New homemade cage!

[BadKelpie]

I am getting a leopard gecko tomorrow.

I have a 30 gallon tank but decided to start with something smaller and go bigger if it seemed necessary as the gecko grew or if I got a particularly active one.

So I went to get a 10 gallon. Walmart was out, thrift stores had none, and both pet stores in town didn't have any either. I went to home depot, not expecting to find anything that would work. I stumbled upon these very clear 11" x 14" acrylic sheets, they look like glass, they're so clear. I put 4 in a square and they looked about the same dimensions as a 10 gallon (ended up being 196 sq inches, whereas 10 gallon tanks have 200 sq inches). So then I had to have a base, as the sheets were too thin to use without a sturdy bottom. I thought maybe wood, but would still need a substrate. Then I remembered that they had 16 inch tiles. Awesome! Cage with a built in tile floor.

So I stopped at the dollar store and got some fake plants and some clear plastic tape. Tape the acrylic pieces together, then tape this to the tile. It actually works really well to hold it together and I don't have to mess with sealant.

So this is it, there will be less rocks and another hide and maybe something to climb on. The pot is going to be the moist hide. The fake cactus will also be replaced by a real one in a little pot. It has a screen top now.

Anyway, it was really easy, and I love the look of it.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Looks nice but I wouldn't replace the fake cactus with a real one (or even keep the fake one for that matter). It could scratch your leo or give him a thorn and cause some real safety hazards to your lil one. Def. need more hides. 3 would be perfect. 1 moist, 1 hot hide, and 1 cool side hide. How are you heating the tank to the 93-95 degrees you need for his hot side, and how are you monitoring it? I don't see any type of wire for a thermometer or heat mat. Honestly I would use MORE rocks. Leos are rock dwellers, not sand dwellers. They hide in the crevaces of flat rocks in the desert.

Can't wait to see how you finish this off

 

[BadKelpie]

Ok, see, I have been on message boards long enough that I know how to word things, and I knew I should have said "non-spiny real cactus" but I was being lazy, lol. The spines on the fake one are soft.

I have a digital thermometer w/probe. I took it out while re-arranging and taking photos. I don't have a UTH yet, none of the petstores here carry them. I have a light that will get the warm spot to about 90, cool spot stays around 77, and I'll buy the UTH at ***** tomorrow. I'm not going to keep the light on, it's just there so I'm not putting the gecko into a cold cage, and to give the heater a chance to warm up.

There is a rock hide in the other corner, behind the bushy plant. Everything is under snow right now, and I could only get small rocks for now (but I live in the absolute rockiest area ever so getting them isn't usually an issue). I had them all piled up on one side, looked neat but didn't seem sturdy. How likely is it that a gecko would knock them down? Are they pretty sure footed? I haven't had lizards since about 1996, when I had anoles in a tank with a heat rock and no UVB. I've never had geckos. Is it better to have more bare floor or more rocks? I thought they'd need floor space, but if they're happy running around on rocks, I can do that.

 

[M_surinamensis]

... tape?

 

[BadKelpie]

Yes, tape. Clear plastic packing tape, only on the outside of the cage. Holds it all together very well, I could carry it around by one side.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Use more flat rocks and use gorilla glue in between to hold them together if you're worried about him knocking them down. My tank is ALL rock and Eros doesn't bulldoze a thing. There's pix in my user profile photo albums if you want to see how it looks.

 

[roger]

Yes, tape. Clear plastic packing tape, only on the outside of the cage. Holds it all together very well, I could carry it around by one side.

HHmm

 

[BadKelpie]

I'm more worried about him hurting himself than knocking rocks down. I think I'll wait on more rocks until I can get bigger flatter rocks.

 

[M_surinamensis]

Yes, tape. Clear plastic packing tape, only on the outside of the cage. Holds it all together very well, I could carry it around by one side.

This will not end well. I sincerely hope you don't injure or kill your gecko when your project collapses.

Tape is completely inappropriate and far too weak to be used as the sole material holding together an enclosure. It is ridiculously negligent to even make such an attempt. You were at a big-box home improvement store, they all sell various acrylic adhesives, bonds and welds or the materials required to construct a frame.

Packing tape though... it is so to the bone stupid to think that is an adequate substitute that I am halfway convinced you're a lying troll, just trying to get a rise out of people. It's working, so you're a successful troll. I'm sure you're very proud.

 

[BadKelpie]

Wow.

It's lightweight acrylic. On a heavy base.

How in the world is this going to collapse and kill anything?

If for some crazy reason the tape did fail (on all three sides it is held by, and without me noticing that it is about to fail), the acrylic isn't heavy enough to crush anything.

Is the name calling really necessary? You don't know me.

 

[Khrysty]

Not that M_surinamensis really needs someone to excuse him (he's a big boy and certainly can take care of himself) but you should know he's not personally attacking you. He just doesn't like when people overlook obvious things. He is blunt to a fault, but he's right. He could have said it nicer, but that's not his style, and most people ignore the watered down suggestions others give.

Watered down version: tape would work if this were a temporary enclosure, but if you accidentally drop it, or are too rough with it, or the tape gets wet and starts to peel away, you're gonna have (at the very least) a lost gecko on your hands. Since you want to keep your animal in it indefinitely, you'd best spend the 10 or so dollars and get some acrylic adhesive to make it permanent and sturdy.

 

[clemsonguy1125]

Not even 10 dollars. Go to lowes and you can pick up some fish safe sealer for like 4 bucks. I really think you would be better of waiting and getting a ten gallon. Then heating is just sticking on a uth with a rheostat.

 

[simplyjessi]

Having coming from a custom aquarium background, tape will lose strength in humidity. Its not wise. You can probably get away with 5 minute epoxy, drys completely clear and looks nice. The more 'aquarium' way is silicone which would take 24 hours to cure.

 

[TokayKeeper]

In an application like this, silicone would have been the preferred method had you used glass. Silicone does not bond well with acrylic or plexi-glass! It's honestly a whole half step stronger than the use of tape here. What you need is acrylic adhesive. It will chemically weld the joints together, making a more permanent, bonded seal.

The other problem you'll have now is cleaning the tape and tape adhesive residue off the plexi without scratching it. I like your idea here, but I have the agree with the others on the tape. If you have a hard time locating acrylic adhesive locally, then check out www.monsterfishkeepers.com in the DIY or custom tanks forums (I forget which they are specifically titled). I've not dealt with the stuff so I can't recommend a particular product.

EDIT: typos

 

[Dog Shrink]

Goo gone should take off sticky tape residue with out scratching his acrylic.

 

[clemsonguy1125]

Or rubbing alcohol.