Where to get enclosure?

[Britskidiva]

My baby is in a 10 gallon right now, which is fine since he's still small, but he's growing fast and we're going to need a bigger tank for him soon. I've been researching to find one for a decent price, I don't want to have to pay top dollar at a Petsmart or other big box pet store. I'd really like to get him a nice, big tank, bigger than a 55 gallon, so he'll have lots of room to run and play.

I know there's a couple of reptile expos coming up over the next couple months in my area, do they sell enclosures there? If so, are they any cheaper than pet stores?

I found this website http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=3 and was wondering if anybody has any experience with them?

I've been keeping an eye on craigslist as well but no luck so far.

I know Petco does the $1/gallon sale but I haven't seen any tanks bigger than 40 gallons there.

I'd love to make our own viv for him but I am no where near handy enough to do that.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[ClydesGirl]

Just so you know, a 40 gallon breeder is actually "bigger" than a 55 gallon in terms of how a beardie utilizes space. 55 gallons are long, but not very wide. They don't offer much "turn around" room for your beardie. As a general rule, you want any viv to be at least 18" wide. That's what a 40g breeder is considered the minimum size for an adult, since it is 36"x18"x18". A 55 gallon is 48"x13"x20". 13 inches isn't wide enough to allow an adult beardie to turn around and 20" is needlessly high. So really, when looking at vivs in general, don't worry so much about how many "gallons" it is. Worry about the floor space.

I know I didn't really answer your question very well. How much are you looking to spend on a viv? There is obviously a huge price range and, of course, there is always the option of building one yourself if you're handy at all. My husband and I converted a wood and glass display case we bought off of craigslist into a viv. A lot of people convert old furniture, but you have to be at least a little handy to pull that off.

 

[Britskidiva]

Well, like I said, I am not in the least bit handy, and my husband is handy really only in the "electrical" sense, not so much the "saw and hammer" sense, hehe. I wouldn't mind doing it if I knew what I was doing but I have no clue. Plus, I don't think we have all the tools needed, and those can get expensive.

We'd really like to try to spend as little as possible, we want to TRY not to go over $200, but can if we need to. Which is why I'm trying to find something on Craigslist or hope that vendors at the expos have them at a decent price. And that's just for the tank. We know we have to get new fixtures and lights too.

The link I posted above has a tank that is 72 x 18 x 13 (or 17) for around $150 so we are considering that, but was wondering if anybody had any experience using this website.

When I was at Petsmart the other day I saw this: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3804452&lmdn=Fish+Aquariums+&+Bowls which is on sale right now, we just don't have the $205 right now to get it, otherwise I probably would. It has that 18" width you were talking about. That is basically what prompted me to researching tanks to get him a nice big one.

 

[ClydesGirl]

My local petsmart has the Exo Terra 36"x18"x18" terrarium on sale right now for $134 with a PetPerks card. Not sure if all Petsmarts would have that in stock, but it really is a nice viv for the price. It's only meets the minimum dimensions for an adult beardie, but many people have happy and healthy dragons in that size viv, so it wouldn't be the end of the world. The nicest thing about it is that it has front-opening doors, which is SOOOOO handy for easy access for feeding, cleaning, and of course getting your beardie in and out. Any aquarium is only going to have top access, which can be a big chore with all the lighting and such getting in the way. It also has a nice textured fake rock background included, which I think looks cool at least.

Here's a link to the Exo Terra page about their terrariums: http://exo-terra.com/en/products/natural_terrarium_large.php.

If your Petsmart doesn't have them in stock, they might be able to special order one for you? Any of the 36"x18" options would work for a beardie. The 36"x18"x24" is probably needlessly tall though and might pose more of a challenge for lighting and temps. The 36"x18"x12" would probably work, but might not leave you enough height to mount the UVB fixture inside the viv. If I was getting one of those, the way I'd mount the UVB fixture would be to try to figure out some way to hang it from that support that runs horizontally across the screen top. Maybe by just punching some holes in the screen and using zip ties. That would be pretty easy.

 

[kFitz]

I've gotten all of my tanks off of craigslist. You might have to lurk for a while, searching in both the pets section and the for sale sections. I found a wooden enclosure, sliding glass from doors, 4'x2'x2' for $120. It already had all of the lighting installed and even came with a lock for the doors. I had gotten another one that size for $200. I gave the tanks a thorough cleaning to be sure it was good to go (just like you should do with a new tank). 55 gallon tanks are usually $50 on craigslist too, though I agree with what was said about the 40 gallon breeder giving more room to move.

Try looking on craigslist for a few weeks before buying a new tank as it'll be way cheaper and you can often find a custom built tank there.

 

[Britskidiva]

Thanks for all the help. We've decided to make a viv! LOL! I've been looking into it for the past 3 days and it seems to be the most economical, plus I have to have those front-opening doors. Even though we are not very handy we are going to make ourselves BE handy!

We decided to do one of those crossfire enclosures since it looks to be easy-ish.

Going to pick up some melamine board I found for cheap on Craigslist tomorrow and we have a couple friends with some tools we can use.

 

[kFitz]

Good luck! Once I got the front sliding doors, I will never go back to the glass tanks! Plus the wood keeps the heat in so much easier!

 

[BomaniTheDragon]

My little guy is in the beardie starter kit that I got this past weekend at Petsmart's 50% sale. Hasn't been a week but I've already been figuring out which viv I will get for his "bigger days". Right now I am planning on building one with front opening doors of some sorts. Best of luck whichever way you decide!

 

[ClydesGirl]

Good luck! Be sure to let us know how it goes!

 

[czuber]

Check Craig's for a older entertainment center that could be converted over. I have found some nice ones and I'm going to go look at them this weekend. It would really cutdown on all the fancy stuff so you can just concentrate on the enclosure.

 

[Britskidiva]

Check Craig's for a older entertainment center that could be converted over. I have found some nice ones and I'm going to go look at them this weekend. It would really cutdown on all the fancy stuff so you can just concentrate on the enclosure.

I thought about doing this but it seems...more complicated? At least just from what I've seen on here. It looks like you have to gut it and then rebuild it and paint it and all kinds of stuff, whereas with the crossfire you just basically put together a box, no painting or anything.

If anyone knows any better please chime in! I would love an entertainment center viv thingy because they do look very nice!

 

[ClydesGirl]

I converted a wood and glass display case that I bought on craigslist. The advantage was that it already had sliding glass doors and everything. The main disadvantage was the case I bought wasn't deep enough, so we had to pry off the plywood back, and make a "box" to attach to the back of it. If you look on the web cam in my sig, you can see there is a wall that extends about 4 inches past the edge of the side glass? That's where the "box" extension starts. The original display case was only 14.5 inches deep, so we extended it about 4 inches to meet the minimum size for an adult beardie. Here's kind of an outdated picture of it from when we first finished the conversion. We've since replaced the UVB fixture and mounted the digital thermometer to the wall of the cold side and ran the wire for the probe behind the place mats that cover the back wall. Also, we've updated all the furniture and of course, have a different beardie now. The one in that pic is my Clyde, RIP.

You can't see it in the pic, but the case actually stands about 2 feet off the ground with two open shelves below it where I keep all of our supplies.

 

[ClydesGirl]

Here, I just took a new pick so you can see the full case:

Sorry for the glare. I had to turn on the flash so you could see the wood.

And here's a closer-up one so you can see Bert hiding behind his basking rock:

 

[SpitFyre]

I love the lizard decoration in the background. It's beautiful, and so is the rest of the case.

 

[Britskidiva]

Nice tank! I love the decoration.

Ok, so I was watching your live cam for a minute and I totally saw you taking the pictures! Well...I saw the flash going off eheh. I was thinking "I wonder if she's taking pics to show me her tank" lol!

I'll have to speak to the hubs about this. I looked on craigslist and haven't found anything suitable yet, but we'll see.