already made or make one?

[Lrptls]

theres a guy who sells very strong, very nice looking cages for cheap prices + shipping on the K i n g s n a k e.com classifieds. he will custom make them too, so i gave him the dinenstions of a cage i will need for my monitor. he told me it would be $350 +shipping. i don't think thats bad at all for the large cage i askd him to make. but, could it possibly be cheaper if i made it myself?

[FoShizzleDizzle]

Might. but he may have the experience that makes it worth the $350... You probably are better off letting him build it. Less you have to worry about.

[klein]

all depends on your experience, it will definitley be cheaper if you make is because your labour is free where as you are paying for his, but the little amount you are paying might be totally worth it. Get another quote from someone else and/or go to home depot and price it out if you were going to make it and see what it would cost you and make your mind up then ...

[retic]

it all depends on the diminsions of the unit, you are in the united states so prices should be much cheaper than that to build your self, you can get everything at home depot or find a member on here in your area that could build it for ya, what diminsions are you looking to do?

[Lrptls]

thanks for the help, i agree with Fo that it would be better to let him build the cage for me so i wouldn't have to do any thing really, i'v never built a cage but i'm sure if i did i'd find people to help me. but i am more concernd about spending more money so i'm thinking i might just get some help and build it myself.

i want a cage 5 feet long, 3 feet high and 2 feet wide.

[klein]

i just built a cage that measured 3 feet long, 16 inches deep and 4 feet high and it cost me approx $300 cdn and then i still have to finish the inside with everything for my leo, you can take a look at mine in my gallery if you want

[FoShizzleDizzle]

If you want help bro, I can Help you. That what i'm building right now is a 5x3x2. Just ask... Good luck also.

[Lrptls]

lol bro, sorry, but i would love help! =) if you build it you will be able to ship it to me correct?

klein-your cage is awesome. looks very profesional, bet the leos will love it. great idea with the cabinets too!

[FoShizzleDizzle]

Yeah, Klein is sweet. He has craftsmanship though....

[FoShizzleDizzle]

LoL, I'm not building any more right now until I can move into a house. My room mates are going crazy because my tools and cage are all over the place. They want their living room back. But I can help.

[klein]

thanks guys, if you have any questions about it, let me know i will do my best to help you out ... it has taken me a long time to build it, but it is worth it in the end, and the best part is that my leo's will love it, well they better or else

[FoShizzleDizzle]

Well, I might do a trade... A couple snakes for an enclosure that is 5x3x2...

[Icefire]

melamine is very cheap, I can get them at ~20$cdn for 4x8 sheet
of 5/8 inch think.
so it's only about 60-80$of wood so the rest depend on want you
want inside. you can get the sheet cut and just screw them together.
nothing very hard to do. you have to make plans, that's all

[klein]

if you buy the white melamine then it is around $20 but the black stuff was close to $50 for a 4x8 sheet, that's in home depot anyways ...

[Lrptls]

i think i am going to build my own cage and use melamine, is it easy to cut/put together?

[lostwithin]

Hey I just built this cage, it' 4x2x2, (i.e. exactly one piece of melamine) cost me 34$ for the melamine, 3$ for screws, 6$ for the calking, and 2 bucks for the glass track, I already had the glass pains so they didn’t cost a thing, its very easy too work with just go carefully when screwing too avoid cracking the melamine, and seal the cracks inside or it will bubble on you,
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/4038kevin_002-med.jpg

Good luck,
Devon

[klein]

don't know about cutting it, i am pretty sure you can just use a normal fine tooth blade in a saw and it will be fine, but make sure you finish the cut end with something before you put it together, anyone correct me if i am wrong.

From what i read about other people using melamine there are special screws that you need and you need to predrill the holes or else you will crack the melamine ... there are some other threads in the enclosure forum about people using melamine.

[Lrptls]

nice cage, seems pretty easy and cheap, i dont have glass though where can i get that?

[klein]

any glass shop you can get glass at ... in Canada, i got quotes of $6 a square foot for 1/4 inch glass.

[Lrptls]

thanks klein, i'm thinking about making the other 4 cages i need now =)

[lostwithin]

I have also heard of Pre-drilling in melamine, but I did not, I used long thin wood screws , and went slow with a drill, too avoid cracking, I did not pre drill and it worked fine, but if you’d like too be safe you can.
Devon

[Linds]

I built 6 large cages myself for $503.86 CDN (which as of today, works out to be $367.40 US). I could've even made them cheaper had I chose a few different materials or whatever else. They are strong as you will find anywhere and I think they look great too :cool:

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27408

<img src="http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/504/22cages-finished.jpg">

Melamine sucks all around. Really the only thing going for it is convenience. It is heavy, it chips, the edges are sharp, it isn't waterproof and if the coating gets scratched (and it will get scratched like crazy if you have branches, rocks, or animals with nails) you are screwed, it bubbles, and it can be a pain to work with. I hate all my melamine stuff.

[klein]

very nice cages linds, nice work

[Lrptls]

is there something i could use thats almost as cheap as melamine?

[V.hb]

I have about 4 melemime cages and i have no problems with them. Oh yeah, I house 3 and 5 foot blackthroat monitors in them, that scratch like theres no tommorow, and ive seen no scratches in the melemime. The only part I find chips are the edges if you drop them while building. Unfortunatly iam a clutz, so i did do that, but anyone that is handy shouldn't have a problem. I also keep a group of ackies in a melemime.... No issues there either..

I suppose its a matter of preference.... I always found covering the bottom of melemime tanks with a tarp (that costs under 10 bucks) does a good job at waterproofing the bottom. (which is where you would need the most protection, being it will house a monitor.) You can PM me if you wish to see any photos of my varanid enclosures..

Good luck.

[Linds]

Well, in my thread is a list of the materials I used as well as pricing for them. I used OSB and it cost me 1/3 less than melamine. The price was right, only downfall is the nooks can be a pain to clean sometimes. You can get some plywoods for cheaper than melamine as well.

I have both the high-quality professional grade melamine (also built professionally) as well as the cheaper stuff you get at Home Depot. In fact, the Home Depot stuff bubbled within two months of use in a relatively dry climate despite being properly sealed. I've seen the stuff wear down over time with lizards or tortoises being housed in them, and also in racks with a few years of rubbermaids being slid snuggly back and forth. I've never had any good experiences with it.

[V.hb]

you house snakes no? maybe humidity isnt a good idea for melemime.... my humidity is around 50-60%... iam sure yours is higher. From my expierience, ive never had a problem with housing varanids :)
never tried snakes though.

[Lrptls]

i was thinking about building 4 more cages for 2 colombian red tails and 2 ball pythons. so if they dont hold humidity i supose i'll need a different material for those cages.

can i still see those pictures V.hb?