Building my first enclosures...

[lyla]

I have been toying with the idea of making a tank set up for the past couple days. I have drawn up some plans but have been thinking it over and the issues they would present. mainly ventalation, how well wood would hold the humity and the heat lamps/pads. the other thing i have been questioned is if i am making the tanks to tall or not. was wondering if you could give me a few tips or suggestions. The unit would be used for two ball pythons and a ratsnake.

The unit I was thinking to make was going to be 4 seprate pieces. A two drawer bottem, and three levels that have the enclosures with a hood of sorts ontop. each peice being separate for transport, or re arrangement. the enclosures are 34" (2'10")L x16"(1'4")W x12"(1')H on the inside. all sides accept the front being wood the front being two sliding plexi glass panels. the wood would be 1" thick and the "hood" would be 8" high off the top of the tank with all sides being wood and a full panel on hinges on the front. The top over each of the four sections would have 8 2"x2"x1/2" indents too fit the 8 2"x2"x1/2" feet on the bottom of each of the sections making them almost lego like so there stable well stacked.


The whole unit when stacked would stand 76" (6'4") tall 36" (3') wide and 18" (1'6") deep.

Thank you for any input.

[WakoNako]

First thing I would do in your situation is go download google sketchup and create a model in it of your enclosure. Doesn't need detail, just the basics.
I've found doing that helps visualize the end product and offers guidance.
12" is a good height, thats what I'm building mine at now.
Be careful with ventilation, too much is a bad thing as i learnt with my first cage. Its easier to add more ventilation than fill up a gap left from an extra vent hole.

[lyla]

i have drawings lol more like schematics as i dont draw but i am good with a ruler and graph paper i am going to see if they will scan tomorrow or not as i did them in pencil and if they do upload them for you guys if not i will do it up on google. i am just wondering if i would be better going with smaller or not and what would be best for the heat lamps as i am not sure how i am going to put them in yet...

[WakoNako]

I don't use heat lamps so I can't help ya there.
How big are the BPs and Ratsnake? The sizes look ok, but for me I'm building much larger cages (39"x22"x13") as my BPs are getting bigger and this will be their final cages hopefully.

[lyla]

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/new-forum/85622-hello.html

theres the pics so far there not great but until my girlfriend brings her good camera over there all i got.

nix is about as big as my arm but a little longer. (i am really skinny so my arms arnt huge) chowder is about an inch thick or so and about 1'6" or so long. denoso is tiny compared to them maybe a couple cm thick but at least as long as chowder. chowder and denoso are still growing but nix will only likely bulk out more.i was thinking of making groves on the inside of the enclosures every 4-6 inches to put in dividers so the tank isnt to big for them or any other snake i put in there. denoso will need something that big when hes older but not yet as he isnt even a yr old.

[lyla]

Front of the unit when finished.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/steel242/front.jpg

side, top and bottom of unit. as well as a close up of the indents and feet of each of the 4 peices. the pictures upside down... will fix later as i am posting this quickly before leaving
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/steel242/sidetop.jpg



the "hood" of each of the units has a level just under the door thats on there that i was going to put the lamps on hadn't decided how yet but was thinking of cutting circles and putting in wire mesh for them to sit on. after looking at some of the other enclosures around i think i am going to try and heat the tanks another way and just get fluorescents for the back of each of the enclosures and put small vents in the back of each as i didn't think about ventilation at all in the process of making these sketches.

suggestions and tips would be great and i can throw in the dimensions from earlier again if needed how ever this is drawn to scale one square being 2".

[mld]

I have no idea on heating, but I was wondering if it better to use heat tape, like Flex watt instead of heat lamps? Seems that it would take up less space. Just wondering.

[lyla]

I have no idea on heating, but I was wondering if it better to use heat tape, like Flex watt instead of heat lamps? Seems that it would take up less space. Just wondering.

I don't know what other heat sources there are That's why I put this up as I don't like the 8" hoods and if I cut them out I can make an extra enclouser. What is gray tape and can you link a source of were I would purchase it? If I can get rid of the lamps and goods it gives me another 2' to work with and would potentially keep the heat better with the tanks sitting one on top the others which will save power.

[mld]

You can get it at Exclusive Snakes

exclusivesnakes.com (http://www.exclusivesnakes.com/)

[lyla]

1' of the 11" per enclosure would likely make it perfect for both the heat of the whole tank and a basking spot... any one recommend a thermostat to run it off of? I would love one of the nice expensive ones that I know will work for almost ever and i could hook up all three tanks to but likely as not i won't have the money for that so a good but less expensive one is what I would be looking for.

After looking at those I have started to draw up another set up taking out the hoods and adding in another enclosure. I extended the length of the tank by 2 inches so as to make the inside of the enclosures an even 3' by 1' haven't gotten around to the side view as of yet so I haven't decided on a depth to the tank. I also made the bottom drawers a bit bigger.

[lyla]

heres the front view, pretty basic. will draw the sides, top, bottom, and a single inside view (likely on an enlarged scale) after i eat and hopefully.

[Marica]

Not sure if you've seen my build guide (http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-enclosure-discussion/84968-diy-wood-cage-build-guide.html) on here, but it may give you some ideas, esp. on using heat tape.

[WakoNako]

Def use heat tape. It won't dry out the air like lamps do (reducing humidity)

[FauxMako]

I don't know about Balls. But, my ratsnake spends a lot of time climbing. Shes up in the air way more than she's on the ground. I've got her in a 55G aquarium -- 48" L x 13" D x 21" H. I'd go taller than 12".

[lyla]

thats one of the things i have been thinking about and considering for denoso as i find the same with him he likes to go up to the lip of the tank he is in now and cruise around the edge of the tank. how ever i was thinking that for his enclosure i would put up some "wines" that hangout and around the roof for him to play on. those should be sufficient to crave that feeling for him and yet keep him close enough to the ground that i wont ever have to worry about him hurting himself from falling. not that i do any ways as he seems use to it but you never know what can happen specially as i use a forest mix for the bottom of the tank and you never know if the bark could stab him from falling.

[FauxMako]

I've got a 4+ foot branch that runs from the the bottom of one end to the top of the other and a bunch of fake vines zip tied to the branches that give lots of places to hang out and some dollar store plastic plant vines mixed in as well. Gives her plenty of places to climb and hide.