6x2x3 enclosure build progression

I have been busy this week building a large plywood enclosure for my ball python. Since I mentioned something about this build a while ago, and I know I'll be taking pictures along the way, I thought I'd start up a progession thread for it.

I bought the wood for it last week, and then fired up my circular saw for the first time, with some help from my dad. I like to see how things (tools especially) work in person before I personally use them, plus having a second pair of hands to help me move things around was nice (im not strong :'c).

The pics so far:
https://i.imgur.com/BX4atwu.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DBk8FPe.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/a4HtQvy.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/BaSXtwG.jpg

I started sealing the inside with drylock today, but ran out (I only bought a quart to start, silly me) before I even finished a first coat, so no pics of that... yet. :)

I am also aware that for most people, this size enclosure is considered overkill, especially for a ball python. Mazikeen is already nearly 4 foot long at 2 years, and I wanted an enclosure that would hopefully last her the majority if not all of her lifespan. She's fairly active at night and does occasionally bask under her current UVB setup in the early mornings before going back into hiding, so I'd like to provide her with the opportunity to complete those behaviors on a less cramped scale.

I'll be back with more pictures when this thing is sealed.... and maybe stained. We'll see.

That looks great. It looks like you thought this out a bit before hand and did some planning. Great job. I'm curious to see how the drylok works out as I went with pond shield myself for the 3 I built. Glad to hear you did this with the help of your father. As a father I enjoyed having my daughters help me out, though they are a bit younger (under 10) and couldn't do it themselves. I look forward to helping them with projects as they get older. The time spent on a shared project was great. Are you planning to stain the outside? Drylok is not needed there, though I did seal the air holes I made. I look forward to seeing the finished product.

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Originally Posted by gunkle

That looks great. It looks like you thought this out a bit before hand and did some planning. Great job. I'm curious to see how the drylok works out as I went with pond shield myself for the 3 I built. Glad to hear you did this with the help of your father. As a father I enjoyed having my daughters help me out, though they are a bit younger (under 10) and couldn't do it themselves. I look forward to helping them with projects as they get older. The time spent on a shared project was great. Are you planning to stain the outside? Drylok is not needed there, though I did seal the air holes I made. I look forward to seeing the finished product.

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Thanks! I've planned this build for a little over a year now, so I'm glad it shows. Depending on how drylock works out, I may try pond shield in the future. I plan on adding a bead of silicone around the inside seams as well. I do want to stain the outside, just need to find one that I like first.

I am glad that my dad was willing to help me. He doesn't entirely understand the whole snake-keeping thing, but he tries.

Inside sealed, outside stained. Poly coming soon, then doors, heating and lighting equipment, furnishings... the list goes on.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2b0b2981fa.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fa541965c5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8e6ddc02ff.jpg

Looks great. I love seeing homemade projects come together. What are you plans for covering the air holes so no escapees?

Man that’s major overkill for a ball python [emoji23] No doubt that he will love it though! Personally I’d put the ball in something smaller and put a boa, blood or retic in there. You could always divide it too, or just have a mansion for your bp haha


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Originally Posted by gunkle

Looks great. I love seeing homemade projects come together. What are you plans for covering the air holes so no escapees?

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I've put in 2-inch stainless steel soffit vents, which you can sort of see in the pictures. There's some on the inside, to prevent pushing them out, and eventually after the poly there will be some on the outside to give it a cleaner look.

This is definitely for my ball python. If you were to see her activity level at night in person, you'd understand why.

Coated it in triple-thick polyurethane today, and now it sits for two days. I'll flip it on its back and poly the bottom after that, then let it sit for another week. I'm getting the glass track next week, so hopefully we'll be able to measure for the glass and get that cut at a local glass shop. After that, electrical shopping ahoy.

No new pictures since it looks basically the same as above.

I have attached the door track and bought glass, only to realize that the glass place cut one of the panels wrong. It was after hours by the time I noticed so I'll have to wait til Monday to get that fixed. The other panel does fit correctly, just didn't feel like taking pictures with only one piece of glass installed. Maybe next time.

Now I can move on to the heating elements and lighting! :D

Glass fits, lock tested, plus my dad's race car in the background. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9b687ac0cc.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2fac584b32.jpg

Looking great. Your BP is gonna love her new home. Your making good time too at under a month so far and the hardest part is done. Now the electronics go pretty quick if a bit pricey. Good job. And that car looks cool too.

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Originally Posted by gunkle

Looking great. Your BP is gonna love her new home. Your making good time too at under a month so far and the hardest part is done. Now the electronics go pretty quick if a bit pricey. Good job. And that car looks cool too.

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Thanks! Yeah, I've already done the math minus sales tax and it's going to take a few paychecks to get all the elements purchased. I'm going to need more thermostats as well, and I refuse to use the cheap Amazon ones on principle, so more Herpstats it is. So that, plus the fixtures and bulb guards, plant lights, and UVB fixture/bulb adds up to a pretty penny.

Haha yeah, that's his old '64 Ford Galaxie that he's basically built from scratch; I guess I come by the DIY gene honest. It's his pride and joy.

How do you measure for the glass so you know how big it should be to slide in properly?

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Originally Posted by sur3fir3

How do you measure for the glass so you know how big it should be to slide in properly?

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The instructions on this particular track told me to measure the space where the track would be seated and subtract 7/16 from that measurement. So in this case, my "window" minus the track was 24 inches, so I subtracted 7/16 and got 23 9/16 for the height. I'm not sure if this is standard for all door tracks or just my track.

Since I wanted an inch of overlap of the glass for the door lock, I had to measure the width of the window (64 inches), divide in half (32 inches) and then add 1/2 inch (32 1/2).

Any updates?

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Originally Posted by gunkle

Any updates?

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Yep! I have all the lighting and heating equipment, minus thermostats and the radiant heat panel Mazikeen's currently using, purchased and installed. I also bought a branch that I'd have to mount, but should be a pretty awesome basking area. No pictures, though.

One minor setback -- my dad tripped and fell against the door tracks, which caused one of them to pop off. I'll have to silicone it back on at some point, when the risk of people breaking it again is a little less likely.

Awesome. Sounds like you are almost there. Look forward to seeing the finished product. Sorry about your dad tripping hope he made it out intact. When my daughter went from the crib to a "big girl toddler bed" I bought one with a canopy and my mother in law feel into it as my daughter was showing it off before she got to sleep in it even once. I spent about 2 hours with glue, PVC and zip ties fixing it. Hopefully your repair goes a bit easier.

Finally got this big thing in the house and put the door tracks back on. Ive since routed all the wires so they can't be used for climbing. Next we start setting things up inside. I have branches sitting out in the garage until I can get hydroballs and dirt in here. We on our way at last.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ba16635f25.jpg

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It's coming along good. Are those canister lights?

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Originally Posted by gunkle

It's coming along good. Are those canister lights?

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They're light guards. Day heat will be low watt halogens and night heat will be a radient heat panel. I'm not sure yet if all four will be needed year round (definitely during winter), but I figured it'd probably be best to have them installed if I need them rather than the other way around.

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Gotta say, that enclosure looks very nice and this thread is super helpful!

There's a very good chance I'll be buying/building Kuzco an enclosure of this size (or a 6'x3'x3') when the time comes and outfitting it with halogen lights like you are. I've done a decent bit of reading into the different types of infrared radiation provided different heating elements lately, and it looks like good ol' fashioned tungsten/halogen lights are the only elements that provide good amounts of the IR-A radiation that really gets deep into muscle tissue. I'm interested in seeing what your thermal gradient looks like with the amount of internally-mounted halogen lights you have there. Good luck getting that enclosure finished up, and keep us posted!

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Originally Posted by WrongPython

Gotta say, that enclosure looks very nice and this thread is super helpful!

There's a very good chance I'll be buying/building Kuzco an enclosure of this size (or a 6'x3'x3') when the time comes and outfitting it with halogen lights like you are. I've done a decent bit of reading into the different types of infrared radiation provided different heating elements lately, and it looks like good ol' fashioned tungsten/halogen lights are the only elements that provide good amounts of the IR-A radiation that really gets deep into muscle tissue. I'm interested in seeing what your thermal gradient looks like with the amount of internally-mounted halogen lights you have there. Good luck getting that enclosure finished up, and keep us posted!

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Thank you! The deep-penetrating IR-A is the exact reason I intend on using halogens. Since this a taller enclosure, I'm anticipating the thermal gradient being top to bottom rather than side to side. There will be a deep substrate layer for plant growth and burrows, and since dirt holds heat/temps pretty well when deep I'm not too worried about those getting cold.

I have both 50 watt and 75 watt halogens, so we'll just have to see which do better in something this size. I keep debating back and forth, so I'll have to do a few tests before Maze gets introduced.

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Ah, you're going planted, too! That's quite the project you have going there, good luck!

For what it's worth, if it can inform your testing:

The rough plan in my head right now for my future 6' enclosure has two externally mounted halogen lights (ie. sitting on/shining through a screen on the ceiling), a 36" UV-B lamp (still debating on an external vs. internal mount for this), and an RHP (for radiant night heat and to guarantee ambients). In theory, externally mounting the lamps will keep them away from trouble-seeking boas, protect the bulbs and electronics from excess humidity, preserve some safe climbing height, keep the lamps from influencing ambient temperatures too much, and provide a ready-made ventilation port (the ceiling screens). Depending on how many bulbs you need to make a Mazikeen-sized basking spot and how much ventilation you have, there's a non-zero chance the bulbs may heat up the enclosure too much.

If you're interested, I can draw up a quick sketch of what I have planned and either post it here or PM it to you. I think I may be able to explain my thoughts more clearly if I draw things out.

Moved into my own place so now I can really get things going. All I need is the thermostat, but it looks like Spyder Robotics is out of the Herpstat 6s right now.

The scape needs some work, but the last pic is the general gist right now.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...43b20eacc5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...549631546a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ad2ea659f7.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...620798df7e.jpg

You can get Herpstat 6 from Pangea reptile right now. Had to do the same for my Herpstat 4 recently.


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Originally Posted by jmcrook

You can get Herpstat 6 from Pangea reptile right now. Had to do the same for my Herpstat 4 recently.


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Thanks for the tip! Unfortunately it looks like they're also out of stock. I don't mind waiting a couple weeks -- gives the plants a chance to grow in some before I add the heat elements, and the plant wrecker in question.

Slightly updated the scape. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a86edc11d7.jpg

Still have a few minor tweaks left to do, but it's done enough that Mazikeen spent her first night inside her new enclosure! She spent the time I was awake exploring, and I woke up to her doing a quick bask under a heat lamp. She's hiding now, but I think she's hoping for food, the gluton.

I have a few things still left to do, like hot-glue the probes in place (need to find my hot glue gun first) but the thermostat arrived and I'd already tested two of the lamps so thought 'might as well'. May mess with some placement things as well but for now it's pretty decent.

There are 5 hides, 6 if you count a little recess under a ledge.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d321f31dd2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6e29187b16.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...375cf32a53.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...30c34c2d0f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...99999d3229.jpg

This looks fantastic!

It looks like you have 3 lights in there (noticed the one behind the top lip of the enclosure)- what lights did you use, if I may ask.

The ledges look really good too: did you make those yourself? :o

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Originally Posted by Rodop

This looks fantastic!

It looks like you have 3 lights in there (noticed the one behind the top lip of the enclosure)- what lights did you use, if I may ask.

The ledges look really good too: did you make those yourself? :o

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Thank you!

I have a 4ft LED shop light for plants, two 65w halogen bulbs for day heat, a tiny 15w ceramic bulb for night heat, and two 2ft T5 6% UVb bulbs at opposite ends of the enclosure. Halogens turn on first, then LED, then the UVb, and the reverse at night. The ceramic is in case it dips below 75F at night, and it very rarely does.

I bought the ledges from Universal Rocks. I do like them a lot, and Maze seems to as well.

I also added a sky hide recently -- don't remember if I posted about that here. I know I did in her progression thread.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...aa5bc6abf2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5775e03c4b.jpg

Your dedication to your snakes is admirable! :D
Also, thank you! I've been researching bioactive setups for the majority of this year (and slowly buying the stuff to make it) and when I saw you list halogens it made me curious, so I dove deeper into research- my mind is blown. :O (I looked into them vs deep heat projectors vs rhp and the difference in heat: didn't even know that the halogens produced more heat along with beneficial amounts of IR-A and IR-B).

Agreed, diving into lighting setups is pretty much a whole other world haha. I like to refer to the pie chart below to really illustrate why it's beneficial to use halogens as the heat source -- still, if you look at the circle for sunlight, you can see it's missing some essential pieces, which can be picked up by additional bulbs. Species-appropriate UVB bulbs for the UV portion, and I suppliment the visible light with an LED shop light.

The goal seems to be to get as close to sunlight as humanly possible without using actual sunlight, because the weather outside doesn't always favor the species we keep. And it seems to be working in this setup. Maze does move between hides during lights-on (or if she thinks I will feed her, the opportunist) if she wants to, so the lights aren't really deterring her any.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3c40e2520c.jpg

Looks awesome 👍🏻

Mini update. Added more branches so falls are hopefully less likely to happen.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...729_182807.jpg

Can I be your snake & move in there? That's a very inviting set-up. :gj: "Eye candy" too!

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Can I be your snake & move in there? That's a very inviting set-up. :gj: "Eye candy" too!

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Haha, thank you! It'd probably look nicer if I'd actually built an entire background, but that's more effort that I want to put into this enclosure right now. Maybe I'll get tired of looking at the white walls at some point and do something about it, but for now I'm done.

I think it looks good as is- & would also look good with a full background too- either way.

It looks great. I think we need pictures of what's going in there. :D

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Originally Posted by Erie_herps

It looks great. I think we need pictures of what's going in there. :D

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Are you talking about heating, the plants, or something else? I'd be happy to, but not sure what you have in mind. :)

Way to keep the bar high! Your enclosure makes mine look like a piece of crap. Guess I've got work to do.

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Originally Posted by Homebody

Way to keep the bar high! Your enclosure makes mine look like a piece of crap. Guess I've got work to do.

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I think that's a compliment? Lol. Thanks?

So I think what happened with Mazikeen was a combination of a bad fall (hence more branches) and also a bioactive failure. I took out most of the old substrate and added a different mix back in to try to fix that, and so far everything looks okay. It definitely smells better, so I think I'm on the right track. She's still not back in it, as I'm waiting for her belly scales to fully heal before reintroduction as I don't want some kind of bacteria to get in there and start the whole process over, but I do feel more confident about this setup now. No pictures, as it looks about the same as the last time I posted.

Your setup turned out SO great! Congrats! I also saw your post on lighting a few comments up…and I’ve just set up a new 6x2.5x4 enclosure and have been shown the door to the expansive world of reptile lighting and 🤯🤯🤯 Mind completely blown! I’m still eagerly trying to figure it all out, but I had no idea it would be so fun to play with caging setups!

Your work is amazing. Can you tell me what you used for the climbing rocks on the back and how you attached them? I'm looking to do something similar with our ball python's PVC enclosure. Thanks!

This enclosure is #snekgoals. For me, a lot of the joy of keeping exotic pets is creating a beautiful enclosure for them to live in and for me to look at so I totally get why you would put so much effort into the enclosure for 1 BP. Pics of her in it please!!