I may have mentioned before that I’m looking to get a new pet. While my shelf project is temporarily on hold (sell me 3/8″ pipe, damn you, big box hardware stores!), I’m pleased to say that the pet project is now underway.

I’ve settled on a reptile, although I think I’ll keep the specific variety a secret until the pet arrives. I’m a tease, I know — sorry. Gotta get those blog hits up somehow. But! The cage is here, at least!

Finding the perfect cage was tough because, of course, I make everything difficult by insisting that the things I buy must integrate into the design of my house. I don’t want a secret reptile room where I shut the door to hide the ugly plastic tanks and electrical wires; this cage is going in the living room and it’s gonna look like it belongs there.

Lizard cages are not, on the whole, very attractive-looking. Most of the ones I saw had doors that swung open in front, leaving seam lines and hardware and bits of plastic trimming obstructing the view of the wildlife. Plus they were all just a bit too wide to fit on the shelving unit I have planned. I needed something just shy of 11.5″ deep. It quickly became apparent that I’d need to DIY a solution; either the shelf had to be made wider or I’d have to find a way to make a narrower cage. I went with plan B.

First, I ordered this cheap but attractive mesh cage on the internet. The mesh was impractical — my future pet will need the humidity in the tank to elevate at least once a day — but the cage had the right footprint.

So I started off by cutting out the mesh and enlisting Lowes’ help to cut some sturdy acrylic walls. The cage came with a removabe glass bottom, but I needed this sucker to be water-tight so I glued it in. I popped all the acrylic walls into place and siliconed their seams together. And just like that, the cage was seaworthy. Or, um, mudworthy.

Next came the fun part: changing this boring (but attractive!) tank into a vivarium — or, the fancy world for a terrarium housing living animals and plants. I filled the first few inches of the tank with “jungle earth” — or, the fancy name for some dirt and peat moss packed in a bag featuring a picture of a reptile, selling for some insanely inflated price.

The future pet is arboreal, so it’ll need plenty of things to climb. Instead of giving the pet supply people any more of my money for a stick, I went out and found something on my own.

Fancy! Fancy free.

Some quick cuts with a hacksaw later and I was well on my way to creating the perfect lizard jungle gym.

Next came the plants. I had a few suitable houseplants hanging around to take cuttings from, as well as some “terrarium plants” purchased from the pet store a week ago that I had been neglectfully dehydrating. I planted them along with some moss I cultivated during this project.

Throw a light on the whole thing and it really looks nice.

I expect it will take a month or two for the foliage to start filling in, at which point it might be warm enough to have my pet shipped in from a reputable breeder. Tune in next… season?… for the exciting conclusion!