BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Wow, i'm glad it's all done and set up. I cut part of the dividing board out, which took a while. Had to remove pieces coming from one side of the board using only straight line cuts, as all I had was a basic wood saw. It got the job done enough for him to move in though at least, haha. I was trying to leave as much wood around the edges and front for support as possible, but let him get through for him. Also cleaned the cage out and misted it with the Healthy habitat spray, which worked very nicely! I've got the uv light in the middle mounted pretty well, but I need to nail or screw the heating lamp on the left side to keep it from sagging down. His rock was 105-108 earlier, and I'd rather keep it closer to 100 if I can get the lamp up a couple inches... especially since his cage is by a window. Even though it never gets direct sunlight, it might still be warm by the wall. Do you guys think having his lamps inside the enclosure will cause temp problems, or should it be alright if the surface temp readings I get are in the right range?



This angle lets you view my master carpentry skills...


I'll add some pics of him out in it tomorrow afternoon, didn't want to wake him up tonight =)

Let me know what you guys think, I'm eventually going to incorporate the top enclosure with a ramp or something, and am going to add some more hide spots & plants soon, and look for some sort of background now that I have his for now permanent home, haha.

***new pics***

Little brighter, and there is Marley! He likes his new home so much, he wanted to start shedding in it immediately! Hopefully the wood will make it a little easier for him, even though it's pretty smooth, it has to be better than glass for scratching on.


Marley climbing over a plant to get under the uvb bulb..... he has shown no interest in trying to touch the bulbs or lamps, and the uv one doesn't get real hot anyway... but you guys think there is any risk? I wanted to move the tunnel more into the middle, but until i cut the divider all the way down, it won't really work without looking like a seesaw tunnel.


Closer shot of him basking:


let me know what you think! Still a work in progress, but i'm very happy about the enclosure so far.

It looks great! I can't wait to see what you do with the top.
If the lamps get too hot, just try decreasing the wattage, or move it farther away.

I love home made wooden enclosures. They look more like furniture and less like cages! Looks great!

Several thoughts came to mind... I didn't see any ventilation. Maybe I missed it?

I never keep animals near windows at all. Too unpredictable.

Bulbs and lights inside cages are fine as long as the bulbs and shields are absolutely secure and protected and there is no chance of the animal climbing onto them or touching them.

It's lookin' good!

If you want to cover those bare "saw cut" areas, you can get some finishing tape kind of strips that usually adhere by a sticky edge and/or heat treatment. I've seen them for melamine type board, but think there's some for wood, as well.

Yeah, i went back down to the 60watt bulb in the basking lamp, and got it mounted to the roof so it's a couple inches farther up

There is a 4inch x 3inch screen vent in each end of the bottom enclosure, and a little bigger one in the top enclosure. I really don't think the temp can change much by thw window, 15 feet past my patio is thick woods, and i'm the ground floor with 4 levels above me, so sun literally never makes it to the window. I can't even get plants to grow on my porch, they do better in my kitchen under halogens. And over the winter we only kicked the heat on for 10 mins or so to make sure it worked, and never used it again, we seem to be kept pretty insulated around 70-80 degrees. Should it be ok? or should i just monitor temps often?

I'm eventually going to cut it down more, but I need to get a dremel or jigsaw from my Dad's house first.

Appreciate all the good feedback guys, about to add some more pics above!

Pele' would be so jealous! It looks great. What I would give for a front opening enclosure---especially since Pele' has increased in bulk.
Does your bluey spend much time under the UV if it is over his hide? Just wondering b/c Pele' rarely climbs onto his hollow log---he likes to be in it.

Careful with the indirect sunlight. The window by our tank is in a small courtyard with plenty of overhangs and so I thought that only minimal heat would reach it. I totally underestimated how much of an effect it would have on our tank (but our tank is glass too.) I had to change to a lower watt bulb for the summer because my temps were increasing enough to scare me. Do monitor this or (as Kristine said) consider moving the enclosure. I have only a temp gun now but I'm going to purchase a temp cage for inside the cage d/t this situation. (I can't relocate the aquarium anywhere else in my son's small room.)

I wish I had your carpentry talent. You have one very lucky bluey!
Congrats!

Just wondering, If you do in fact incorporate the top as was discussed, Moving the heat lamp may be an option. Perhaps it cold be moved to the top floor. That way he can bask up there, and chill out down the bottom. Hot air rises and all. viv looks good - those carpentry skills are second to none! hehehe seriously - $50 - you did the right thing, looking at marley in that viv - the size is perfect!!! you could maybe even squeeze another on in there - but them marley would prolly start getting upset that his pad aint his pad anymore!

Well done!!!

Oh also - what are those UV bulbs you have? I can only find those long ones - and basically they suck!

looks great!!!

Blotch wrote: Oh also - what are those UV bulbs you have? I can only find those long ones - and basically they suck!

I had a similar idea about a basking area up top, but that would all rely on him using the ramp often and safely. Also, he is usually towards the warm side if he's not eating or drinking, so I dunno how useful having the entire bottom being cooler would be. Also, even cutting through is going to be a major ordeal. I thought it was only 1 board thick and sort of a shared floor/ceiling, but it turns they are seperately contained levels of the enclosure, eaching having it's own complete structure, and getting through 2 boards won't be fun, haha. It would be fun to make the top compartment some sort of theme, but I'll have to plan it out for a while, hehe.

My uvb bulb is a Repti Glo 10.0 UVB, and the other is just a 60w incandescent basking bulb.

aggiegirl wrote:Pele' would be so jealous! It looks great. What I would give for a front opening enclosure---especially since Pele' has increased in bulk.
Does your bluey spend much time under the UV if it is over his hide? Just

I wish I had your carpentry talent. You have one very lucky bluey!
Congrats!

Surprisingly, Marley climbs ontop of his log hide pretty often. He does hide under it sometimes, but seems to like basking on it on the end closest to the heat lamp as well as on/around his rock.

I'm gonna keep a close eye on the temp, the max the rock has gotten to since i got the light up a couple inches is 104, with the log being 101, so i'm fine with that as far as basking temps as long as it doesn't get hotter anytime during the day.

Rastaterrium! I love it!

Neat setup! Post pictures in the Enclosure thread on photo album if you have time....

Well done, and very creative.

I can't take any credit, I only removed a piece of it after buying it, hehe. I like how it's turning out though, glad to see you guys think the size and setup is satisfactory

Omega wrote:

Blotch wrote: Oh also - what are those UV bulbs you have? I can only find those long ones - and basically they suck!

My uvb bulb is a Repti Glo 10.0 UVB, and the other is just a 60w incandescent basking bulb.

Is it the 13watt or the 26watt UVB globe? and do you find it gives off enough light?

Hey mate ,Marley's lucky to have his DIY done for him, I like the home made look , its not clean cut and clinical,mark up the cuts to look like its been knawed through for effect.

thats looks real nice. I'm gonna transform an old bar that I built but never finished. I have the base done now I can just build the top. Its 8 feet long, 3feet wide and I don't know how tall I"m gonna go with it yet. What do you guys think? I was gonna shoot for 4 feet high but with these guys not really being clibers I don't know if I should go that high or not.

The bar would be pretty awesome as long as you could get the bulbs mounted much lower, or have elevated basking spots.

I have the 26watt bulb one, Blotch. It doesn't really give off that much light. I mean it does give off a bluish sort of light, but it doesn't light up the whole cage or anything. The basking bulb does a lot more in that department. According to the box the repti glo 10.0 gives uvb's up to 20 inches, which is basically the entire basking side, and almost all of the cool side when i measured it with a tape measure from the tip of the bulb. And since he makes the effort to climb onto his log to bask under it sometimes even though it's not as warm, he must be able to tell that it's good for him.

Marley needs some ganja for his dwelling! Or at least a Rasta root rock...
Roots, rock, reggae: dis a reggae music!

Lookalike plant: http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/8189/picture671hb1.jpg

Haha ark, I almost got a the most ganja-like plant the pet store had, but I ended up getting the one I did because it was a little firmer and more prickly for him to crawl through and past to rub on for shedding. That will probably be my next plant addition though, and it will definitely set the theme well!

I gotta dig out my old Marley records. Yes, I said records.
I've had his refrains in my head since yesterday thanks to you!

haha, One Love is a good song for between classes on the ipod, hard to be in a bad mood after that one.

my mitch bedberg cd's were also awesome, but i felt weird walking around campus trying not to laugh while everyone assumed i was listening to music.