As the name says, I need help designing an enclosure for 2 blue tongue skinks. I have never tried building an enclosure before so I really have no idea what I'm doing. Right now I have only one blue tongue skink but I'm hoping to get another very soon. First I need to know what size would be best for two of them? And because I'm on a tiny little budget, I think (or hope..) building one will be cheaper. I really don't know what I'm doing, so I could use a lot of help especially on things like materials and cost.

If I'm not mistaken I believe The bare minimum for one Blue Tongue Skink is a 40 Gallon breeder tank.

I would say from that, For two it should be no less than 4' x 2'
larger would be nice for them, especially floorspace, but with a bit of creativity you could make a really great wooden enclosure for less than $200 all construction included.


About what type of budget are you on? With that we could give you a better idea of what plans would be best.

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

When on a tight budget it's a good idea to look around at thrift stores, garage sales or renovation stores. You could find an old pc of furniture to turn into an enclosure.
Modified carcasses of projection tvs work great.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Well my budget sadly is about as cheep as I can get without having a cage that is too small for the pair. After all, supplying them with a bigger cage is the whole goal. There is no actual set budget, but because I really don't have the money to throw around and no real way of getting more, it has to be low. I'm not sure of the design, but I've seen them made out of almost all wood (back, bottom and sides) then the front being glass and the top could be mesh? just an idea..
kriminaal can you send me some photo's of tanks made out of other objects? (like the tv)

I searched for a bit, but couldn't find the thread I was looking for.
I know we have a member who had a thread on this topic somewhere.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Okay well if I did in the end decide to go with all wood, how do you go about putting it together? Like attaching the wood and putting in the glass.

Make a frame out of 2 x 4s and then attach the plywood to the sides. Then you can cut out circles for the lights/heat elements. For the front, you can use plexiglass, and set it in a slider tract.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

If you are just looking for something simple, get some 2x4's cut to the length you want it. Then take the height what you want the enclosure and subtract the width of the 2x4. (either 1.5 or 3.5 inches depending on how you want to lay the 2x4) Repeat for the width of the tank. Screw them all together and then attach plywood to fit.

The front you can do a few different ways. You can make a door that swings open or a sliding glass door. You have to decide what you want. The final size of your tank may influence this...

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A short "how to" on the TV JCP cage
I think this is one of the links Mike was talking about...

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Another thing that you should keep in mind is that if you do get a second Blue Tongue Skink, even with a large cage, they might have territorial or dominance issues. So be prepared that you might have to separate them into 2 separate enclosures at a later date....

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