A diagram idea for cage...

[Alusdra]

Ok, so I have three leos and I really am dissatisfied with all the cages out there that I've seen marketed for retail. So... since my dad reminded me that he does weld metal for a living and my roommate similarly shook her head at me looking for glass as she makes things out of stained glass for a hobby... I decided to %*^$ with buying cages, I'm going to make a really pretty one out of fancy stained glass and stainless steel. So- I thought I'd ask for thoughts on here to see if I forgot something important. Like: stainless steel good? Not good? I'm concerned it might dissipate heat too much...

The general idea will be that it collapses down (because I move a lot) and that it can sit in a shelf and have front access (rather than from on top). I'm not exactly sure how I want to work out the ventilation. Should I have screens put in? Holes? Just let the unwelded sides do the breathing? And as for light- since geckos do need the UVs for making calciferol, no? I'm thinking this fancy stained glass stuff doesn't have specific protection, but maybe just being glass is enough to render it useless?

I sketched this diagram out on a dry-erase board, so don't laugh at me too hard. I don't have the diagramming skillz like... actually, a good chunk of my family. Huh... Well anyway, let me know what you think.

Oh- and if you think it would be ok for 3 geckos, or not. And if it would be small enough for a blind gecko to be ok in it? I guess I would have to monitor weights to really see.

 

[moosassah]

Leos don't need UV lights. Having a red or blue light is cool for viewing, but not necessary.

Your concept of collapsible containment is really great. If you can pull it off, get your butt to the copyright center & make yourself some $$$. It'd be huge in the college world.

As for ventilation, crickets will escape through holes. Mesh will become damaged in the collapsing function if it is not done right. It would need to fold properly or not at all.

If the bottom is going to be made of metal I would test out the UTH's ability to reach proper temperatures through it before construction.

Lastly, I wouldn't be very concerned about water spilling. The UTH will cause it to evaporate or the paper towels would absorb it. Leos only need a small amount of H2O in their dish.

Are you going to try designing it in cardboard to see if your idea works? Do we get to see pics of your progress? Good luck.

 

[Alusdra]

Hmm... that's a great idea to test it out with cardboard first. I hadn't thought of that. Great idea! I think I have some boxes laying about I can sacrifice. Maybe I can get my dad to bring up a big sheet of metal for me to test with...

I would like to have a lip, I think, for spilling, since I don't aim all that carefully when squirting their water bowls full and sometimes miss. My computer is rather close to the gecko cages.

I'm not that concerned about escaping crickets as I don't feed them. (My recovered MBD can't catch them and my blind one can't see them) Plus I don't think you should feed crickets in the main enclosure, anyway, as they seem to escape from just about anything, and if they don't then they might harm the gecko left in too long.

I trust my dad to get some of the structural integrity problems under control (like the mesh) since he's worked with these sorts of things and I have definitely not. It would probably be SS mesh, anyway- I figure why not if he's going to do it for me for free. Better than having a chance of rusting and metal toxicity, etc. (though maybe this isn't a problem with geckos as much as other species).

I'll try to post pics when I get a cardboard model working. :main_laugh:

 

[moosassah]

Looking forward to those pics.