Aquarium on side for snake --Doors?

Hello.
I have a 40 gallon long aquarium I want to use for my ball python. I'm going to put the tank on it's side, and have the top opening become the front. I have a screen lid for it, but want to make plexiglass doors (or Lexon I think it's called. Tougher plexiglass basicly.)

I googled it, got a couple ideas. I'm still not sure how to do this best. I would appreciate some help from you.

I know I need a plexiglass lip to hold substrate in. I have used acrylic sealant in aquariums many times.

The new front has the divider in the middle, part of the black frame around the edge of the opening. So two doors are needed. Hinges, Cam locks, plexiglass, tools.....I know I would need.

I need advise from someone that has done this or similar enclosure work. There is not a lot coming up on google about this. My main question is how to get the hinges attached to the frame/glass?

Thank you for any advise.
No "tubs are better" rants please.

I wouldn't do it. Buy a cage w front opening doors.. If you do put doors on tht...how are you going to provide ventilation? How do you plan on providing heat???

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I'm doing it. Already had the tank. Undertank heat pad for heat. Obviously holes in the doors so the thing can breathe!

I'm not spending $300 on a new snake enclosure. Sorry.

I want help, not negativity.

If you can't say nice things, do not comment. Simple.

Pretty sure Jeanne's questions weren't meant to offend you. These are just things that a snake keeper should be thinking of. .. in my opinion, your plan sounds, well, difficult. You can buy the glass terrarium tanks for the same price that you're going to end up spending on this "project" I'm sure. And then you'll have an enclosure that's made to keep the animal secure. youre saying this is a 40 gallon fish tank correct?


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Originally Posted by Queensnake88

I'm doing it. Already had the tank. Undertank heat pad for heat. Obviously holes in the doors so the thing can breathe!

I'm not spending $300 on a new snake enclosure. Sorry.

I want help, not negativity.

If you can't say nice things, do not comment. Simple.

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My help wasnt meant to offend..but in future..I will avoid helping you. Dont get ur panties in a bunch..jeez. Was just asking in case you hadnt thought bout those things.

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Originally Posted by Mangiapane85

Pretty sure Jeanne's questions weren't meant to offend you. These are just things that a snake keeper should be thinking of. .. in my opinion, your plan sounds, well, difficult. You can buy the glass terrarium tanks for the same price that you're going to end up spending on this "project" I'm sure. And then you'll have an enclosure that's made to keep the animal secure. youre saying this is a 40 gallon fish tank correct?


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Thnx, as you said, my answer wasnt meant to upset OP. Glad you understood that...

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Originally Posted by Jeanne

Thnx, as you said, my answer wasnt meant to upset OP. Glad you understood that...

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I'm annoyed with this .....the groups and forums...so many people jump down my throut about keeping snakes in glass aquariums. I was just reacting in general.

I have kept reptiles for 20 years. I know what's up. I have thick plastic duct taped on screen lids to help hold humidity in aquariums. I have space to take into consideration. If I lay the tanks on one side, it has more floor space, hold humidity better, and I can stack them on a wood frame.

Or should I just keep the same old same old? I'm trying to upgrade. It will not cost any where near buying a large enclosure. Plus I need four 40 gallons total. That is over a thousand dollars in enclosures.

I have researched, googled, and asked. I just want help with my "project" ..... not criticism. Not breeders saying racks and tubs only.

Go ahead, avoid me. Humans!!! Not sure about this forum.

I'm worried that the aquarium glass could shatter under the heat and weight. I'm not sure it was designed to handle the stresses of being on its side without reinforcement.


Would you consider something like this? https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...2053-New-setup I think it would work a lot better than turning the aquariums on their sides.

As I said..my post wasnt meant to get your panties in a bunch.

And I dont recall saying even 1 bad thing about you using tanks...frankly, I dnt care what you use..

And just bc you are annoyed by other ppl and other forums etc doesnt give you the right to be a snot to someone who was just posing a couple of important questions considering I and nobody here knows you or anything about your past or your xperience. Its pretty standard for ppl to pose questions one may not have thought of...esp whn You came asking for help.

Good luck w your project.

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Originally Posted by Queensnake88

I'm doing it. Already had the tank. Undertank heat pad for heat. Obviously holes in the doors so the thing can breathe!

I'm not spending $300 on a new snake enclosure. Sorry.

I want help, not negativity.

If you can't say nice things, do not comment. Simple.

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Calm down and take a breather. We're just offering advice, nobody is trying to force you to do anything. Nor is anybody questioning your experience in keeping snakes.

I personally don't like glass for several reasons, nor would I ever modify anything glass, but that's me. They do have awesome cages like the T8, which are well under $300. Here's a link if you would like to check them out: http://www.apcages.com/home/terrestrial/T8/T8.htm

If you are going to modify the tank, good luck and post pictures when it's done. I just wanted to chime in and add my input.

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Originally Posted by Queensnake88

I'm doing it. Already had the tank. Undertank heat pad for heat. Obviously holes in the doors so the thing can breathe!

I'm not spending $300 on a new snake enclosure. Sorry.

I want help, not negativity.

If you can't say nice things, do not comment. Simple.

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1st.... You will have more headspace than needed but after 20 years of keeping you should already know that.
2nd... For $300 I can build a whole rack with 11 tubs and have some cash left over.
3rd... Help isn't always what you want or expect, Its about the best care for your animal and not all about you. ;)

and BTW at the height of a 40 on its front, the Lexan will flex a lot.
You will have to secure the top, middle and bottom where the two sheets meet.
You will also probably be best to use a piano hinge on each side, drilling the glass is fun too.

Shouldn't be a hard endeavor. Although I always appreciate the advice of anyone trying to help, I don't share the same disapproval as some of the other people who responded. But just brainstorming I come up with a few items.

1. I don't know what type of door you want to make (slide or swing). If swing either a piano hinge or two hinges each door will work. You could use a two part epoxy to mount them to the glass.
2. With no bottom lip to the tank I would consider making a small "picture frame" front frame to hold any substrate in that you plan on using (unless you're using paper towels). It will also make the final product look nicer and may be easier to work the doors out.
3. Latching and securing the doors closed is the issue I haven't figured out this quickly in my head for you. I think the front frame I mentioned above might help with that solution. Think of a regular kitchen cabinet with either flush frame doors or raised doors.
4. Regarding the strength of the glass "side". It should be ok, but might flex a little. A 40gal tank is built to withstand, well 40gal of water, which is 8lbs per gallon (yes the side glass of a aquarium tank is designed to hold the psi of the water also.) But again it might flex so there are ways to combat that and you could go as simple using a full length small angle (cheap from homedepot). Or fully support the bottom (what was originally the side of the tank) on a shelf, piece of wood, etc and cut a piece of pvc pipe to use as a "tent pole" in the center of your enclosure to hold the top from bowing. The front picture frame will again help with this if you build it with a middle vertical mullion piece and secure it all to the front of the tank. (hard to explain in words)

There are some things to work out but I think it's very doable and for very cheap.

the only concern i have is i know someone who laid the tank down like you want to and had a jurry rigged door affixed to the glass, the glass broke. Luckily the snake wasn't hurt. The AP t8 are 150 right now.

I seem to recall someone else posting about doing what you're doing, turning a glass tank on its side to have a front opening, but I don't remember what the thread was called.

You can use acrylic cement to attach acrylic hinges and handles, and then you don't need to drill as many holes (which can be tricky to do in acrylic without cracking it, especially near the edges). Check out Tap Plastics, www.tapplastics.com; they sell acrylic sheets, hinges, handles, etc, plus cement, and they have a lot of good videos about working with the products they sell. You can also order your pieces pre-cut and with rounded or routed edges as desired. It's handy and they do a nice cutting job. They will also drill holes if you send them a dimensioned drawing.

One thought I had is that you could use a panel of expanded PVC or wood or melamine (you could make it out of acrylic too, but that would get expensive because it would mean a huge sheet with a big hole cut in it - with wood or PVC you could assemble it from smaller strips) to make a front lip running all the way around. It would narrow the opening a bit on all sides, but then you'd have a good surface to mount an acrylic door, with enough overlap between the door and the rim all around to prevent a BP from pushing the door out because the acrylic flexes. You could design that lip so that the whole thing front door assembly was removable, which would make cleaning a breeze.

The one other thing that you might think about is whether you will need to vary the amount of ventilation in order to control the humidity. I know that in my house, I need lots of ventilation in the summer and minimal ventilation in the winter in order to control humidity. So you might also want to think about places you can put ventilation holes that you can cover and uncover as needed, if you haven't thought about that already. I recently built a PVC enclosure and put lots of ventilation holes on the sides, with sliding panels that can cover or uncover them as needed. A month ago it was warm and humid and I had them all uncovered; now it's started to get cold and they are all covered.

I wouldn't worry about the tank not being strong enough on its side; it's designed to hold 40 gallons of water. It's strong enough.

I do like glass, and have looked into this.

Lots of DIY videos out there for safely drilling glass for vents, breaking down an aquarium, so one can rebuild to suit. You can even get sliding or hinged doors with integral front panel ventilation just like an Exo-terra. They are work, they will require a large space, attention to detail, specialized tools, and considerable time. (I haven't been there in a while, but Dendroboard had excellent plans for the vents - dart frog people make the best vivs anyway.)

I didn't have the space to work on one, so just bought ET's. However, the king needs an upgrade from his top access glass planted tank, and I'd like to give him a 48" planted enclosure. ET doesn't make one that long, so, I'll have to apply myself to a DIY. No need to really bother with an already constructed tank, easier to just work with glass panels.

Joey, KIng of DIY (that is his YouTube channel) has numerous detailed videos on building a tank from scratch. He is a fish guy, so you won't get info on doors, but his vids are still worthwhile for the basic box build, and esp. for drilling.

Hope that helps.

Also, I have no experience here, but consider acrylic. Good visuals, better heat retention, and very strong in the thicker sheets. Very popular with aquarium keepers, somewhat specialized however in the glueing. Again check out one of Joey's videos for detailed specs.

I just got an exo-terra front opening glass tank from pet smart on line delivered to my local store for 127.00 it measures 36x18x18. This was a sale, and they have them all the time. To mount the doors on your 40 gallon you will need a special diamond drill bit and a wet drill or you risk cracking the glass. My husband has a 150 gallon tank and stand he was thinking of adding hinges for a plexiglass cover and dividing it in two and use the tank for other reptile habitat but he discovered it was too risky without a bunch of equipment so He decided to either sell the tank or set it up with discus fish, which he loves. Good luck on your project, and for information on working with glass tanks there is a lot on u-tube, but for me i'd just go with a new set up that already has the front opening doors. Your 40 gal tank can always be an emergency tank for a sick tank or to hold your guy while you clean his regular enclosure. Your going to need a spare anyway.

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Originally Posted by blue roses

To mount the doors on your 40 gallon you will need a special diamond drill bit and a wet drill or you risk cracking the glass.

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Ummm ever hear of epoxy adhesive? You can epoxy the hinge right on to the glass and it won't budge.

By the way Blue Roses, hello from another Long Islander :-)

The main issue here is that fish tanks are meant to withstand pressure in a very particular direction. When you put on on its side the new 'bottom' isn't evenly supported on all four side the way the normal bottom is since having the opening in the side leaves the bottom with pressure on three sides not four and the new top being glass and not air is now also in a stressed position being only supported on three sides as well. Does the tank have a 'brace' across the normal top? You might need to strengthen that with a piece of wood up the back of it to add some support to the top piece of glass. Fish tank glass is heavier than reptile tank glass so being unsupported is a greater issue.

For an example if you push down on the top of a glass cup you probably aren't going to break it, lay it on its side and add the same force you can crush it easily.


Even a normal fish tank if the bottom isn't supported evenly all the way around the glass can crack (yup...learned that the hard way).

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Originally Posted by Queensnake88

I'm annoyed with this .....the groups and forums...so many people jump down my throut about keeping snakes in glass aquariums. I was just reacting in general.

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Nobody's jumpin! I know which groups you might be talking about, but this forum is not it. People are just voicing what they think, but you can do whatever you feel like in the end really. It's not like this project is impossible. Also, nobody was talking about not keeping them in glass aquariums? The forum literally even has a sticky thread in the "husbandry" section that's a DIY guide for "how to set up a glass tank" LOL. It's an open-minded place.

Just clarifying some things, no need to be on the defensive right off the bat around here...

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Originally Posted by piedlover79

The main issue here is that fish tanks are meant to withstand pressure in a very particular direction. When you put on on its side the new 'bottom' isn't evenly supported on all four side the way the normal bottom is since having the opening in the side leaves the bottom with pressure on three sides not four and the new top being glass and not air is now also in a stressed position being only supported on three sides as well. Does the tank have a 'brace' across the normal top? You might need to strengthen that with a piece of wood up the back of it to add some support to the top piece of glass. Fish tank glass is heavier than reptile tank glass so being unsupported is a greater issue.

For an example if you push down on the top of a glass cup you probably aren't going to break it, lay it on its side and add the same force you can crush it easily.


Even a normal fish tank if the bottom isn't supported evenly all the way around the glass can crack (yup...learned that the hard way).

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A good silicone bond on glass is quite strong. Quarter inch thick glass is strong. The issue with aquariums is the hundreds of pounds of weight in water they are expected to contain. Water weighs approx 8 1/2 per gallon. Even a little ten gallon tank full has over eighty pounds of water in it. An empty fish tank is fine on its side, just don't stack a bunch of heavy junk on *top* of it.

If this were my project, I'd take off the plastic rims at the top and bottom, remove the side that will serve as the new top, and attach a good framed screen instead. I'd frame the new front opening in what ever was suitable for the doors I wanted (metal tracks for sliding doors). I'd add a frame for the new bottom to rest on, and I'd drill some vent holes with a circular cut out bit, and another smaller hole for what ever wires have to come out.

My only issue with a retrofitted fish tank would be that most of them don't have pleasing proportions when tipped on the side. At a minimum, I like a lot of climbing branches, and therefore more height than most standard tanks laying on the side are going to have.

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Originally Posted by Queensnake88

I'm doing it. Already had the tank. Undertank heat pad for heat. Obviously holes in the doors so the thing can breathe!

I'm not spending $300 on a new snake enclosure. Sorry.

I want help, not negativity.

If you can't say nice things, do not comment. Simple.

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I don't see where she showed any negativity at all.just ask good questions. I haven't seen anyone bash anyone on this forum about using a glass tank or something other then tubs. I mean u can go to any Petco and get a Tall Exo Terra for 129.99 right now. It has front doors and would be a lot less hassle but u know this [emoji1308] Good Luck lol


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Originally Posted by Sallos

I'm worried that the aquarium glass could shatter under the heat and weight. I'm not sure it was designed to handle the stresses of being on its side without reinforcement.

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This would be my concert too. Glass aquariums are designed to sit on the bottom. Now they are also designed to hold the weight of water too....but I would still recommend against it.

I have built simple lexan tops for glass aquariums before. An aquarium can be a great enclosure if done right. There are plastic hinges you can order online. Research on binding plastic to plastic get some hinges and chemical weld it to the sheet acrylic. You can do it no problem, but making plastic work look good takes some practice...so be prepared to screw up the first time you try.

Funny, I am in the middle of the *exact* same build. 40 gallon long salvaged tank, I even just made an almost identical post on another forum re: what the best route for the doors is. I am currently undecided on whether to use 1/8" or 1/4" plexiglass for the doors since I already have a couple of very large sheets of 1/8" but I'm concerned that there is too much flex to be secure. The general setup will be the same either way, identical for each door: one 23" x 1 3/4" piece of plexi siliconed into the bottom of the pre-existing frame, then piano hinges the full length across, attached to the 23" x 9 1/4" doors. I'm ordering magnets to space out along the vertical edges of the frame with corresponding magnets on the outside of the doors to address the flex issue, in addition to the (at least 2) hasps that will secure the top of each door; if the magnets don't address the 1/8" flex issue adequately I will use them for something else and buy some 1/4" plexi to use instead. Per discussion with someone who currently uses Boaphile 421d's for their snakes I think airflow will be adequate to maintain appropriate humidity % but in the event that increased circulation is needed I will drill pairs of holes in the doors until I get good numbers. Obviously all of these kinks will be ironed out well before I switch my girl over to her new home, I will have plenty of time to tweak the humidity & temp numbers while waiting a month or so for the silicone etc to offgas totally.

The enclosure I'm building will be insulated by foam "rock" walls lining the sides & back and heated primarily by an Ultratherm 11x17 UTH run at an angle on the warm side to avoid said walls and maximize heating capability. I'm also placing a smaller UTH on the cool side on a 2nd therm in case I need it to maintain cool-side temps/ambient temp, but shouldn't need it most of the time. I live in south TX and my home is kept at 74-76 degrees F almost year-round, which translates to ambient temps of 75-77+ degrees in her current enclosure, also a glass tank. The stand I'm currently using for her has the same dimensions as what will be the bottom of the new tank, so I'm going to add "bumpers" to the corners to hold it in place on top of the spacers that will be underneath to provide clearance for the UTH. I'm not really worried about the load on the glass as there will be evenly-distributed support from the spacers underneath, nothing will ever go on top of the enclosure, and the heaviest thing inside of it by far will be her full water dish. I'm lighting it with a strip of warm white LED tape siliconed in behind the top edge of the front (above the doors).

Honestly just be careful with your planning, make sure that your finished enclosure is safe and meets your snake's husbandry needs 110%, and don't worry too much about all of the naysayers. It's all good and well to tell someone to just buy a new acrylic setup for $100+, but the enclosure I'm working on will have about the same dimensions as a Boaphile 421d at a fraction of the cost and provide a more than adequate home for my bp for the rest of her life if needed. Accounting for items that I got for free & supplies that I already had on hand my total cost for this is going to be under $100 and that's with all heating/lighting/etc. I agree that people should be able to provide fully for an animal's needs before taking it on, I have emergency funds for anything up to & including an emergency vet visit/stay but am currently on a very fixed income. I only even have a snake because she was literally left outside to die, with no water, in a tank full of feces, insects, and at least one regurge. This is better than that IMO.