Some Questions About Upgrading to a Large Terrarium

[JMiller24]

Hi All,

Tax money finally came so I have some extra cash to purchase my new BTS son a new Terrarium. I've done some searching and read through some threads here, but I still have some questions. As always any help would be greatly appreciated!

I currently have Toothless housed in a 36x18x18 Exo-Terra that I got from Petsmart. I am looking to go a good deal bigger. My budget (for the cage alone) is 'roughly' 500$, but I'm willing to splurge if I find something I like.

1. From reading some threads on here it looks like a lot of people really like Glasscages.com. Any opinions on that? Are there other sites that you guys know of that sell large terrariums? I've done some googling, but I'm not finding a whole lot. Also not having much luck on craigslist in my area.

2. What size would you guys recommend for a Merauke? I really want him to have some room to explore and to have some different decorations/hides in there for him.

3. Is 17 or 18 the optimal height for a terrarium? I know (for top down lighting) that the higher the light is the less effective the Uva (or Uvb?) lamps are.

4. Do you guys prefer opening from the top or from the front? I'm not very crafty so rigging up lights and heat lamps to hang from the top might be tough.

5. For larger enclosures, do you guys keep deep substrate throughout the entire cage or only in certain parts? He really seems to like Reptibark, but putting enough in for him to bury himself each month, in a larger space, might start getting expensive.

That's all I can think of for now =) If this has already been gone over in another thread and I missed it, feel free to just link me and not waste your time =). Thanks all.

[Richard.C]

larger cages i prefer front opening,easier to get into them,less stress for them to,eg reaching from the top and grabbing at them whilst they run sort of thing

18 inch high is fine,as to over all sizes,how much room do you have available,for one skink,a 4x2 foot enclosure is fine for its life,6x2 is good to but another thing to look at is heating bigger enclosures,the bigger you go,the bigger the amount of heat u need to supply to keep it warm to

u can make deep sections of substrate and shallow sections to,add basking platforms ect to give more leg room,lots of different options,im in aus and havnt heard of the enclosures you mentioned ,glass is fine though,some of the more modern plastic cages are quite good to,much lighter and still easy to clean

[Katrina]

I use 48 x 30 x 18 tall and love them. I don't think it is the best size necessarily, but it works well. I agree with the front opening part, you can get some nice ones in plastic that are nice and light weight as well. I don't think you can go too large in size for a Merauke, so go with what you have space for, can clean and can afford to keep substrate in! I put about the same thickness of substrate down everywhere, I just build up my basking spot a couple cm so that is is mostly above the substrate and keep the water dish on a raised area. Substrate can get pricey though, definitely a consideration or might want to look into different options.

This sounds great, post pics when you set it all up!

[JMiller24]

Thanks a lot for the advice guys!

You guys have definitely talked me into a front opening set up. As far as how much room I have... hmm I'm going to have to measure, but I believe I have enough room for the sizes I can afford financially (if that makes sense).

Katrina, I'm not married to glass, infact plastic sounds better. Do you know of any place that ships those though? The pet stores in my area don't go above 36x18x18 as far as I can tell. Also, do you know if there is a big difference in heating between glass and plastic?

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Glass:
http://boamaster.com/products/4ft_high_ ... -48-3.html
http://boamaster.com/products/4ft_wide-49-3.html
http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=22&de=565727
http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=22&de=647284
Acrylic(Or Glass if you want):
http://www.animalplastics.com/terrestrial/T25/T25.htm
http://www.animalplastics.com/terrestrial/T20/T20.htm
http://www.animalplastics.com/terrestrial/T13/T13.htm
http://www.animalplastics.com/terrestrial/T12/T12.htm
http://www.animalplastics.com/terrestrial/T11/T11.htm

[Katrina]

I use a local guy who makes custom enclosures, I've heard good things about Vision enclosures and some of the ones ML linked. I use this guy: http://www.cornelsworld.com/

For heating, the black plastic holds heat much better than glass, I've had to add extra ventilation so that there is still a good temp gradient in the hot days in summer. I use much lower wattage heat bulbs in these than I did in glass.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Vision cages:
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/vis ... -and-tubs/

[JMiller24]

Thanks a ton monitor! I am really interested in the T25, but I'm unsure of how you heat / light those enclosures. I am new to reptiles and my only experience with heating/uva/uvb is a heat lamp and strip light on a screen top. Is there a better way to do it? I see some options for having screened parts, but to be honest I'm a bit confused.

[JMiller24]

Oops, just noticed Katrina and Monitor that you guys posted again. Checking those links now.

[Katrina]

If you check out the link I posted, he mounts light fixtures on the top of the enclosures. I attaching a pic, you can kind of see what I'm talking about.

DSC_0052.JPG

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

This thread is about mounting a light:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19362&hilit=fixtures

[JMiller24]

Thanks a lot for all the links and advice guys! Definitely gave me plenty of options to look at. It is very much appreciated!! I'll let you guys know what I settle on and I'll post pics when it is all set up! =) Once again you guys have made life much easier for Toothless and his dad!

Haha, I did notice the stars monitor =)

[Kurt]

heres another link:
http://www.boaphileplastics.com/cages.html

the 422D and 322D are probably the models you'd be most interested in. They will customize it how you want (install light fixtures for you, latch color, under tank heater, etc...)

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

heres another link:
http://www.boaphileplastics.com/cages.html

the 422D and 322D are probably the models you'd be most interested in. They will customize it how you want (install light fixtures for you, latch color, under tank heater, etc...)

The 322D isn't really an upgrade from what they have now

[Katrina]

heres another link:
http://www.boaphileplastics.com/cages.html

the 422D and 322D are probably the models you'd be most interested in. They will customize it how you want (install light fixtures for you, latch color, under tank heater, etc...)

The 322D isn't really an upgrade from what they have now

I'm sure the original poster can figure out what size they want on their own. But that was a very helpful post showing another good option for enclosures.