New Homemade enclosure

[capsicum]

I just got this from a friend who is moving, and didn't want to move it (hey, he lives next door, no biggie for us lol).

It's 53" L x 18" W x 19" H, with 1/4" glass sliding front.

We need to drills ventilation holes in it (I am not convinced that the air flow would work without them, lol).

I think it would hold excellent humidity, but I will test it for a good week or so before I make my final desicion about what to eventually put into it.

Any comments are welcome. It's not finished yet, so I am looking to have to done when my step dad comes to visit (with his work tools, lol).

I was thinking of putting the beardie in there, but I'm not too sure.

Thanks for looking!

TK

PS That is my kitten, Baby, inside checking it out - other than her, nothing has been inside of it yet ;)

[Bartman]

I would put a columbian red tail boa in their, or some sort of large boid. Im hoping to get one pretty soon...I cant wait. Its going to go in a 5x2x2 enclosure much like yours.

Good luck with your tank, and the search! :)

[Cruciform]

Capsicum,

What are you planning on sealing it with? You can get aquarium safe silicone at Home hardware for under 3 bucks a tube. That'll cover the seams. Looks like that woods going to need a sealant though. Going to use epoxy or something a bit less expensive? :)
How big is the gap between the panes of glass?







Bartman,

You just got rid of a bunch of animals you said you couldn't take care of, had a matter of days even, and now you're planning on getting a boa. Why don't you try holding on to the animals you get, instead of flipping them for new ones? These aren't toys or trading cards, they are living creatures.

[capsicum]

I will be getting the aquarium safe silicone for it, and something for the wood. Any suggestions? Cost is a bit of a factor, but I do want it finished before I even think about putting animals into it. The guy did put some sort of sealant on it, but only 1 coat if I remember correctly. I ran my hands inside and know it deffinately needs something more :p

The gap between the glass is minimal...you have to use your strength to move the glass...I think it is less than 1/8" gap (gotta be, my other enclosures have larger gaps than this).

This is the only enclosure that I have gotten (free) that needs work. The rest are all ready, with the exception of lights that I will add as needed. Since my whole reptile room is heated from the flooring, we should do good with keeping the temps even (ambiant in the room is always 80F, with a slight dip at night).

Thanks again, and I appreciate the suggestions and help!

TK

Forgot to mention that because it is sooooo heavy, we are thinking of building a base for it, and adding wheels so we can move it as needed. The bugger is heavy!

[Bartman]

Bartman,

You just got rid of a bunch of animals you said you couldn't take care of, had a matter of days even, and now you're planning on getting a boa. Why don't you try holding on to the animals you get, instead of flipping them for new ones? These aren't toys or trading cards, they are living creatures.


I know. The reason was because my father felt that too much electricity was being used to house all the animals. So I was planning on selling a few, building a rack system for the rest. But I have a friend who doesnt want his boa because he has two and cant keep them together anymore. So I said im going to have a free tank in my fathers office, so I need to fill it.

I would rather not sell anything...but in the end ive been able to get my dad to let me keep everything except for 3 or 4 things. So im going to sell my corn snakes, a cresty, and a leopard gecko. There is 4 right there.

Sorry for the confusion :) And I by no means treat them like trading cards. Im sure breeders, which im not but, sell tons of animals back and forth.

[Matt_K]

Bartman: Get your animals out of tanks and into racks or other cages that use HEAT TAPE and you won't be using soo much electricity.. Heating with Lights is what your parents are complaining about...

However, i agree with Mike.. You were just looking for corns not to long ago and now are selling the ones you have... You wanted to get into cresties and now you're selling the ones you have.. You wanted beardies then got some for FREE and are selling them... When will you be posting this boa for sale? And is it a male or female? i might be interested.. :D

[Cruciform]

Get *big* casters :D Little ones catch on the carpet when you try to roll the darn things :)

For a sealant, Linds recommended Epoxall from Niagara Protective Coatings in other threads. The only thing is you have to go there and get it. They don't ship :(

How much are you looking to spend on readying it?

[Cruciform]

And as an addendum for Bartman :)

I'm not going to lecture you on restraint in getting animals, because I don't have a lot of restraint in that respect either, but here's what you should do for the future:

1) As Matt said, get into using enclosures that use heat tape or another low wattage option, ones that hold heat well.

2) Find out the wattage of the heat tape you're using versus bulbs and other heating methods.

3) Ask your dad for a look at the electricity bill, and find the rate for kilowatt hours. Using that rate figure out how much it will cost to run one versus the other, and offer to cover the total value per month.

If you use a 100w bulb in one cage (just an example), you'd be using twice as much power as with one of the human-heating-pads kicking around my room. Heat tape uses even less. As someone posted previously you can even shop around for 10 watt heat tape.

If you have a computer in the house that is always on, move it to the reptile room. It's already generating heat, and using energy, so let it do some of the ambient heating work for you.

If you were using ten 100w bulbs for 24 hours a day for a whole month, at a rate of 9 cents per kilowatt/hour it would cost you just over 60 bucks.

Switch to heating pads, and it's 30.

Use heat tape to do multiple tanks, and it's even less.

Work out the cost with your dad, and offer to carry your share of the hydro bill. Once the numbers crunch it won't really be that much.

If you can handle the feeding and electricity costs on your own, then you'll be under less pressure to dump animals as enthusiasm for new species occurs.

Just take the time to figure out maintenance costs before you ever accept an animal, ok? :)

[capsicum]

Originally posted by Cruciform
Get *big* casters :D Little ones catch on the carpet when you try to roll the darn things :)

For a sealant, Linds recommended Epoxall from Niagara Protective Coatings in other threads. The only thing is you have to go there and get it. They don't ship :(

How much are you looking to spend on readying it?

Big casters...I will make sure we get those ;)

As for price, basically whatever products will help this enclosure last longer, I will get. Even if it takes a while to be completed, thats not a problem. I have 3 large enclosures now, plus a 4th that I will be purchasing later (once we have the shop going), it's 6' tall, and ready to go :)

Unfortunately I wo't be able to get to Niagara, as we are in Kamloops :p But, any other option I will try my darndest to get. We have a few good hardware stores in town here, plus I can get my step dad to look out in Penticton (he gets supplies brought in for the apartment building they manage).

So, I won't be in dire need of using this cage right now, mainly once we open up for business, then it will be used.

Thanks again for the input! Greatly appreciated!

TK

[Bartman]

I use 12 bulbs ranging from 50-100 watt's. He was getting really mad, so he told me to sell a couple things to maybe get it down. So I told him to help me build a rack.

The corns im not selling..the beardies I want to sell because they stink. I never wanted them, but got them for free as you said. I figured why not :)

And the cresties, im selling one that I got for free because I want to get a bigger female because I have a male. The baby is so small, and id rather a bigger one.

Im not trying to make excuses lol, but just clarifying. The rack should cut down electricity to probably half, if not more.

Im going to be sticking in the two ball pythons, the 3 corns, a leopard gecko. Im going to make it 3 shelves on each side. Nothing big :)



Capsicum :

Sorry to steal your post :p Great tank btw. If you kept a snake in a sliding glass, how could you stop the snake from squeezing out where the glass pieces meet in the middle?

[capsicum]

Originally posted by Bartman
I..the beardies I want to sell because they stink. I never wanted them, but got them for free as you said. I figured why not :)

Capsicum :

Sorry to steal your post :p Great tank btw. If you kept a snake in a sliding glass, how could you stop the snake from squeezing out where the glass pieces meet in the middle?

No problem ;)

About the beardies...why do they stink?? Ours doesn't, but then again we clean each and every time she makes a mess, lol.

Thanks about the tank!

As for the glass, it is very tight fitting, so they can't move it (the gap is less than 1/8 of an inch). In the event that they may be able to move it, I use rubber door stoppers in every sliding door that we have, just in case ;) As well, all tanks that we use are weight down, to be on the safe side :p

TK

[Bartman]

I clean the beardies every day as well, but their crap just STINKS more then any reptile ive ever owned lol. Except my sav, hes getting pretty stinky too :D

[capsicum]

Ahh, I see. I don't know, I haven't had much of an odor since we moved to this place - lots of ventillation and much more room (the reptile room is the master bedroom here lol).

Even the rodents don't smell, and the cat pan is barely noticable :D

TK

[rwg]

Just a warning about sliding glass. The gap might look tight, but I had a yearling cali-king, almost as big around as my thumb get out (presumably) between 1/4 plate glass that overlapped by 2". I didn't witness the escape, but I have no other explanation. There are no other plausible escape routes, and the cage was definately closed (and locked). I guess there was some give in the tracks, and she flattened and squeezed to pull it off. Dont put hatchlings in a sliding glass cage. :)

rg

[capsicum]

Naw, I wasn't planning on putting any hatchlings into the sliding glass doors :D I have seen too many expensive snake babies escape from those kinds of enclosures ;)

Sorry about your cal king...did you find it?

TK

[Slipknot]

Bartman, I know how it is to have to sell your herps... ours were getting too expensive also. I had about 10 different herps and had to get rid of 9! Now I am only allowed to have one at any given time, unless I pay for everything myself... so just stick with what you have til you move out and have your own place, then you'll see why your dad doesn't want you having that many herps... it is very expensive.

[damzookeeper]

Originally posted by Bartman
I clean the beardies every day as well, but their crap just STINKS more then any reptile ive ever owned lol. Except my sav, hes getting pretty stinky too :D

Bartman, are you sure your beardeds don't have coccidia? Most dragons have a small odour to their fecus when they first go but it doesn't stay in the air long and it shouldn't be a vile stench. If they are stinkie all the time I would get a fecal done, coccidia is very common in Beardeds. Is their fecus runny?

Capsicum
Great cage! Let us know what you decide to put in it! I think a medium to large snake would love a home like that! Good luck with it.

[Bartman]

I guess a fecal is in need. They dont usually take runny stools, only once in maybe 2 weeks, but it does happen. Ill get it checked out asap.

Anyone have that link for the site to find close, good, herp vets?

Thanks!

[Linds]

That's an alright score! Free stuff is the best stuff... lol :p As for finishing, epxoy is the way to go for durability. You won't need to be refinishing it from time to time and it can hold water (they use it for pools, food surfaces, ponds, etc.), as well as it doesn't offgas once cured. The kind I use is super easy to work with and usually only needs a single coat. It can hold water after 72 hours and is fully cured in 5 days. I suggest going down to a place that specializes in protective coatings. Hardware stores don't usually carry much more than urethanes and garage floor paint- type of stuff.

[capsicum]

Great cage! Let us know what you decide to put in it! I think a medium to large snake would love a home like that! Good luck with it.

I am thinking of putting a boa into it, as long as I can get it secure enough (just don't want an injured snake nor any other dead/injured critters) :)

TK

[capsicum]

Originally posted by Linds
That's an alright score! Free stuff is the best stuff... lol :p As for finishing, epxoy is the way to go for durability. You won't need to be refinishing it from time to time and it can hold water (they use it for pools, food surfaces, ponds, etc.), as well as it doesn't offgas once cured. The kind I use is super easy to work with and usually only needs a single coat. It can hold water after 72 hours and is fully cured in 5 days. I suggest going down to a place that specializes in protective coatings. Hardware stores don't usually carry much more than urethanes and garage floor paint- type of stuff.


Thanks Linds! I will look into that :D

TK