Why a terrarium and not a cage?

[skiblits]

I mentioned to a friend that I was planning on getting a blue tongue skink for my birthday and that I was gathering items so that I could set up the terrarium. She mentioned that she had an extra terrarium and that she would drop it off at my house. When I came home I found and super large guinea pig cage on my porch! I have no clue what she thought I was talking about but seeing such a large guinea pig cage got me thinking. Why do we use glass aquariums instead of cages?
My first thought was that some reptiles could fit threw the bars. However a larger reptile such as the BTS I want, wouldn't be able to. Then what about the humidity? I know that desert dwelling lizards and BTS as well don't need super high humidity. While thinking about this I also realized that they do make all screen cages for some reptiles too! How is that different from a cage? Other then the obvious fact of smaller holes. So now my question is, would I be able to turn this guinea pig cage into a nice housing for my BTS? I've created my own cages for my birds, mantids and ferrets, so why couldn't I use this guinea cage for my BTS? The bars are metal so the heat lamp wouldn't melt anything, and the bottom is big enough for bedding, and since I don't HAVE to feed it crickets I wont have to worry about food jumping out. I can always use other protein sources or even make a separate feeding area for meal times. The cage measures 36"L x 18"W x 24"H which according to the care sheet is perfect. I know I can always put some screen between the cage top and the lamp too just to make sure I avoid any toasty toes.
I just wanted to hear all of your thoughts on costume cages and whether or not you think I would be able to make a suitable house for my BTS out of a guinea cage.
Thank you everyone!
Much love to you all!
Skibs

[brunetteoctober]

besides reasons you have already mentioned, wire cages are not typically used because you cannot properly regulate temperature and humidity as you can in a solid/glass terrarium. its all about the temp.

[Nae]

As well as difficulty with regulating the temperature and humidity, as brunetteoctober mentioned, blueys are actually rather capable climbers, although they certainly dont look it, but are terrible when it comes to the whole getting back down bit = a fall. Also, when they want out/just cause they can, they also tend to rub their nose against the sides of their cage, and with a wire cage it can damage the scales on their nose, although this can be fixed by placing cardboard/ wood/ plastic etc.

You could use it for short trips outside?

[critterguy]

The main issue I see is that blueys may well injure themselves rubbing their snout on the bars. It might be usable if you put a skirt of some material around the inside to prevent that. It all depends on how widely spaced the bars are. Anything much bigger than the blueys snout and its going to try to push through it.

I'd be interested to hear more experienced members comments on use of wire cages and reptiles. Aside from large outdoor enclosures I've never heard of it.

[robere]

To me it would be more about the rubbing of the snout/mouth area on the wire. Reptiles are very prone to mouth rot and infections from mouth injuries.
Plus the heat and humidity thing already mentioned.

[skiblits]

Thanks for the advice. It would have been a fun project to work on but I think for the sake of temperature and nose rubbing I'll skip on the modified guinea cage and stick with a 40 breeder.
thanks for the help guys!

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Some people prefer having there gigas species with higher humidity

[Rush]

True that.