Help with set up?

[BruinsEv]

Hi all!! I have been researching and falling in love with these animals for months and finally getting prepared to take the plunge! I will be purchasing one of Mel's baby's in the next few weeks ! I just had a couple questions regarding set up:

In terms of set up, it seems 40 gal is the minimum, but what would be the ideal space for a full grown?
I have been scouring kijiji and eBay for second hand set ups, but where would YOU recommend I purchase my set up? Online retailers ?? Specific brands to look for / avoid int
Terms of tanks/equipment?
Any other tips for a newb will be greatly appreciated, thanks!!!


-Evan

[tylociraptor]

Hi Evan, YAY FOR MORE CANADIANS ON THE BOARD!

Bigger is better, and the larger footprint you can give your skink the better. I personally had built a 6' tall unit for my snakes and was left with a spare unit, and decided to get a skink to fill it up (and because they're adorable... and a tegu would outgrow it , the floorspace on my custom unit is 4' wide by 2' deep and a little under 2' high. If you choose to build your own, use high quality materials so that it'll last longer. I used oak and ply, with plexiglass framed in oak for the doors, the back wall, floor and ceiling are all tiled for easy cleaning. I personally LOVE my cage, but it's for 3 animals and it cost me over $1k in materials, and would have cost me more if my father wasn't a skilled hobby carpenter with a boredom problem. A shorter unit would cost you less, though, and be easier to heat (placing heat bulbs right on top of the cage in specifically cut holes instead of rigging them inside).

Glass tanks work well as well, but I personally don't like them for reptiles, personally. Your footprint is less customizable and you have to work around something built with fish in mind and not reptiles. Also, reptiles benifit from a lot of privacy when they want it , and four clear glass sides don't always accomodate that. I've found my reptiles do better when they feel more secure in tubs or customs. Also, the nice thing about customs is you can build them to work with your decor, instead of having this random, huge tank just sitting there looking a little out of place! Stacking is also nice, although if you want top heating you'd want to either have the skink on top of the stack, or go with securing the lights inside (you'd need a taller cage to ensure it cannot be burned).

Either going with a custom built tank by yourself or a plastic manufactured tank works well, but you must be careful with plastic tanks, due to the high heat that most BTS enjoy. If I were you I'd talk to Greg West at Cornel's World about his plastic tanks. He's a great guy, well rated on the BoI, and from my personal buisness with him he is patient, helpful, understanding and knowledgable.

You can start with a smaller tank or put him right away in the adult sized tank.

While kijiji can be a good place to get tanks for cheap, I'm personally really paranoid. I don't know what was in there, what the house was like, how filthy the people were that had the tank and if their animals died of diseases. Yes, you can clean it head to toe, but it still makes me nervous. To me, it's worth saving the money and/or doing the work to buy or make a custom or reptile intended plastic cage, rather than saving a few bucks.

Can I say how much I love front opening tanks too, especially for lizards?? It keeps them MUCH calmer, especially towards being handled. I mean, who wants a GIGANTIC HAND reaching in to grab you!

Good luck with your bluey- there are lots of awesome breeders here on the site that have recently have had litters. Mel's posted a few photos of her babies so far and they are so cute! I'm getting mine on the 31'st and I'm so excited. Especially to find a breeder here in Canada (jees, if this was easy why is it so hard to find a monitor and tegu breeder!??!)

[Fatal_S]

Hiya Evan,

My preferred setup is something with a 4foot x 2foot floor space, and 16+ inches high. This gives my big skinks room to move around. Bigger would be okay too.

Since you're in Ontario, check out http://powerhousedisplays.weebly.com/ This is where I get my PVC tanks from, but I have to get them shipped.

[tylociraptor]

I also should add - all I have said are my PERSONAL opinions. I don't have my bluey yet, but I have gathered lots of info from the caresheet and folks here on the board. Some will have opposing opinions to mine and others will have similar. Take all the information folks give you here and find what works best for you.

[BruinsEv]

Wow thanks for the quick replies!

Canada represennnnnt!! Haha. That's amazing information! I would love to build my own and am pretty good with that kind of stuff, maybe you know of a guide or resource online for building one from scratch? Are you getting Your little guy from Mel too? We should have play dates Hahahahah.

Mel: thanks! Those enclosures look awesome! Whether I buy or build I will definitely keep those dimensions as a minimum. I have a 10 gal that I contemplated keeping m baby in for a month or so while I work on his permanent set up but it would be unfair to keep him/her in such a small space when 40 gals is the minimum for an adult !

[AnnaMonroe]

Hi !
I personally ordered a 4 feet by 2 feet by 1 foot enclosure from glasscages.com !
You can get a custom sized tank of your liking, and even order other accessories for your terrarium.
I'm only going to have the front side of it 'opened', and all the other sides with a cool wallpaper.
So far as you can see, I only have the back wallpapered up, but am waiting for the other decor to arrive
It's easy for me though, cleaning wise, since it's glass, but others still had great suggestions!!

[tylociraptor]

Wow thanks for the quick replies!

Canada represennnnnt!! Haha. That's amazing information! I would love to build my own and am pretty good with that kind of stuff, maybe you know of a guide or resource online for building one from scratch? Are you getting Your little guy from Mel too? We should have play dates Hahahahah.

Mel: thanks! Those enclosures look awesome! Whether I buy or build I will definitely keep those dimensions as a minimum. I have a 10 gal that I contemplated keeping m baby in for a month or so while I work on his permanent set up but it would be unfair to keep him/her in such a small space when 40 gals is the minimum for an adult !

I am! Fanta Fanta! My baby!

I actually don't have any resources personally, but I do have some written up plans in excel, and those could be height-modified. Skinks aren't terribly strong so they don't need super reinforcement, wood and plexi does fine (unlike monitors, that'll be a good time building....) I belive there were some things available on a few other forums I frequent, but I can also send you photos and info on mine. It's quite nice, I think! As a note, I would probably install sliding instead of opening doors like the ones I have. They're hefty and need locks which are quite awkward. Sliding doors pretty much secure themselves. and you can take em out to clean! Once i get home from work I'll see if I can't dig em up and drop them to ya.

[tylociraptor]

Anna, that's sweet! it's nice to see glass cages with a better footprint, and I bet it would be awesome to get customs for some fish. I wonder how much shipping for something like that would be to canada. My ferret and rat cages come apart and were still a hassle! Great option though, if viable.

[AnnaMonroe]

Thank you tylociraptor!!

Yea it wasn't even that bad of a price, the terrarium itself was $152 plus the $38 shipping to White Plains, NY and I had to drive like an hour from Brooklyn to pick it up. If you want to find out shipping costs you should call them, tell them what you want & ask how much shipping would be (if they even ship all the way there!!) :/.

Good luck BruinsEv! I hope you're able to find the enclosure you're looking for!

[tylociraptor]

Thank you tylociraptor!!

Yea it wasn't even that bad of a price, the terrarium itself was $152 plus the $38 shipping to White Plains, NY and I had to drive like an hour from Brooklyn to pick it up. If you want to find out shipping costs you should call them, tell them what you want & ask how much shipping would be (if they even ship all the way there!!) :/.

Good luck BruinsEv! I hope you're able to find the enclosure you're looking for!

I doubt they would ship to Canada personally, far too much hassle. However, I am sure that there's a company that would cover a similar niche here.

[skeetersmom]

I got Skeeter's 6' x 2' aquarium for $50 off of craigs list - but it was a surprise find. I have purchased several other tanks from CL though -

[Abrimel]

Craigslist is a good place to look but the best places are fish stores. Like specialty pet stores that sell gently used one, or cracked ones. As long as the crack isn't huge or spiderwebed they work nicely. Another option is to build a plexi-glass one, which is what I'm currently drawing up the design plans for. They're much lighter and waaaaay easier to clean.

[BruinsEv]

I really wanted to build one, but I think I would be better off buying new. Especially considering this is my first skink, and second reptile ( Crested Geckooo ) . Maybe down the road I will be able to build her a custom tank. Thank you all for the amazing information, this is one of the best communities out there!!!