separate home.

New Specs:

Beardeds Tanks (2 Tanks):

3 feet long
2 1/2 feet high
2 feet wide

Mali Tanks (2 Tanks):

3 1/2 or 4 feet long
2 1/2 feet high
2 1/2 feet wide

Egpytian Tank (1 Tank):

5-6 feet long
3 1/2 feet high
3 feet wide

My only problem would be this: getting it through the door.

I can clear 2 feet in width in my door right now. 1 mali, 1 bearded and the egyptian tank have to go in my room, since they are my reptiles.

Any one suggest a diff width for the egyptian tank? Or possibly how I could get it through the door without breaking anything (I live in a house, but we rent, not own).

well, maybe you can not make them so tall so when you take them through the door you would turn it so the bottom and top are on the sides? just a thought
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

The big thing wrong with your dimensions is the dimensions themselves. At Home Depot, the common dimensions of wood they're offering is:
8'x4', 4'x2', 2'x2'. Some boards you may get 12-16' long, but that's difficult to handle. Your major dimensions should equal or evenly divide into those numbers. Don't forget the kerf of a tablesaw blade is around 1/8" so you need to factor that out for every cut- one 8' board does not equal two 4' pieces, so planning your cuts ahead of time using most of the board but not quite all of it tends to work well.
Unless you're trying to fit into an odd sized space or do somethign compelling, there's not a whole lot of reason to deviate from the normal measures. You'll be wasting material and undergoing more cutting. More cuts introduce more errors, etc.

Attached is a photo of some containers I started early yesterday morning and I'm now taking a break from today- all that's left is to do the door, interior treatment, and lid. I don't even have material for sealing the interior, so I may finish the doors this weekend and treat them next. These are 4'x2'x18" interior, 20" height total. I'd have to estimate weight at about 20 pounds each. Very sturdy, light, and real inexpensive to make.
My floors are 1/4" oak or birch plywood, rear and top is 1/4" particleboard, all framing is done with 1x2s (which are really 1.5x.75). The floor rests over five supporting boards and it's got the frame on top providing stability, so despite being .25" thick, it's exceedingly stiff. The sides are .1" acrylic windows, the same material I'll be using inside of the doors.
All assembly is glued and nailed (or stapled) in at least two dimensions. What isn't there yet is my "no jam" door hinge design that basically consists of 1.25" hardwood dowels pivoting inside PVC pipe caps. SHould be highly resistant to the geyri kicking sand into it and shouldn't scare the animals when I open it

I'll be moving a group of four ornates, three geyri, and three macfads into this once it's done. Probably will leave the other one vacant and move some other animals around until somthing catches my eye enough to populate it. Got another pair of containers to do after these to match up with my 3'x28"x18" Visions so I can just stack them together.

Now, if you wanted to do a "double height" kind of unit that wouldn't otherwise make it through a door, you could do modules in a similar fashion to these but omit the interposing ceiling and floor.

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2.3.0 uromastyx geyri (Saharan/Nigerian)
0.0.4 uromastyx hardwickii (Indian)
3.6.0 uromastyx macfadyeni (Somalian)
1.2.0 uromastyx ocellata (Sudanese)
1.3.0 uromastyx ornata (Ornate)

Well see my problem is that I'm getting all of these cut at a lumber yard somewhere.

No tools at my house, with the exception of some drills (and bits) hammer, nails, screw driver (flat and phillips), and a nail gun (somewhere, I also don't count a glue gun as a tool).

I need to get all of these cages done around the same time. Cause when I get my egyptian I want to be able to devote a lot of time to making sure he/she gets acclimated very well, eating/drinking and using the "facilities" on time.

Because I don't want anything to happen to this one.

>>Well see my problem is that I'm getting all of these cut at a
>>lumber yard somewhere.
Right, but the lumberyard still stocks, basically, the same normal dimensions of lumber that Home Depot (in my example) carries and all your cuts will be performed on those originally dimensioned pieces. Unless you're buying higher end lumber like exotics and normal hardwoods that are sold (I think) by the "board foot", you're buying boards at a fixed cost plus the cuts, not just what you take home or ask for. i.e. you ask them for a 3' section of 2x4. They charge you for one 2x4, 8' long and one cut. You take home a 3' piece and a >No tools at my house, with the exception of some drills (and
>>bits) hammer, nails, screw driver (flat and phillips), and a >>nail gun (somewhere, I also don't count a glue gun as a tool).
You'll probably need to pick up (and learn to use):
A Square, ~$15
A large Level (optional), ~$5-$25
A metal straightedge/ruler (4'), ~$10
A bottle of wood glue ~$5
A woodworking/framing book
Power tools I used were a TableSaw, Roto-Zip, Nail/Brad gun, Staple Gun, Drill. Various cutting bits or media for each. The size of your staples/nails/screws will relate directly to the thickness and widths of your boards so my may need to accommodate different types of fasteners.

A Calculator and graph paper will help in planning this thing. Plot out, to scale, the three views of what you're making- like 1square=1inch, and then figure out how the shapes lay out onto the uncut lumber according to the dimensions of material the yard stocks. Something will inevitably go wrong while you're working on the project and it may be worth your while to have a basic mitre saw available (or budgeted) with some extra lumber so you can handle small cuts as necessary without running to the store (gas for store trips will add up quickly). It might even be interesting to have the yard only cut the flat sheets and you do all the cuts for the interior. It's easier to learn as you go this way even if it takes more effort, also the mitre saw may cost you less than the cuts themselves.

>>I need to get all of these cages done around the same time.
>>Cause when I get my egyptian I want to be able to devote a lot
>>of time to making sure he/she gets acclimated very well,
>>eating/drinking and using the "facilities" on time.
>>Because I don't want anything to happen to this one.
You might worry less about having this cage ready than A container. I've been housing new Uros in Rubbermaid Totes with a pegboard lid and light/heat hung below it. Works really well, is cheap/fast/dirty. Just make sure the animal can't escape.
The actual time YOU need to apply to the Uro during acclimation is fairly minimal. Most of my WC's want NOTHING to do with me for quite some time so the interaction they get is mostly feeding, weighing, and daily "peeks" for general health/egg check. Speaking of that, I need to go wake up my Ornates.
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2.3.0 uromastyx geyri (Saharan/Nigerian)
0.0.4 uromastyx hardwickii (Indian)
3.6.0 uromastyx macfadyeni (Somalian)
1.2.0 uromastyx ocellata (Sudanese)
1.3.0 uromastyx ornata (Ornate)

If you are getting a baby Egyptian, you have another thing to consider. They will get lost in a cage that size! lol. Even with the Egyptian I would stick with a cage that is about 2 feet high, the Uros don't "jump" really, at least not that I am familiar with. Unless you count climbing off a log and diving off the other side, lol. I agree that a 6 foot tank would be ideal for an Egyptian, but for at least the first couple of years you should be able to get away with a 4 foot long tank, and depending oin teh species of Egyptian we are talking maybe longer. Though, if you can do it, bigger is always better once they get past "itty bitty baby" size.

Good Luck with your project!

Elizabeth

Oh! - ps - Never, Ever build anything wider or taller than a normal door opening.
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1.0 Mali Uro Archimedes
0.0.1 Egyptian Uro Zuberi Mosca Khu (Mosca)
0.0 Fish
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
0.1 Newfoundland Jasmine (RIP)
0.1 Feline Winter
Indiana & Wisconsin