Thursday, February 10, 2011

Curio cabinet to.... gecko cage?

Yes, I said it. Gecko. As in lizard like, reptile creature. Do you have the heebie jeebies yet? I know I'm not the only one in Blogland who loves animals. In our household, it's me who love the animals.

EDIT* I had someone question me on a heat source for my cage. Please don't think for a second that I would do anything that puts home decor at a higher priority than my pet's health. You'll notice that I do not have a heat source in my cage. Crested geckos need temperatures between 70-80 degrees, and our house consistently stays at 72-73 degrees. Over heating is more of a issue for these reptiles than under heating. They also do not require a UV lighting source, as they are nocturnal. High humidity is the biggest thing these guys need, not a heat source. Now would this curio cabinet transformation work for a bearded dragon, who needs gradient temperatures from 70-90 degrees, and a basking area around 100-105 degrees? No. You have to realize that not all reptile care is generic i.e. heat lamp, crickets, sand, don't touch, etc. 

Now we'll return you to your regularly scheduled programming......

I have three crested geckos. Griffin was my first. Yes, he's named after the UFC fighter Forrest Griffin. My favorite crested, Banana, died back in July. So for my birthday in August, hubby surprised me and contacted a local crested gecko breeder, we went to her house, and I was able to choose any crested I wanted. So I picked out my yellow crestie, Isis. And, another nice surprise was that she had a bunch of baby cresteds that had hatched out a couple of months prior, and she gave me one for free, so Chaos also came home to live with us.

Hubby doesn't mind my pets, but he's not a big fan of the cages and terrariums.

You know what a curio cabinet is, right? It's that glass stand cabinet thingy that people usually shove Precious Moments and other crap figurines in. But I took a curio cabinet and turned it into a new home for my geckos.

Pretty simple stuff. I found a curio cabinet on good ole Craigslist for $40. This thing was sooooo gross. The lady had it stored in her shed, and she had taped all of the glass and wood. No big deal, right? Except that it took FOREVER to get this thing apart. And I had to make hubby remove this creepy crawly bug thing that decided to hitch a ride inside of it and come home with me. I had to peel off all of the tape, unscrew and remove all of the glass, and then sit in the garage for 2 hours with a razor blade and some goo gone.


So after that, it was just a matter of cleaning it up. This thing was covered in dog hair, grime, and all around funkiness. Blech. But I guess for $40, I can't complain. Too much, anyway. I usually see curios going for $100 and up on CL. Plus the mirror and the glass were all in perfect, non stratched condition. So after cleaning it up, came taping off the back mirror and primering and painting it.



After I sprayed it a cream color, I went over it with stain. So pretty! Are you loving it yet?



And after the stain, I waterproofed the inside. No sense in having all of that hard work go down the drain and let the water I have to mist them with warp the wood. After hitting up Walmart and getting some vines and suction cups, I put it all together, and moved everyone in.

Isis and Griffin live in the top.




And Chaos lives in the bottom.




I know, I know. Reptiles are not for everybody. But you have to admit. Going from this...


To this...


Is a big improvement. Hubby was just excited to get the terrarium off the kitchen counter.

I know the pictures aren't great, it's crazy hard to take a picture of something that is surrounded by glass, all I would get in the pictures is reflections of the rest of the living room.

So from Precious Moments wasteland to a gecko cage. Whatcha think?

Photobucket

Partying it up at..

Sumo Sweet Stuff

19 people love me:

Annette said... [Reply to comment]

You did a beautiful job restoring the curio cabinet and turning it into a gecko cage. Your geckos are beautiful! Your hard work is quite impressive...most of my friends would say screw it and buy the $100 cabinet instead. Way cool!

Marie C. said... [Reply to comment]

I love this idea!! Beautiful gecko cage!

Rhiannon said... [Reply to comment]

ok you were serious! I thought you were joking. but wow it looks great what a great idea!

LP aka A Crafty Southern Chick said... [Reply to comment]

I think that's an awesome and ingenious idea! I would never have thought to make over a curio for your geckos! :)

Tracy Snyder said... [Reply to comment]

Brilliant!!! It reminds me of some of the reptile displays at zoos. Great job.

SkinnyMeg said... [Reply to comment]

You did a great job, that's a very creative use of a curio cabniet! I love the stain over the white :)

Five Seconds From Crazy said... [Reply to comment]

That's the coolest thing that i have ever seen...ever ever! You are waaay too crafty and handy and junk.

Shayna said... [Reply to comment]

So cool! My fiance's little sister has a chameleon and I am getting one soon. Mom will love this idea and I do too, something like that will look great in the apartment! Awesome creativeness as usual

Lauren @ Love, Water and Wine said... [Reply to comment]

At first, I looked through the photos and was like, wait... those are real geckos! ha!

What a great find on CL! I have the worst luck on there. Everyone in our town posts things for way too high! I'm ready for yard sale season to be here already!

e said... [Reply to comment]

Looks fabulous! I wish I had that kind of imagination.
~Michelle

blogger fan said... [Reply to comment]

...where's your heat source?

Life, Crafts and Whatever said... [Reply to comment]

@blogger fan

Crested geckos need temperatures between 70-80 degrees. Our house consistently stays at 72-73 degrees. Over heating is more of a issue for these reptiles than under heating. They also do not require a UV lighting source, as they are nocturnal. High humidity is the biggest thing these guys need, not a heat source.

Now would this curio cabinet transformation work for a bearded dragon, who needs gradient temperatures from 70-90 degrees, and a basking area around 100-105 degrees? No.

You have to realize that not all reptile care is generic i.e. heat lamp, crickets, sand, don't touch, etc.

Thank you for your concern.

Vintage Culler said... [Reply to comment]

This is the most creative re-use of an object that I have ever seen or even heard of! It is so funny because I just got off of the phone with my daughter and the conversation was about their finicky gecko!

MissAshleyLynne said... [Reply to comment]

if you are taking a picture of something with glass in it angle your camera it will help tremendously with the glare! I love you blog!

Flugelhorn said... [Reply to comment]

You'll notice that I do not have a heat source in my cage. Crested geckos need temperatures between 70-80 degrees, and our house ... egeckohabitat.blogspot.com

Unknown said... [Reply to comment]

Man, I thought I was being so original. I passed by a curio cabinet just like this on the side of the road, and grabbed it, I fully intend to make my squirrel tree frog a pretty (and tall) habitat. Now that I'm googling I see I am not quite so alone in the idea. Love it painted white, and love your remarks about the concerns. I have a heating pad stuck on the outside wall of my terrarium and slowly over time accepted that my frog doesn't really like it. Even in the dead of winter he just sits close to it, and I keep my temp at 66-68. He hitched an accidental ride home to KY from the outer banks 4 years ago, I thought being a beach frog he'd love the heat lol.

Jenn_nay said... [Reply to comment]

Hi! I realize this is an old post. I recently got a glass cabinet to convert to a crested gecko tank. What did you do for ventilation? My gecko is already in a pretty big tank but this would give him more climbing space. Thanks!

Jenn_nay said... [Reply to comment]

Hi! I realize this is an old post. I recently got a glass cabinet to convert to a crested gecko tank. What did you do for ventilation? My gecko is already in a pretty big tank but this would give him more climbing space. Thanks!

Ameen said... [Reply to comment]
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