Your thoughts on desert move..

Texas Panther Man said:
Personally, if money is no object here. I would either build my own screen wood combo cage or have one built if you arent the do it yourself type. There is a company that sells screen/wood combo cages. And they can be custom ordered with solid sides and screen doors & screen tops. That would solve your humidity issue and it would be very aestheticly pleasing to exhibit your animal. They are sealed to prevent wood rot and you could have drainage holes added for your waste water to drain into a container beneath the cage. If I lived in a low humidity area I'd go screen & wood over glass. My reason for not really liking glass is its a pita to keep glass clean and keep water spots off the viewing areas. That personally drives me nuts. I want a nice clear view of my animals not looking thru dried water spots on the front glass. Also unless you get that terrarium drilled and put in approp drainage its going to be a pita to keep the bottom from becoming a soggy mess.

I think glass is great IF your going to keep montanes. And if they are smaller species. Otherwise I think there are better alternatives.
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I agree. And if I remember correctly, he has a 4month old Veiled
 
That could work to, with high quality build. Make sure you use high quality wood that won't morph at all. Also make sure u have a heavy coat of water resistant finish.

As for drainage in an exo terra, it's not hard. Use some sort of absorbent material (I'm trying to find what will work best for myself as well Chris Anderson uses hydroton balls) and stick screen on that put dirt/ paper towel on that and you got drainage, just needs to be empties or replace every few months, but no chance of leaks.
 
Jjreeb said:
That could work to, with high quality build. Make sure you use high quality wood that won't morph at all. Also make sure u have a heavy coat of water resistant finish.

As for drainage in an exo terra, it's not hard. Use some sort of absorbent material (I'm trying to find what will work best for myself as well) and stick screen on that put dirt/ paper towel on that and you got drainage, jet needs to be empties or replace every few months, but no chance of leaks.
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The problem I see with an exoterra is you have limited ventilation. So if temps in the home do increase due to power outage or something your screwed. And no options as far as ever bringing the cage ouside for natural sunlight. And third if you arent expereinced and dont know what the limitations are for your drainage. Your going to have a muddy soggy mess in the bottom. If youve had chams or other reptiles in glass before it would make misting and drainage issues much easier. But if its a first time terrarium/cham owner trying glass. I'd say go with an easier alternative that offers more room for error. You can always up your misting schedule with screen combo its hard to remove water from a solid sided enviroment. And there arent any exo's that are big enuff for a full grown veiled. I feel bad keeping my males in 2x4's much less and 18x36" eclosure. Bigger is always better when it comes to chams. Reduces stress and it gives a larger area to give the animal a better temperature gradient.
 
you said there was a company that made custom screen cages? with optional sides etc.. i havent found them, got a link? the only custom companies i find are glass. i'll probably end up building myself but if i could find a good company to save me the trouble i would use em. And i decided that I would get it as soon as i can to help reduce the shock to the animal over the move.
 
One company Ive found is actually on ebay. www.customwoodreptilecages.com they offer alot of options like you can get wood with screen sides and top and get plexi-doors. Or get plexi sides with screen front and screen top. They also make stands and canopies to hide all the hardware and it is all stained and sealed and everything matches. Real nice furniture grade cages. And the important thing is they do ship!
 
I dont see the problem with just going all screen. We live in climate controled houses. No matter what its like outside. The houses across the country are basically all the same. Add a humidifer if you fear humitiy.

Oh and Granbury TX is not as Humid as you think. Its just hott. Yes at times humid. But not like farther south.
 
I felt like the op was wanting something nicer than just a plain screen cage. That was why I was offering options for higher end stuff. So he'd have something nice to showcase his animal in. I wish I could do something like that actually but I have too many. lol
 
Im with you. I cant have all those big highend cages everywhere. Or I would have to move to a tent in my back yard.LOL
 
i did see that site actually i just didnt really look twice cause it looked like they dealt with glass only and also it looked like their cages werent very tall. but i'll take a closer look and maybe email them to see what can be done. I wouldnt mind making it myself I'm just afraid of getting it wrong, like using the wrong varnish and making my animal's house toxic and stuff like that.

edit add: i looked at their ebay store, and the tallest cage they have is 36" :(
 
Havent read more than the original post. forgive me if this had already been covered!
either can be made to work, but Glass and Screen are not the only options. If you are handy, or have money to have one made, you may like a custom cage. Wood back, wood frame, solid plexiglass doors, plexi with some holes drilled for the sides, wide screen top. the holes and the screen allow for air circulation, but still such an enclosure would retain humidity better than all screen and you have greater control over heat also.

My cages are plexi doors, screen tops, peg board sides and back.
 
Yeah Sandra just to catch you up, basically I'm either trying to find a good custom shop or decide on building one myself. Do you have pics of yours? did you make them or have them made? If had them made, from where?
 
i saw that cages by design but looked WAY overpriced, at first glance it doesnt look so bad but when you read what you get for the base price its really crap, like for 768 you get JUST the cage from this package: http://www.cagesbydesign.com/p-183-hybrid-reptile-cages-48h-x-48l-x-24d-h3.aspx

which is comparable to something like this: http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...nd-explorariums/-/175-gallon-basic-reptarium/

thats almost a 700 hundred dollar difference for the same thing. i mean, the base cages by design model doesnt even come with the stand or the hood, you have to by the ultimate package to get that and thats about 3k. I got money to spend, but not money to throw away lol. But i'm gonna mess with their custom configurator and see what I might be willing to do
 
Grim Crow said:
i saw that cages by design but looked WAY overpriced, at first glance it doesnt look so bad but when you read what you get for the base price its really crap, like for 768 you get JUST the cage from this package: http://www.cagesbydesign.com/p-183-hybrid-reptile-cages-48h-x-48l-x-24d-h3.aspx

which is comparable to something like this: http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...nd-explorariums/-/175-gallon-basic-reptarium/

thats almost a 700 hundred dollar difference for the same thing. i mean, the base cages by design model doesnt even come with the stand or the hood, you have to by the ultimate package to get that and thats about 3k. I got money to spend, but not money to throw away lol. But i'm gonna mess with their custom configurator and see what I might be willing to do
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Yup that place is way too expensive. It's more for looking that buying. lol. Window shop sorta speak. You could get ideas off there. It looks like they transform real furniture into awesome cages.
 
they have some really awesome stuff but just looking at how much they charge for certain things in their custom configurator is disgusting. I ended up making one costing 1121.30, which i would actually not be unwilling to spend, but i dont understand the sizes of their wire mesh, for instance i chose this for top and door coverings: .092 dia. 3/4" x 3/4" opg. Stainless Wire

and i have no idea what that means. this was what i made btw:
Cage Details
Pet Type: Reptile
Cage Line: H2
Dimensions: 48" H x 24" W x 24" D
Top Panel: .092 dia. 3/4" x 3/4" opg. Stainless Wire
Back Panel: Acrylic
Left Panel: Acrylic
Right Panel: Acrylic
Front Doors: .092 dia. 3/4" x 3/4" opg. Stainless Wire $558.75
Floor Type: No Floor
with System A Pull Out Tray Only +$78.95
Indoor/Outdoor Turf +$7.00
Debris/Aggregate Catcher(s) +$9.90
Hood: 12" (Cambridge Cherry) +$193.95
Stand: 24" (Cambridge Cherry) +$252.95
Casters: For H2 Cages & Stands +$19.80

But yeah, thats pretty much exactly what I'm looking for heh. Screen doors and top with solid sides. And I'm sure the cherry wouldnt look bad heh. decisions decisions. That is if that wire is like the regular mesh I'm thinking of, not some really big chicken wire, does anyone know what those dimensions mean?
 
It's a bunch of nonsense as far as I'm concerned, lol. Expensive!
That other site just looks too cheap. So we have the high end and low end. But, both still pretty expensive.
 
i would not go for that cage. its not much bigger then the exo. the exo is cheaper. that cage looks poor quality. poor lighting options. difficult drainage.
In my opinion, go for a well made product. lllreptile has nice big screen cages if thats the way your leaning. if your leaning towards a custom made cage, and are willing to spend money on one. call any of the websites that have cages you are even a little bit interested in. you can find out alot of info from actually talking to a rep. any site that doesn not have a number you can call for assistance, is not a formidable one IMHO.
 
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