Building your own enclosure- wood?

So, I'm wanting to build my own enclosure for my ball python, his glass tank is refusing to hold heat well so the cool side is usually around 70-74 and his hide is the only warm spot (on a thermostat) which is 96 degrees heated by a heat mat.

I've been researching it but want to know if anyone has experience building their own enclosures, and how you want about it? Does anyone have tutorials? Tips? Rookie mistakes I should know?

What kind of wood should I buy? I know to stay away from ceder and pine, but I'm talking more like... finished wood and such...

I don't know I'm an amateur to building things.

I really like the appearance of this cage but it's been out of stock for over a month so I was thinking of trying to replicate the general idea with my own dimensions.

http://carolinadesignerdragons.com/s...t-front-panel/

I would love any help you can provide :)

No pine, cedar, eucalyptus or chemically treated wood.

This is on an English site, but I'm sure you can find similar products in a hardware store. I've not used this tutorial I admit, but it looks easy enough and I would do it :)

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forum...wn-wooden.html

And it would also be pretty simple to mod that tutorial to have the hinge opening, you'd just need to modify the dimensions of the front piece and buy the wood and glass accordingly. Also, if you want to use a heat mat I highly suggest having a false glass floor, There's no way to not have the heat mat and thermostat probe inside a wooden viv as the heat doesn't get through the wood so well. Finally, it's also a good idea to seal any interior joins with aquarium sealant (you can you regular sealant that doesn't have anti-mould properties but it smells bad and I prefer aquarium because it's animal safe already, so you save the risk) as this stops moisture from seeping into the cracks and making the wood expand from the inside out. I'm not really a carpenter though, so take my advice on that sort of thing with a pinch of salt :D

I would suggest 3/4 Inch melamine board. That's what I used for mine and then I sealed all the cracks with animal safe aquarium caulk. Melamine had a special coating on it so you can spray it down and it won't rot.


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Product called pond armor. Paint the inside of the enclosure with it. Its expensive but eliminates one of the worst flaws of wood enclosures and that's their tendency to rot.

For this type of enclosure you will want to use PVC board. It's $70.00 a sheet, but well worth it. Melamine is fine also, but it's not the greatest stuff to work with and it's really heavy. The laminate easily chips off when you're cutting it then it looks shabby. You definitely don't want to use wood or particle board. Considering the fact that you can buy nice enclosures for as little as $160.00 - $200.00, you're almost better off just buying them by the time you add up all of your material and hardware costs...

Lol, that's no fun. With the pond armor stuff people literally make aquariums out of wood with it so it's legit. That way the only limit to the build is the imagination.

I plan to build one using PVC. Better from what I have read.

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Originally Posted by Brixxart

So, I'm wanting to build my own enclosure for my ball python, his glass tank is refusing to hold heat well so the cool side is usually around 70-74 and his hide is the only warm spot (on a thermostat) which is 96 degrees heated by a heat mat.

I've been researching it but want to know if anyone has experience building their own enclosures, and how you want about it? Does anyone have tutorials? Tips? Rookie mistakes I should know?

What kind of wood should I buy? I know to stay away from ceder and pine, but I'm talking more like... finished wood and such...

I don't know I'm an amateur to building things.

I really like the appearance of this cage but it's been out of stock for over a month so I was thinking of trying to replicate the general idea with my own dimensions.

http://carolinadesignerdragons.com/s...t-front-panel/

I would love any help you can provide :)

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