Newbie 340 and 120 first build tanks

[cuestick]

These are my first attempts at building an enclosure for my snakes. Looking at building a couple more soon. The 1st one is roughly a 340 gallon enclosure for my Lampropeltis holbrooki. Inside demensions are 60x39x36, kind of big for a first attempt. Fun features include a dual tube HO 48 inch florescent fixture, 46 inch doors in the front, 15x23 side glass viewing panels, 18x21 basking rock and a 115cfm exhaust fan.[/URL]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6196/6077919827_24e3619f95_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/35306677@N02/6077919827/)">
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6090/6078467182_5bb1181a4a.jpg (http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/%3Ca%20href=)">">http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6187/6078466624_fbb1330c15.jpg (http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/%3Ca%20href=)http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6087/6077924413_56989107ec.jpg (http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/%3Ca%20href=)">
[URL="http://www.herpsofarkansas.com/Snake/LampropeltisHolbrooki"] (http://www.herpsofarkansas.com/Snake/LampropeltisHolbrooki)

[cuestick]

My second build was a little more simple. 48x24x24 build was much easier. 46x15 front viewing panel with 15x15 side glass. Same 115 cfm fan, couple small single tube florescent lights. Nothing to special but I'm pretty sure my Panterophis Obsoletus likes it though.

[cuestick]

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6075/6077923301_53581cf697.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/35306677@N02/6077923301/) P8240382 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/35306677@N02/6077923301/) by mattrose81 (http://www.flickr.com/people/35306677@N02/), on Flickr

[stephanbakir]

They look awesome.

[KD35WIN.AS.ONE]

Those look really nice. They look really well built, if you lived in my area i would buy one from you.

[UwabamiReptiles]

Those tanks look very professional. You did a great job building them and setting them up. I would buy a cage from you too.

[shaunyboy]

great tanks you built mate,very proffesional looking

cheers shaun

[cuestick]

Thanks guys, I really think my students are enjoying them. I'm doing my best to bring nature back into high school biology. I have one more solid wood build planned and then I think I'm going to start trying to work on some aquarium conversions. Hopefully by the end of the year it will look like a herp house in the lab.

[KD35WIN.AS.ONE]

Thanks guys, I really think my students are enjoying them. I'm doing my best to bring nature back into high school biology. I have one more solid wood build planned and then I think I'm going to start trying to work on some aquarium conversions. Hopefully by the end of the year it will look like a herp house in the lab.


Great idea, keep doing what your doing.

[Nos]

tanks look great. wish my high school had snakes. did the students help that would have been one fun assignment. :)

[cuestick]

No they were built over summer vacation. I would love to involve the students with this kind of thing. But with current education laws I'm not allowed to deviate from the curriculum. I'm barely allowed to take the time to introduce the animals. A large number to come in after school to see the zoo so I use that time to share what I can.

[SpOoKy]

No they were built over summer vacation. I would love to involve the students with this kind of thing. But with current education laws I'm not allowed to deviate from the curriculum. I'm barely allowed to take the time to introduce the animals.

This makes me sad. The most important things I have learned so far in my life have not come from a curriculum.

[forkedtongue]

I agree with Spooky....

To Cuestick, could we get a walk-through or a build materials? These are some DAMN clean looking tanks. Id love to have some!

BTW< with the bulbs, do they get hot enough to burn snakes? I know my old Cali King was a climber, I couldnt tell if there was any kind of shield or guard over the lights?

[DeesBalls]

how did you get the glass to fit in there... are they slidding, or what?

[millertime89]

I too would like to see a walk-through or a list of build materials. My concern (with my BRB anyways) is that the would would mold/rot due to the high humidity requirements. I'm also a DIY'er and a hands-on learner so seeing how you built these and what you used would be awesome.

[ilovemypets1988]

hey cue, ever thought of doing a mail order business in your spare time, with the way those look, you could easily make alot of money as anyone would be proud to have there reptiles kept in those, they would make great show cases in anyones front room.

millertime89 - if you use aquarium sealant around the interior wood joins, the humidity wouldnt effect the wood at all.

as for the lighting, flourescent tubes can get extremely hot, so its best to put a wire messing shelf below them to stop any contact between the snakes and the lights.

[cuestick]

Hey guys I'll try to do a walk through on how I built it soon. Between a two year old, getting ready for round 1 of standardized testing, trying to get our smallest farm ready for deer season and being sick I haven't spent much time online lately.

Now to answer a few of the questions so far.
1. Both bulb types are enclosed. The HO bulbs have a plastic diffuser that normally keeps anything from getting to them. I had just moved the tanks up to school at the time of picks so I had not added them back yet. The basking area is heated with incandescent bulb and has a steel frame covered with mesh hidden inside the box. She loves to curl up on a ledge on the backside of the shroud. Her own heated hide.

2. All the wood was sealed except the bark prior to the build. I think so long as you use a weather resistant wood your good to go. The bark pieces in the background are all oak harvested from a blow down on our farm. The wood decorative pieces in middle are either sealed or are Cyprus which has some pretty good rot resistant qualities. All corners were then sealed with aquarium silicone.

3. The glass is put in several different ways. I was just kind of playing around seeing what I liked best for future builds. On the first tank I have two types of instillation. The front is two pieces of glass in a metal bypass sliding track. Your local glass should be able to hook you up if you just give them the measurements you want. On the side windows I ordered some extruded plastic U channel, cut to fit, painted and then attached it to the wood. I already had three of the sides around the glass built so I just slid the glass in the channel, attached 4th side and did the touch up to make it match

On the second enclosure I did it a little different. I cut 1/4 channels in the side of the wood. You can use either a router or table saw with a dado blade. Once that's done seal and finish the wood. Then find a flat space an assemble the sides and front like a picture frame. I went ahead and added silicone to the channel mainly to keep the glass from being able to rattle around. Sides were then attached directly to the frame. The front was a bit more of a pain. The whole front swings upward on a piano hinge and didn't feel solid enough with just construction adhesive holding the parts together. So I built a quick frame out of 2X2 pieces and screwed to the inside to make it rigid. Its a little heavy but I'm thinking about adding some gas pistons like you find on a car hood to help hold it up.

If you have any more questions let me know and I'll try to answer them more quickly this time. I'll also try to set down and write out some plans on how I built them. Everything was just done in my head before so I'll have to take a little time to make sure I didn't leave anything out.