more rambling from ....

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Posted by iZ's mom on January 08, 2000 at 14:17:09:

In Reply to: Which is better, wire cage or enclosed cage??? posted by IG27 on January 07, 2000 at 21:40:52:

tree limbs work great for both ramps and places to hang out on ... make sure they're securely positioned/"tied down"...

iZ's last enclosure (he's got his own room now) had 5 sides ... one was solid plywood, the other four were mesh (one side was a door) ... i wanted to keep it looking as little like a 'cage' as possible which is why i only made one side solid plywood ... it looked more "open + airy" that way ... more like a place to hang out in than a cage ...

i used mesh on top of the enclosure + had his UV + heat lights up there ... tho i like the idea of it being solid to create a 'heat pocket' ... the enclosure iZ had was close enough to the ceiling of the room it was in that i think it basically did that ...

a word about heat lamps ... be *very* careful where + how you position them!!! iZ once decided to 'taste' his red heat lamp + i didn't know he'd done it til he'd quit eating, got severely dehydrated, constipated to the point he could barely breathe + almost died ... *heavy sigh* ... then a couple months ago, he had to spend the night at the vet's and the heat lamp they had over his little cage was within his reach and he got a really nasty burn on his side when he decided to throw himself around the cage in a temper tanrum ... make sure there is no possible way they can get too close to the heat source!!!

humidifiers: iZ's enclosure wasn't as big as the one you're planning (which is why he's got a whole room now!) ... i put the humidifier underneath the enclosure, cut a hole in the floor of the enclosure + put a plastic pipe extension on the humidifier to 'pipe' the mist into the enclosure ... sounds like your enclosure might be big enough to allow you to put the humdifier inside ... make sure tho that it can't get knocked over or anything ... igs are great at getting themselves into trouble with little or no effort! *grin*

potty training: *whew* that's another whole set of posts! hehehe ... actually, it's not too hard ... i think puppies are more difficult ... it just takes patience + consistency + more patience ... it helps that igs don't go to the bathroom as often as mammals and they really don't like to 'go' in their enclosure ... iZ goes in the bathtub and then has a soak afterwards ... unless he's po'd at me, he lines up with the drain + aims pretty good! (he figured that one out himself!!!) ... (if he's in a grouchy mood, he poops at the *other* end of the tub + smears it all over the place ... *sigh*)

don't have pix that i can share right now ... have got a bunch i need to go get scanned, both of his old enclosure + his new room ... mebbe in a couple weeks ...

shelves ... hmmmm ... mebbe four or five??? at different heights and different sides of the enclosure ... make 1 or 2 little hidey spots ... mebbe have one sorta 'hanging in mid-air' ...

oh! one thing i don't think i've seen mentioned is: not only do igs get *big* they get big *FAST*!!! keep that in mind when you're doin' the shelves ... iZ's high shelves in his room are 18" wide now ... tho part of that is cuz i hadta make changes + make it 'handicapped ig-cessible' a couple months ago ... make a couple of the shelves aide enough to sprawl out on + curl up if he wants to ... his hanging log is only aabout 8" wide tho so he gets that floating in air feeling he likes ...

keep asking those questions!!!

iZ's mom

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: tree limbs work great for both ramps and places to hang out on ... make sure they're securely positioned/"tied down"... : iZ's last enclosure (he's got his own room now) had 5 sides ... one was solid plywood, the other four were mesh (one side was a door) ... i wanted to keep it looking as little like a 'cage' as possible which is why i only made one side solid plywood ... it looked more "open + airy" that way ... more like a place to hang out in than a cage ... : i used mesh on top of the enclosure + had his UV + heat lights up there ... tho i like the idea of it being solid to create a 'heat pocket' ... the enclosure iZ had was close enough to the ceiling of the room it was in that i think it basically did that ... : a word about heat lamps ... be *very* careful where + how you position them!!! iZ once decided to 'taste' his red heat lamp + i didn't know he'd done it til he'd quit eating, got severely dehydrated, constipated to the point he could barely breathe + almost died ... *heavy sigh* ... then a couple months ago, he had to spend the night at the vet's and the heat lamp they had over his little cage was within his reach and he got a really nasty burn on his side when he decided to throw himself around the cage in a temper tanrum ... make sure there is no possible way they can get too close to the heat source!!! : humidifiers: iZ's enclosure wasn't as big as the one you're planning (which is why he's got a whole room now!) ... i put the humidifier underneath the enclosure, cut a hole in the floor of the enclosure + put a plastic pipe extension on the humidifier to 'pipe' the mist into the enclosure ... sounds like your enclosure might be big enough to allow you to put the humdifier inside ... make sure tho that it can't get knocked over or anything ... igs are great at getting themselves into trouble with little or no effort! *grin* : potty training: *whew* that's another whole set of posts! hehehe ... actually, it's not too hard ... i think puppies are more difficult ... it just takes patience + consistency + more patience ... it helps that igs don't go to the bathroom as often as mammals and they really don't like to 'go' in their enclosure ... iZ goes in the bathtub and then has a soak afterwards ... unless he's po'd at me, he lines up with the drain + aims pretty good! (he figured that one out himself!!!) ... (if he's in a grouchy mood, he poops at the *other* end of the tub + smears it all over the place ... *sigh*) : don't have pix that i can share right now ... have got a bunch i need to go get scanned, both of his old enclosure + his new room ... mebbe in a couple weeks ... : shelves ... hmmmm ... mebbe four or five??? at different heights and different sides of the enclosure ... make 1 or 2 little hidey spots ... mebbe have one sorta 'hanging in mid-air' ... : oh! one thing i don't think i've seen mentioned is: not only do igs get *big* they get big *FAST*!!! keep that in mind when you're doin' the shelves ... iZ's high shelves in his room are 18" wide now ... tho part of that is cuz i hadta make changes + make it 'handicapped ig-cessible' a couple months ago ... make a couple of the shelves aide enough to sprawl out on + curl up if he wants to ... his hanging log is only aabout 8" wide tho so he gets that floating in air feeling he likes ... : keep asking those questions!!! : iZ's mom

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