ONTARIO IGUANAS ONLINE STORE

If you follow my instgram or Facebook page you may have seen that my new website is up and active. So I thought I would make a blog post about it also. Recently I have been making and selling reptile hides, basking platforms and climbers at a local reptile pet store. I have decided that on top of selling them there I would attempt to open my own online store to offer them to people beyond London On. The site opened a couple of days ago but the store was activated September 23rd.

Www.ontarioiguanas.com

I have begun thinking of other products to sell along with the current products. I have added a new reptile pillow to my site. This pillow has a built in blanket attached to the top. This allows the lizard to sleep on top of the pillow or bury under the blanket. This pillow comes in different colours and different sizes from ones built for geckos all the way up to adult sized iguanas.

Along with the pillow I will be adding other reptile accessories such as bridges seen in Sassy's room in this picture.

In about a weeks time I will have bridges available in 2 a 4 foot lengths. Larger ones can be made however they will be made to order. I will have different attachments available for the ends of the bridges depending on where you plan on pacing the.

 

 

I will also be putting my artwork up for sale, not just iguana art but other lizards also. The above picture is a sketch I am currently working on that will be for sale. Along with sketches and canvas paintings I wild be offering other reptile based unique crafts for sale great for gifts.

 

If you would like a custom painting or sketch done. Send me a private message on Facebook with the photos of your or your friend's reptile that you would like the portage done of. These will require a down payment of 50% prior to the start of the painting. As well as I can give you update photo of how the piece is going so its not a surprise at the end.

Price will be determined by size and detail.

 

Custom reptile hides, basking platforms or climbers are also available, just send me a private message on Facebook with your ideas and the size you are looking for. A 50% down payment will also be required.

 

 

Other ideas for products include things like hammocks for small to medium sized lizards.

 

I would love to hear your feeback in regards to the current store, up in coming products and customized items.

 

Thanks for all your support!

 

Robin.

 

 



BACKGROUND STORY: PHOENIX

Phoenix's story is very short for me, I have had her just under a year now. I purchased her from her previous owner in Ottawa and had her shipped to me.

When I got her she had a lot of stuck on shed on her tail and spikes. Parts of her tail actually had about 3 layers of shed stuck on. It took me about 2-3 weeks of constant skin attention to get all of the stuck shed off, the spikes were the harder as I didn't want her to loose any of the spikes.

Since I got her almost a year ago I have had to work with her constantly as she has aggressive and territorial behaviours. She doesn't like the be held and she will bite and attack but over time she has gotten a lot better to the point where I can work with her a lot easier and don't have to restrain her as much at the beginning of the training session.

Keep an eye out for updates on her.

Robin.

PROFESSIONAL ENCLOSURES

So this post goes along with my last post about homemade enclosures.

All the ensure can be made at home if you have the skills with the power tools. These enclosure are made from thicker and nicer materials. These enclosures looks a lot better and cleaner however it cost a lot more to make them like this. Here are the enclosures that my boyfriend and I had made for us.
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At the time we had these made my boyfriend had a god friend who worked at a cabinet factory. He made these for us for just the cost of the materials and they bought the materials cheaper than what we can get them for. So we got an excellent deal on these. I believe Billy's was $150 and Phoenix's was $100

Billy's enclosure is about 6x3x3 and Phoenix' is 5x4x2

 

 

So when you are thinking about building your iguana (or other lizard/snake) an enclosure there are many things to think about, how big it ends to be, how long until my lizard out grows it, what your budget is and if you are making it or have it made for you. Always draw out what you what it to look like prior to making it so you can fully see and visualize if it will fit for your iguana.

 

Things I would change if I re-di either of them, one would be the doors on Billy' enclosure, I would make them extend all the way to the bottom of the enclosure like Phoenix's, this would allow more light in the bottom and make it easier to clean. Secondly I would make Phoenix's enclosures little bigger but I love the design of he's more than the rest of my enclosures. 

 

 

You may have noticed I do not have any domes in these enclosures, as I stated in my last blog I am taking all the domes out and replacing them with light fixtures.

 

 

This is what I use for the heat light. The only thing missing from this picture is the metal bracket that is used to mount the fixture to the enclosure. Then all you need to do is drill a hole where the bracket is going for the cord to go out of. The cords that I use are called lamp replacement cords, so they have a on/off switch bout halfway down the cord. For the UV light fixture I just use a normal 18inch light fixture that you can purchase at any home improvement center.

I find these fixtures to look a lot cleaner than the domes and if you have a dome inside an enclosure this will open it up more and allow the light to expand more.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact me on my instagram or Facebook page.


Robin



HOME MADE ENCLOSURES

So I will  be posting three different blogs in regards to all my enclosures. This one is on enclosures that I have made myself the second will be on enclosure I had professionally made and the last one will be on Sassy's room and what I have done with that and pans for the room in the future.


So for this post I will start off by discussing some options when it comes to homemade enclosure. There are two types.

1. Made from scratch
2. Transforming furniture

If you are really handy with tools or you need an enclosure so large that you cannot find a suitable cabinet, wardrobe or hutch you may chose option one. This allows you to completely design your enclosure to the exact size and theme that you would like and that would fit your house the best. These enclosure can look amazing and can be very unique but can cost a lot depending on the size and material you choose to use as well as how much detail you put into it.
The above enclosure is one my boyfriend, my dad and I made a couple years back. It housed our savannah monitor until he outgrew it. This could easily be used for a baby iguana when it's standing up like in the second photo. This enclosure was made with good and thick plywood which can get pricey but it wasn't that big so one sheet would most likely would have done it. We got lucky and had enough laying around we didn't need to buy any more. This is a very basic but good structure for a baby iguana or chameleon etc. If the materials where bought the entire enclosure may have only cost about $60 for everything but in regards to a green iguana, it wouldn't last them that long.

 

The above enclosure is Pip's my smallest iguana. I only paid $20 for this TV cabinet, its a very heavy and sturdy piece of furniture, the Plexiglas was another $25 and the plywood I used to cover in the back I had laying around. So this enclosure also didn't cost me much either. This enclosure can be made bigger by removing the shelf and extending it all the way to the bottom, I will do this once he gets a bit bigger. TV cabinets can make great enclosures with very little work. I do not have any eight domes in this enclosure but I will explain more about that in my next blog.

 

 

This enclosure used to house both Pip and Molly when I first got them. We actually already had this wardrobe, I believe we only paid $40 for it back before we had Molly or Pip. When we moved to a bigger place we no longer needed it so I transformed it into a enclosure for my axanthics. I took out the middle divider and dressed the inside up to work for them. Shortly after I got them I put the divider back in so that there so that Pip and Molly both had a half. Once they outgrew it I then gave Pip the previous enclosure and took the divider out and Molly got this entire wardrobe. This enclosure has been altered so much that I will not be keeping it. I was planning on upgrading her to a bigger one as she has outgrown this one. However with the recent events of my basement flood and needing renovated it will be a little bit before she gets her new enclosure. The most expensive part for this enclosure was the Plexiglas.

 

Wardrobe enclosures are one of my favourites as they give you so much room to work with a sturdy frame.

The last one I want to show is my savannah monitor enclosure. This one my boyfriend and I made very fast and could definitely have been made better. It was something we needed to put together quickly for him.



 

 

This enclosure is a 6x4x3. The way it is designed is so you can take he top off of the bottom to make it lighter to move and able to fit through a door. As some of you may know my savannah monitor Louie has MBD that has effected his legs. This enclosure does not suit him so he will be getting a new one built that fits him better. This one will then be stood up on its end to be 6ft tall and will be Billy's new enclosure, which means Molly will get Billy's current one as her upgrade. When the time comes that I do that switch I will show that transformation on the enclosure. This enclosure in total didn't cost more than $100 and is a very simply design that can work for many different species. (I took this photo today, so that's why the flooring is being torn up because of the flood we had.)

 

 

 

So those are all the enclosure I have that we built ourselves. These are cheap and easy to build with basic power too skills.

 

 

Lastly you may have noticed that in Pip's enclosure has no domes in it. When ever I upgrade an enclosure I take the domes out and replace them with an actual light fixture. I will discuss this more with details of how to install them with my next blog post about the professionally made enclosures.

 

 

If you would like help designing or creating an enclosure you are free to contact me via Facebook or instagram for ideas and support.

 

Robin.

Ontario Iguanas

 



MY REPTILE ROOM

So if anyone lives in South-western Ontario, Canada and was awake during that massive storm we got the late couple of days. You may be able to relate to my story.

We had a massive amount of rain and we found out that we now have a crack in the foundation of the house. This caused water to come into my reptile room. The water got under the flooring and destroyed the whole thing., from one side of the room to the exact opposite.

My boyfriend and I have been wanting to renovate the basement for awhile but we knew it wouldn't be for a couple of years most likely. However that seems to have changed. Since the flooring is now so damaged in that room we will be renovating the basement very soon.

This will be a great upgrade. The basement currently has a very uneven floor, cheap flooring and just wooden panels on the walls with little to no insulation in the wall.
So we will be able to level the floor, put nicer flooring down and insulate the walls and cover with drywall and a nice coat of paint

I am unsure at how fast this will happen but it now needs to be done. So we will be holding off making Molly's new enclosure until the new floor is done.

So keep an eye out for updates.


Robin

TANKS VS HOME MADE ENCLOSURES.

I apologize if I am repeating myself a bit here however I feel it is important to talk about the pros and cons when it comes to different styles of enclosures and the health effects it can have on your lizard.

The following photo is not mine...I copied it off Google image for an example as I have never housed any of my its in a glass tank.
Now there are many problems with this set up, most obvious is the lack of space for an iguana that size.
Pros of having a tank, very easy to clean, can be a great first home for a hatchling ig but they will out grow it fast.
Cons. Tanks only last a short period of time, they outgrow them fast, if bough new they can be very expensive. Not enough vertical climbing space for any age of iguana.

In regards to the following photo...Tanks do not often come more vertical than they are horizontal. This means you can get a massive tank, say a 90 or 120 gallon tank but it still isn't fit for an iguana older than a hatchling. Iguanas are arboreal which means they spend a majority of the time in trees and climbing. This is what their muscles are meant for and they need to be able to get the proper climbing exercise while in their enclosure to have god healthy muscle mass and you cannot get the proper climbing environment with any size tank (unless custom built, but that cost so much you might as well make a much larger wooden one for the same price).
I only recommend tanks as a last resort and only for hatchling iguanas. Iguanas are just not built to be able to live to their full potential in a glass tank.

 

I will be doing another blog post about all of my enclosures that I have for my iguana (one enclosure per blog post for full details)

However I no longer have the enclosure that is in the flowing pictures, this was Sassy enclosure that I made back in 2010 and she kept for about a year to a year and half before being free roam in my apartment to having her own bedroom in my house now.

 

So this is what Sassy's enclosure looked like when I was finished with it, for the most part she didn't have a door on it and when the door was on it was often left open for her. I really loved this enclosure but Sassy did outgrow it. This cage was about 6x4x4 I believe. This is a very simple design, and with basic skills with power tools very easy to build. In total I don't believe this cost me over 150$.
This size enclosure would be great for any age iguana from about a year up until they are full grown, then they would need a little bit bigger in my opinion.

So a custom built enclosure can be a lot nicer, more unique and over all a better fit for your iguana at any age vs a glass tank. There are many different designs of enclosure and each of my iguana enclosure are so different which you will see in the up incoming blog post.

Get the best enclosure for your iguana and your money by simply building one yourself or with some help.

If you would like help drawing up and enclosure and helping turning pieces of furniture like wardrobes or hutches into enclosures simply send me a photo of what you have or the size you would like and the budget you have. I can help you draw something up for your iggy that will be stimulating for your ig and look beautiful in your home.

Contact me on my integral page or Facebook page in regards to enclosure ideas :) and keep an eye out for my up incoming enclosure blog post for more ideas for beautiful and inexpensive enclosures.

Robin.

HIDES AND PLATFORMS

I have started making hides and basking platforms for small to medium sized lizards. I can sell them online and ship them. As well as making custom pieces for your enclosure, contact me if you are interested in one :D here are some pictures of ones I have already made or am currently in the process of finishing.

 

 

 

hope you guys enjoy :)