The good, the bad, and the freaking awesome!!

[heebie_geebies]

Good day,

I am soon to be starting into herping and I have noticed there seems to be a lot of different styles, materials used, and other extra options with enclosures. I have never built one so I don't have that trial and error experience as a lot of you do. I would like this thread to list all the good ideas, maybe even the bad ideas. Things like "I am so glad I ..." or "I wish I wouldn't of...". So reply with maybe one or two of your good/not so good ideas. It will help out in building excellent enclosures and make for some happy critters/owners.

Thanks

[Invictus]

Good: Melamine
Bad: MDF
Freakin Awesome: Oak plywood sealed with epoxy.

Good: Silicone the joints using 100% rubber silicone
Bad: Not siliconing the joints using 100% rubber silicone
Freakin Awesome: Oak plywood sealed with epoxy AND siliconing the joints with 100% rubber silicone.

[bidden]

Good - planning out in detail the design with all correct mesurments
Bad - Winging it with minimal design details(trust me on this one
Freekin awesome - feeling when your done!!!

Melamine is definatly good - freeking heavy though if your building big enclosure like I did.

Make sure to take into concideration what you are planning on having inside the cage to determine dimentions, bigger is always better.

Have fun and don't be afraid to ask questions on here !

[Bartman]

I built two melamine cages, measuring 1.5x1.5x4 and 1.5x1.5x5. One for a tortoise and one for a savannah monitor. Both have been in use for the last 7 months and are doing just fine.

I would say not to use plexiglass as i did, because my reptiles scratches the hell out of it. If its for a snake then no biggie. Id suggest using glass if its for an animal with claws. Just a big tip i wish someone gave me before i built my tanks

[Lisa]

handles are probably the best idea i thought of...

[heebie_geebies]

Looks good so far. Lets see if we can get some more ideas posted. And for Bartman's post, that is the exact reason I started this. Thanks everyone.

[nguyen_inc]

if your building a big cage, wheels will help you a lot if you will ever move it.

[Lisa]

Originally posted by nguyen_inc
if your building a big cage, wheels will help you a lot if you will ever move it.

hehe You've been peeking in my herproom... we have wheels on our stack of cages and our racks.