crested gecko gun cabinet

[oneluckydude]

I have worked on this project for over two months. here is the story line

I found the gun cabinet at a yard sale while shopping for a desk.

made modifications to the back panel which was crappy finished cardboard and is now finished 1" x 22" real wood. something I had laying around in the garage.

made the corner shelf out of some wood from work.

found the fake ivy plant at saint v's for 48 cents. installed it on the corner shelf for a good hiding place.

found the drift wood on the beach by work, cut it down to fit and treated it with a over night bleach bath ( 6 hours on both sides in the bath tub) and pressure washed it at work which actually made some very nice hiding spots in the wood underneath.

drilled the top hole for the night light and installed the 18" uvb hood.

caulked every seam, installed a board on the bottom front to keep the bedding from falling out and drilled a hole in the floor big enough to fit a plant pot for the live fern going in.

treated all the wood with a water sealer.

and ordered the two hanging plants, the uvb bulb, night time 40 watt bulb and the thermometer from "everythingreptilesupply.com

all I have left is to drill the ventilation holes and install the screening.


please let me know what you think!!!!

[siz]

I commented on your other thread but the posts are different
I'm not sure about caulking...is it non toxic?
Is the night light just a viewing light? Make sure your temps don't get much higher than 80f!
That's going to be one happy gecko lol

[oneluckydude]

well hello on this side as well SIZ. to answer your question about the caulk and after doing tons of research and calling about half a dozen hardware stores the answer is yes. it is toxic in its goo stage. turns out all caulking is. even the stuff they use on aquariums. but as long as I give it plenty of time to fully dry I shouldn't have a problem. another thing is that since I live here in northern oregon I have to keep any chance of mold form happening. its a huge problem out here!

as for the night bulb, it is a 40 watt so there is some heat, but after some test nights I found that is only heats the top half and since I will be adding the vent 3 inch vent holes on both sides there should be a nice top to bottom difference in temp. I will confirm this once I get the temp/ humidity set in the mail.

[siz]

Daytime temps should be higher than night tmeps, night temps can driop down to the high 60s easily. Cresties that are too hot get really stressed and *can* die. Obviously I have no idea what your weather is like so maybe you need it. Just letting you know!
Do you have a gecko picked out yet?

[oneluckydude]

unfortunately no, the only good reptile place within two hours is out and they have about eight clutches waiting to hatch. I don't know if I want to risk going to the other reptile stores because they either have horrible reviews or there prices are outrageous. think I may have to just keep making little adjustments and wait for one of the clutches to hatch. which means they'll have to go into the 30gal tank for the first three months. but hay, good things come to those who wait. I'm sure I'll end up with the perfect little lizard.

[siz]

Yes I'm sure you will IMO you can't go wrong with Rhacodactylus anyways heh heh