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View Full Version : Vision Cages-what do you think of them?



FutureVet
01-05-2005, 03:16 AM
hey everyone,

I was wondering what you all think about using a vision cage for an adult tegu? I am going back and forth between buying and building. And even if buying is more expensive, it may be a better option for me and my limited ability to build things. lol

As most of you know, I have a young tegu (19 inches) and she will be needing to move into a bigger enclosure soon. Do you all think that a 6'x3'x18" would be a suitable enclosure for her? I know most people say that a 8'x3'x3' is the best for an adult tegu, but Ron St. Pierre's website says that an adult Argentine B&W would do well in a 6 foot vision cage.

Please tell me your thoughts on this. Would you house a tegu in this size enclosure, or do you think it's too small? Thanks, Christie

Rick
01-05-2005, 05:00 AM
Is that 6 feet long, 3 feet deep (from the front to the back) and 18 inches tall? or 6 feet long, 18 inches deep (front to back) and 3 feet tall?

Rick

FutureVet
01-05-2005, 08:00 AM
It's 6 feet wide (or long), 3 feet deep and 1 1/2 feet high, think this would work out ok? thanks , Christie

Rick
01-05-2005, 01:21 PM
I am sure that would be fine for a single tegu. I am assuming since it is 1½ feet tall that the lighting will be on the top and not inside it. A basking light probably hangs 8 to 10 inches (an approximate guess) so it wouldn't leave the tegu much room under it if it was mounted on the inside. The tegu would also probably stand up inside the light and get burned.

As far as the size, I am sure it would be adequate as long as you let you tegu out daily for more extensive exercise anyways. Things like "The closet dash", etc. :)

Rick
theTegu.com

labl3d
01-05-2005, 01:51 PM
Sexy, clean looking, fairly easy to clean (as has been argued and will be important in years to come), but pricey. If the dollar figure isnt a problem, IMO it wouldnt be a bad choice. You can always upgrade later as your tastes change. My only concern would be that its rather shallow, 18" isnt very high when you consider the height of an adult B&W tegu. Althought, this could possibly make her feel more secure :shrugs:... Personally, if I were in your position I would take that money and try to sucker someone into building one for you :twisted: . I would argue that you can get 2x the cage for the price of the vision and open up the possibility of picking up a BF for Tessa in the future 8).
Just my $.02,
Troy

John
01-05-2005, 03:44 PM
with the post above. The vision doesn't have enough depth as they love to burry themselves! Plus open the slidding glass door and mulch will be everwhere. Have someone build one or buy a 6ft Horse Trough. they work great, are cheap, and plenty of room for substrate!

Johelian
01-05-2005, 07:38 PM
I agree with John on the mulch problem - I have sliding glass doors on my current cage (pics in the gallery) but the lip the doors sit on is quite deep so the substrate sits well below the level of the doors.

Making a custom cage really isnt that hard, particularly if you can get the wood pre-cut and preferably pre-drilled; just draw up a plan with measurements on all the bits you need and take it to the depot and hopefully you can get them to cut it all to size for you so all you need to do is put it all together. The glass you can have cut to size as well, or you can cut plexiglass yourself - just make sure to learn how first, and practise on a bit you dont need ;) My boyfriend made both of my vivariums (the ones in my tegu and beardie albums) - Im so grateful to him! :)

I would look at at least 2', if not 3' in height - as well as the height of the animal being an issue, as labl3d mentions, you will really appreciate the extra height when it comes to cleaning out the cage and adding furnishings etc. with a 3' height you can have 1' of substrate and still 2' so you can properly lean into the cage to work with it. Of course, this is just for your own benefit - I dont think your tegu will mind too much the height of its home (though you may be able to get more interesting structures into a higher cage) :)

Rick
01-05-2005, 09:15 PM
Good catch. I just assumed it had a substrate dam and I didn't give any thought to the lost height caused by the deep substrate. :(

My mindset was on the 1½ feet of room, which would indeed be enough to suit a tegu, but after you add 6 to 10 inches of substrate, that leaves little to no room.

I'll blame it on a brain cramp. :wink:

Rick

beardiedragon
01-05-2005, 09:36 PM
for the reasons already mentioned, it wont work. Here is the visual

http://www.beardiedragon.com/posts/cage/vision-tegu1.jpg

http://www.beardiedragon.com/posts/cage/vision-tegu2.jpg

FutureVet
01-06-2005, 02:07 AM
hey,

Thank for the help! I know I posted about that before, but I was just wanting extra opinions. I didnt think of the sliding glass front with all the mulch, and the height problem. I too forgot they would need 1 1/2 feet after the substrate is in. :P Thanks for the visual beardiedragon! That definitely helped.

So, now I just need to con someone into helping me build the cage. hmmm...who should I choose as a victim? :twisted: :wink: lol

~Christie