Tegu Enclosure

Part 1

The overall size of this enclosure is 45" tall, 30" deep, and 72" long.

For framing lumber I used 2x3-8's and to wrap it I used 1/2" CDX plywood.

Now, I did a lot of work to get as far as I am in the pictures, because I didn't have a camera to photograph the beginning with, so It'll start at where I begin my background.

Here's a quick shot of the sheet foam insulation that was carved out, and then melted with a blowtorch. You can get a good idea on the size of this thing...

My other half is helping me carve out some rocks. I draw all the shapes on with marker, and then just go to town with a real sharp knife.

For materials here I use fast drying mortar, in a 10 pound bucket, also some cement dye, and some latex gloves.

Here you can see the gap we need to fill in with a smaller peice of foam.

This is about 13 dollars a sheet at home depot. It's 2 feet wide, 2 inches thick, and 8 feet long.

Before blowtorching, but after carving.

Half Torched. It adds a really nice effect, and a GREAT surface area for the cement to stick too.

Ready to join the rest.

Ready for cement.

Here it is with weight

With the cement on. All I did for this was put water in a 5 gallon bucket, got an old 5 gallon and I put about 2 or 3 good squirts of the dye in, added half a cup of water and swirled it around. Then slowly added my cement until it was a good consistency. After that I just plopped it all over the foam, and smeared it into all the cracks and grooves.

Drying in the basement for the night.

....More to come!

Part 2

For this background I let it dry for 2 nights, and then sprayed it with watered down acrylic craft paint. It dried in the sun for about 2 hours after that.

Now it's in my room. Time to assemble the beast. As you can see I'm using brackets made from 2x3's. They're about 8" long and they work great.

Putting the last few brackets on, the front of the cage is now on including the window!

All together, with top and bottom on, it's all coming together. I used some peel and stick tiles on the bottom to try and prevent the wood from rotting.

Sealing as many cracks as I can on the lower half of the tank to prepare it for substrate. I want that wood to last as long as possible, so I used a lot of caulk, and then painted right over it with primer sealer.

More caulking of all the edges and gaps.

All the edges are sealed as best as possible.

Again, I was generous with the amount of primer sealer I used on the inside. Heavy coats.

Looking in from the other side of the room, inside is ready to go.

Needs trim work, and paint still, but you get the idea so far! This thing is huge! 8)

Still, more to come! ;D

Part 3

Finally, trim work got done, and so did electrical.

Here's a quick picture of how the lighting turned out. 24" UVB Strip bulb to the left wall, a flood light above it and a nigth light tward the middle of the tank.

I put trim around the vents, I used gutter guard from home depot. It was under 2 dollars for the amount I needed.

I used only 1x3-8 Pine boards for trim.

I'll trim the switch box off with a smaller peice of trim.

This is a picture of the fixture that holds the night light. That bulb was in there for testing.

This is the fixture for the basking light. I need a new bulb!

Substrate is in! It's a mix of cypress mulch, top soil, cocofiber, and sphagnum moss.

I am trying to figure out where exactly to put the basking spot in this image. Wanted the light to shine just right.

He's in!

It didnt take him long to find his home in that stack of slate rocks.

Basking away. Unfortunetaly I ran out of slate so I'll need to get more to make the basking area much higher.

Time for a bigger water dish!

Next step is to paint paint paint to finish it up!

I also plan to add some plants in there, aswell.

Update! 7/23/09

Alright well I've been busy the last month but the tank has been painted! I tried some plants, but they didnt work out to well, haha!

Here's the light I had to modify, bringing it closer to the basking spot.

Here's a full tank shot. Painted and awaiting some plants that'll survive the temps, and the tegu.