Another enclosure question.

[Skits]

We are officially starting to build it either this Saturday or the weekend after. It's taking longer because it's also going to have snake tanks above it, so it's quite costly. We bought the plywood and the wood last weekend, and now we're just waiting to buy the plexiglass which is really expensive unfortunately.

I asked my dad if we could build a really large enclosure in the basement but he didn't want it taking up space. So unfortunately it won't be the size I'd like it to be because it's going to be in my room. I would of loved doing an 8x4 or something close but it's going to have to wait for now. So his enclosure will be 10x2 for a while. He's still small enough for that size to work out until I can move out on my own OR until my dad finishes the basement which should be in a few months.

Now my questions are this.

Would Spence be comfortable with only two feet of width? :( Just for a couple of months or so. I will keep pushing to get the enclosure built in the basement, but until then..:sad:

[mo9e64]

If you're only going to have it that wide and you are going to build a larger cage later to save money use dimensions within the size of a 8 x 4 sheet of plywood.At 2 feet wide you're not gaining anything going to 10 feet long.

[Skits]

I think I'll be starting from scratch once we build the larger cage though.

This is a dumb question but for air, how did everyone make the holes in their enclosures? I'm worried the worms and crickets would get out, and I want to keep the humidity in so if I would mess that up..

[Bradyloach]

I would at least go 3 feet! Maybe you can do a 7x3? If your going to build a 8x4x4 soon I would just make a simple 7x3x4 with proper temps. You don't need 10 feet long use the extra space for a foot of width. :)

[Bradyloach]

I don't use any ventilation neither does Wayne. Opening the enclosure everyday to do daily things will provide enough fresh air

[Skits]

Only thing is that 10 feet is the length of my wall, but if I would do 7x3, it would go more into my room space and I won't be able to fit everything properly. I wish my room was bigger..but it's not made to keep lizards in either :p Would he be fine though in a 10x2 for now? This summer my dad's knocking down some walls in the basement so we'll definitely have the room then to build him a proper width enclosure.

[Bradyloach]

Yes! He will be okay in a 10x2, for a temporary eenclosure

[infernalis]

Can you set things on top of the cage??

I was worried about losing half of my reptile room, so I use the Sav cage as a snake cage shelf, I can place a dozen snake cages on the roof of my sav cage.

[BlueButterfly]

I did 6x2 x4 and added another floor at 2 feet. I made it so I can unscrew the back and add another section the same in the future. Making it 6x4x4 with 2 floors. I can show you pics of us building it if you want some ideas as I took pics all the way through.

[Wiggles92]

Why not get glass rather than plexiglass in order to save some money?

[Skits]

Can you set things on top of the cage??

I was worried about losing half of my reptile room, so I use the Sav cage as a snake cage shelf, I can place a dozen snake cages on the roof of my sav cage.

What we were going to do is build actual snake enclosures above it as well, because having large terrariums all over my room is really a pain and looks really messy. My room is only 10x9 feet, it's mostly my furniture that takes up so much room.

I did 6x2 x4 and added another floor at 2 feet. I made it so I can unscrew the back and add another section the same in the future. Making it 6x4x4 with 2 floors. I can show you pics of us building it if you want some ideas as I took pics all the way through.

I think building a second floor for my cage would need to wait until I'd build my permanent enclosure, I seen the pictures of your enclosure though and it was really nice :) Just don't have the room height wise because of my snakes unfortunately :(

Why not get glass rather than plexiglass in order to save some money?

I'm not sure where to buy sheets of glass. I brought it up with my dad, but we have to drill holes in the plexiglass. And glass is a lot heavier. My dad wants to build the doors so they drop, because my boa enclosure has a sliding door and it's causing so many problems for me.

This is pretty much what I have now (there's lots of terrariums stacked on my dresser now though), it already takes up most of my room :p
http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv225/chelsp9444/005.jpg

[GarterPython]

Sorry didn't really read the thread but nice room setup. I hope my Reptile Room will look like that one day.

[Skits]

Thanks :) It's such a mess right now because I added more tanks. I'm hoping it'll be cleaner once we finish building up my enclosures.

[AaronRiot]

Buy your plexiglass /// ACRYLIC from a plastics shop. It's much cheaper than from a home depot or the like.

They should cut it to size free of charge. Additionally you'll have more thickness options which may lesson the cost.

[scott1m]

hi there, im using plexiglass ( 8mm lexan acrylic) which is the best of quality, and my sav has scratched it all over already, so glass is probs the better option..
my friend works with all kinds of sheeting, so i can get replacements when ever i need them.. but he might get sick one day of cutting them for me, so ill end up making glass doors very soon i think..

[Skits]

Buy your plexiglass /// ACRYLIC from a plastics shop. It's much cheaper than from a home depot or the like.

They should cut it to size free of charge. Additionally you'll have more thickness options which may lesson the cost.

Thanks, I found a few places and emailed them. One of them gave me a quote of 175$ for a 2x8 foot sheet of plexi glass, only problem is for my whole project I'd need 10x8 feet. :p

hi there, im using plexiglass ( 8mm lexan acrylic) which is the best of quality, and my sav has scratched it all over already, so glass is probs the better option..
my friend works with all kinds of sheeting, so i can get replacements when ever i need them.. but he might get sick one day of cutting them for me, so ill end up making glass doors very soon i think..

I'll most likely get glass for him then if I can find some that isn't too heavy. I never thought of his nails scratching it.

[BlueButterfly]

I used plexi glass for mine.. WAY lighter then glass and less chance of breakedge... but...if you are wanting glass you have a few options.. I know my mom just got shelves for her huge cabinet made at crystal glass.. its like a windshield repair place and it was pretty cheap! BUT glass is VERY heavy and it gets scratched too... trust me i know...I have kids LOL, i thought about using windows you can get them on craigslist for super cheap or at a used building supply store.seen that suggested a few times..... or even the glass out of a set of clear shower doors you have to hunt for them as most are frosted..but they are out there.....or something similar.. i would try for tempered glass just for safety sake...if possible.. take a look around... i found a ton of stuff on craigslist i could have used but chose to go with what i did for my own reasons...

[scott1m]

i was looking around for a for a big upvc window for mine, but they quite hard to find one with the proper needs i want from it, ill be making a good set of windows once i get hold of some nice sheets of tempered glass, but its not cheap which is why i went with the plexi cos that is free. That was the hardest part of building the cage was designing the doors, still not how i want them, but itll do for now..

[Skits]

I'll definitely look around and see what's available. We were looking for glass doors when we build my boas tank but they were all at least 100$. I already know how I'd want to build the doors too, the tank is only 2 feet tall and I know savs need at least 22 inches, so 5 feet of plexi glass will be completely sealed down so I can have 2 feet of substrate on that side, and the other side will have hinges and open upwards. To keep the earth on the higher side I was going to build him a tunnel with large cement blocks. Knowing my sav though, he's going to dig out the substrate onto the side where the door is so I'll have a mess on my hands :p I'm really excited to have it all finished. I'm more nervous about keeping in the humidity but Wayne gave me instructions how to build the enclosure properly so I'll be following that.

[infernalis]

I got uber lucky and scored a few clear (safety) glass human size doors for free.

A friend of mine is a contractor, he was hired to do a demolish job on a motel.

When he offered me those glass doors, it was impossible to say no.

Now if I could only score some high school trophy cabinets, or jewelry store displays...

An old soda/beer display from a store would make a great arboreal enclosure.

[Kingsnakechris]

Yard sale :D you'd be surprised how cheap furniture goes! It's not free but still very affordable.

[infernalis]

Yard sale :D you'd be surprised how cheap furniture goes! It's not free but still very affordable.

I saw an eneclosure made from an old console TV, the guy gutted it and took out everything, then he put a clear glass where the picture tube used to be and it looked awesome.

[BlueButterfly]

I thought about the display case thing for my beardie...I figured it would look great and on top of that, storage on the bottom...as it sits I have my reptile cupboard sitting in my livingroom next to the tv..it looks kinda barron sitting there with nothing on top anymore.. :( lol..wish I had thought of that when we built the new enclosure and added a cabinet.. lol oh well... I also have tossed around the idea to build a coffee table enclosure for Cecil.. maybe one day ill get something else to sit on top of the reptile supply cabinet...one day id like to try a chameleon...but that will have to wait until I am used to carring for Harley...and have that completely under control.. oh well gives me tons of time to get ready for him.