ooooooh! a license to ramble! grin

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Posted by iZ's mom on January 15, 1999 at 22:51:18:

In Reply to: Building the perfect cage? posted by Dando on January 13, 1999 at 15:21:22:

i don't have any pix i can post but i can tell you what worked pretty neat for me + iZ .... (i too, like a 'home-made' enclosure!)
i used branches (actually tree limbs!) that i found during a walk thru the woods for climbing surfaces and basking limbs ... (found a hollow log that iZ used to hide in before he got to be so big!) just MAKE SURE you treat the wood so you don't get bugs, parasites, etc !!!! (if it's BIG pieces like i used, you can take them into the basement and soak them down good with bleach water and let them sit a few days, then do it again, then after a few more days, rinse WELL with water and let it dry and AIR out for a week)
you can have them going up from the floor to basking shelves, or hang them from the ceiling to bask on .... make sure they are secure enough to withstand a flying liazard leap!
when iZ had 'just' an enclosure, i used lattice for some of the walls ... i like how it look and it made a good climbing surface for iZ ... (now, the lattice is attached to the walls of his room ....)
i like LOTS of those 'silk' plants! gives the place a nice homey feeling! you can get 6' vines for like $3 at Walmart ... (be warned that igs will want to climb on them so don't have *just* a vine hanging cuz it won't hold their weight ....!) i wrap them around the branches and run them up the lattice wall ... also the silk plants that they have in pieces (ya know? NOT the ones in a basket ... ) those make good 'hiding places! you can either attach them to the ceiling over the basking branch, or attach them to the bottom of the branch and make a kind of 'wall' to give the ig some privacy when they want ...
i'm seeing little self-contained waterfalls all over the place now! (after i bought one at a pet store ...!) i would think that you could improvise with just about any of the self contained ones or a sand-shark pump (i think that's what it's called ...) my ever-handy husband cut down an old 10 gal aquarium we had, so it was about 6" deep and i put the waterfall in there and filled the bottom with rocks ... it looks awesome! this will NOT work if your ig likes to poop in the water cuz it's a PAIN to clean poop out of the pump!!!! i have visions of building a better pool/waterfall (the one i did build was before i realized how big/how fast iZ would get! it's clean and he can drink out of it but no way could he get IN it ...) if you want to build a waterfall that's higher than 6', i'd think you could just use more plastic tubing and a plastic rain gutter for it to run down ... maybe glue rocks on the gutter part and use a kiddie pool with rocks in the bottom ... (i'm dreaming of when i own instead of rent a house and can really build iZ a room!)
this is long so i'll quit now! hope some of it helped give you idea or 2!

be4st wishes!
:P + :)
iZ + mom

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: i don't have any pix i can post but i can tell you what worked pretty neat for me + iZ .... (i too, like a 'home-made' enclosure!) : i used branches (actually tree limbs!) that i found during a walk thru the woods for climbing surfaces and basking limbs ... (found a hollow log that iZ used to hide in before he got to be so big!) just MAKE SURE you treat the wood so you don't get bugs, parasites, etc !!!! (if it's BIG pieces like i used, you can take them into the basement and soak them down good with bleach water and let them sit a few days, then do it again, then after a few more days, rinse WELL with water and let it dry and AIR out for a week) : you can have them going up from the floor to basking shelves, or hang them from the ceiling to bask on .... make sure they are secure enough to withstand a flying liazard leap! : when iZ had 'just' an enclosure, i used lattice for some of the walls ... i like how it look and it made a good climbing surface for iZ ... (now, the lattice is attached to the walls of his room ....) : i like LOTS of those 'silk' plants! gives the place a nice homey feeling! you can get 6' vines for like $3 at Walmart ... (be warned that igs will want to climb on them so don't have *just* a vine hanging cuz it won't hold their weight ....!) i wrap them around the branches and run them up the lattice wall ... also the silk plants that they have in pieces (ya know? NOT the ones in a basket ... ) those make good 'hiding places! you can either attach them to the ceiling over the basking branch, or attach them to the bottom of the branch and make a kind of 'wall' to give the ig some privacy when they want ... : i'm seeing little self-contained waterfalls all over the place now! (after i bought one at a pet store ...!) i would think that you could improvise with just about any of the self contained ones or a sand-shark pump (i think that's what it's called ...) my ever-handy husband cut down an old 10 gal aquarium we had, so it was about 6" deep and i put the waterfall in there and filled the bottom with rocks ... it looks awesome! this will NOT work if your ig likes to poop in the water cuz it's a PAIN to clean poop out of the pump!!!! i have visions of building a better pool/waterfall (the one i did build was before i realized how big/how fast iZ would get! it's clean and he can drink out of it but no way could he get IN it ...) if you want to build a waterfall that's higher than 6', i'd think you could just use more plastic tubing and a plastic rain gutter for it to run down ... maybe glue rocks on the gutter part and use a kiddie pool with rocks in the bottom ... (i'm dreaming of when i own instead of rent a house and can really build iZ a room!) : this is long so i'll quit now! hope some of it helped give you idea or 2! : be4st wishes! : :P + :) : iZ + mom

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ooooooh! a license to ramble! *grin*

ooooooh! a license to ramble! grin