building a snake cage out of an old floor model tv

[camille]

hey guys ive been seeing threads about people who made cages out of old floor model tvs but i was woundering about how they did it.i have ideas but my questions are more about: how to seal the corners(what to use), how to make a door and where it should be done(with sliding glass or a door in the back). what kind of stuff i should put on the walls of the cage to help with humidity levels etc. anyways if theirs anything you guys think i should know besides that ill be happy to listen :)

[Rosy-enthusiast]

I have also thought about doing it, iv got ideas as well, here are mine.

1. Sealing - To seal I would use a thick plastic around the sides and either glue it on or put screws with washers through the plastic and the tv plastic, cut off the end and put a little cap on it. You would use the sealing stuff for the bathrooms or something like that and put that between the openings and smoothe it out.

2. Heating - Im not to sure exactly how you would do it but if I get any ideas I will tell you.


Thats all i can think of.

[mikeydadog]

Well as a scavenger I have quite a bit of knowledge on this stuff, so far I have used dressers, curio cabinets, floor model tv stands, and built my own from scratch. You usually have to line them with something and I prefer wood as I can stain it, or paint it. Stain requires a few coats of polyurathane or some such similar product afterwards so you will be able to wash it out easily. With paint a good grade marine enamel is really good, it's easy to wash out for disinfecting as well.
The biggest thing that you have to keep in mind is to glue your corners with a real good product like liquid nails being careful not to get it on the inside of the habitat. If you must use silicon to cover gaps in the corners, use a water based paintable silicone, and use it after the paint, or stain and polyurathane is completley dry! if you must you can paint the silicone after it drys.
1 - If you paint it, the silicon can still be easily removed and reinstalled. this is good for high humidity situations where the silicon might start to get that mold on it (regardless of what anyone tells you all silicone can support mold growth after time!) and lots of molds are toxic. good husbandry practices are key here.
2 - If you use stain and urathane over top of it, the silicon will prevent it from taking if done first (so do it after) and same thing here silicone is easily replaced.
Doors, my actual preference is for front sliding glass doors with showcase locks, the hardware is cheap for this, and glass is better as plexiglass can be bent easily by a snake with a mission. I hate trying to turn a cage around, or take everything off the top to get access to my animals.
glass can be your biggest challenge here as depending on the size and strength of your animal the bigger the animal the thicker the glass needed, and in some cases as with my boa i used 1/4 inch tempered glass. A lot of the time when I know the size of my opening in the front, I watch at garage sales for cabinets and stands that are really not something I would have in the house, but for 10 or 15 dollars the glass is a perfect size for what I need.
Well I hope in some way this helps you, Mikey.