Well actually...

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Posted by xta on February 01, 2001 at 07:06:42:

In Reply to: DITTO... posted by Mr. D on January 31, 2001 at 23:26:51:

I meant that plexi and melamine might be good for the final cage, but a cheap wood or pvc & wire job might serve as an outdoor cage in the summer and a quick cheap cage for now until you work out the design. The melamine and plexi won't be cheap so I wouldn't want to build that and toss it aside after a month! And whatever you do, don't get that cheap white melamine-like home depot shelving wood (that will bubble up at the least amount of moisture-- it's like particle board covered in paper) I wish they sold cheaper versions of the counter type sturdy stuff (in thinner sheets). If anyone knows where to get this stuff let me know, because I'll use it in my next cage. I bought my last cage which was made of that and it's great, but I'd like to get it in its raw form to make my own dimensions.

: Sounds like melamine and plexi will be the quickest way to go for an enclosure. If you can get everything precut you could have at least the shell together in a day. At 3' cost is going to be an issue either right now or shortly down the road but you can always move your little guy into it if/when you build a larger enclosure for the new ig. I'll take a stab and say that 4 or 5' tall x 4 wide x 30-36" deep would be more than comfortable for the interim.
: You may have to ramp up the UVB slowly since this ig probably hasn't seen any substantial light for the majority of it's life. You may want to consider using an "unfiltered" 2.0 for a week or two just to be safe. Bring it up gradually so it's system won't be shocked too much. For a single bulb UVB fixture we went to Home Depot and got a "Lampi" fixture and just replaced the blub. 36" fixture cost $30 up here in New Hampshire. Appetite may or may not be there as well. We just visited an ig in a pet shop here who hadn't sen collard greens for a looong time. Poor guy actually took a nose dive into the glass door trying to get down his branch quick enough to get to them. But don't be surprised if it takes a few days/weeks for it to come around. This is going to be a big change for it. Calcium is going to be a BIG issue as well. LOTS of collard greens... Some fruit flavored Tums will help too if you don't have any pure calcium powder handy. The Tums may encourage it to eat though due to the sweetness. At this point do anything to get it on a better diet. FYI, this is the technique that we used to bring Dharma back to health. Darn horse doubled her weight and grew 5" since October of last year...LOL She's up to generally two bowls of food a day. Eats more than Mel does !
: If you've got electronics great, use whatever you have. If you need equipment, if nothing else, consider giving Herpsupplies.com a holler. John's real good about getting things out quickly and he's fair on pricing as well. Better than just about anything that that PetCompany can do. Anything else we can do just holler...; )
: Good Luck !!

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Ooops....;)~ Mr. D 02/01/01 (2)
- :-) (more) xta 02/01/01 (1)
  - An idea ? Mr. D 02/03/01 (0)

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: I meant that plexi and melamine might be good for the final cage, but a cheap wood or pvc & wire job might serve as an outdoor cage in the summer and a quick cheap cage for now until you work out the design. The melamine and plexi won't be cheap so I wouldn't want to build that and toss it aside after a month! And whatever you do, don't get that cheap white melamine-like home depot shelving wood (that will bubble up at the least amount of moisture-- it's like particle board covered in paper) I wish they sold cheaper versions of the counter type sturdy stuff (in thinner sheets). If anyone knows where to get this stuff let me know, because I'll use it in my next cage. I bought my last cage which was made of that and it's great, but I'd like to get it in its raw form to make my own dimensions. : : Sounds like melamine and plexi will be the quickest way to go for an enclosure. If you can get everything precut you could have at least the shell together in a day. At 3' cost is going to be an issue either right now or shortly down the road but you can always move your little guy into it if/when you build a larger enclosure for the new ig. I'll take a stab and say that 4 or 5' tall x 4 wide x 30-36" deep would be more than comfortable for the interim. : : You may have to ramp up the UVB slowly since this ig probably hasn't seen any substantial light for the majority of it's life. You may want to consider using an "unfiltered" 2.0 for a week or two just to be safe. Bring it up gradually so it's system won't be shocked too much. For a single bulb UVB fixture we went to Home Depot and got a "Lampi" fixture and just replaced the blub. 36" fixture cost $30 up here in New Hampshire. Appetite may or may not be there as well. We just visited an ig in a pet shop here who hadn't sen collard greens for a looong time. Poor guy actually took a nose dive into the glass door trying to get down his branch quick enough to get to them. But don't be surprised if it takes a few days/weeks for it to come around. This is going to be a big change for it. Calcium is going to be a BIG issue as well. LOTS of collard greens... Some fruit flavored Tums will help too if you don't have any pure calcium powder handy. The Tums may encourage it to eat though due to the sweetness. At this point do anything to get it on a better diet. FYI, this is the technique that we used to bring Dharma back to health. Darn horse doubled her weight and grew 5" since October of last year...LOL She's up to generally two bowls of food a day. Eats more than Mel does ! : : If you've got electronics great, use whatever you have. If you need equipment, if nothing else, consider giving Herpsupplies.com a holler. John's real good about getting things out quickly and he's fair on pricing as well. Better than just about anything that that PetCompany can do. Anything else we can do just holler...; ) : : Good Luck !!

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