Anyone use big (over 4 ft) cages?

[aaronhouts]

Hi, everyone,
We're new to Blue Tongue Skinks, but not new to reptiles.
We were boa people before. For boas, the industry standard has been the 4 x 2 cage for a while. Though we found them completely adequate, we ended up housing our animals in 8 x 2 enclosures in the end. This was just our personal preference.
We recently got our first baby BTS and (s)he's in a 4 x 2.
What size indoor enclosures are you using for your BTS?
Are you happy with the 4 x 2, using smaller or using bigger?
Please let me know what you think.
Thanks in advance.
Aaron

[Dood]

My 870gram Northern is in a 48 x 20 and I think it's adequate - she's got a humid hide at the cool end, deep substrate in the middle and a basking rock at the warm end - plus she gets out daily in the summer

[alichamp]

Around here the standard minimum is recommended 3ft, which seems to mainly be to get enough temp gradient. We have a 4 ft (1225mm) with my reasoning that if our BTS grows into a monster 60cm the larger viv would be twice its length.

I find that I get a good temp gradient in the 4ft (there is space to play around with lamps etc) and there is lots of space to put lots of hides along the tank in varying temps. Also space for logs, leaves and things to keep it interesting for him. Of course we only have a baby BTS still (alpine blotched) so at only 25cm it looks pretty small compared to the tank. I cant imagine going much bigger because of space - and the possibility of getting another reptile sometime in the future, which would need another enclosure to itself.

Aside from the minimum, I think it would be personal preference. I'm sure they would appreciate bigger if it is kept packed with interesting things for them to explore. One issue I can think of would be it might require more heat and power to keep the temps up on a bigger setup and this could be fiddly and more costly. Also cleaning would be more demanding and you'd go through more substrate.

If you do go to a much bigger and more elaborate setup it would probably be recommended to keep a smaller enclosure (like your 4ft even) on hand for quarantine and treating for illness/mites as a bigger enclosure could probably make that sort of maintenance harder, depending on what kind of setup you are thinking of.

[lucasrusinak]

I have one cage that I made that is almost 5 feet long and about 20ish wide. I like that one a lot just because of the way it was made. A tad sloppy, but perfect for me

My first guy however is in a 125 gallon tank, which is 6 feet by 18 inches. I like that is has a lot of room, however I really wish it was at least a bit wider. But my bluey seems to love it. Only other downside is the cool end could get a bit too cool over winters since its so long, so it requires a bit more heating.

[aaronhouts]

Thank you, everyone.
Those are some really good points.
Our little guy/girl only weighs 62 grams and is about 10" so we've got time, but it's always good to start thinking ahead.
Another good thing is that (s)he's a T. gigas gigas so, from other posts and info, it looks like (s)he may be a smaller adult. It's a pain that we can't sex these things as babies!
Day 3 with us and so far so good.
Thank you again for responding!

[Susann]

I have found that the bigger the tank the easier it is to get a good temp gradient. I've got five that are 48" x 24" wide x 18" high; by the time I put a basking platform (to provide a warm hide under) under the lowered well for heat lamps, you're not left with much space height-wise. I also have two that are 60" x 24" x 24", and even though the heigh is largely wasted, I find it easier to regulate heat and provide a "gentler", less harsh (if that makes sense?) temperature gradient. And I LOVE how easy it is to reach everything (they're front-opening), especially to clean!
I wish I could have them all be the taller 60 inchers.

BTS are not the type of reptiles that get stressed by too much space; as long as there are lots of places to hide, there IS no such thing as "too much space". The only thing that can become difficult, especially with deeper substrate, is knowing where a tiny one is hiding in a large tank.