Ball Python enclosure build

So I have decided on a build. I am going to make 2 separate enclosures each roughly 36X24X16. I have designed them on Fusion 360 (a CAD program). I will be building them out of 1 sheet of Hardwood Plywood each and Plexiglas. I am not doing it to try to save money vs buying a pre-made plastic one. I enjoy "projects". My wife says I need to have one at all times to be happy. I have always enjoyed making things myself.

Materials List:

2 - 4X8 hardwood plywood. Had Home Depot cut it for me. $53./ea. - total $106.
1 - Bottle Gorilla wood glue $3.97
1 - Box of Screws. I like to use trim head screws so they are less visible, Since I am using glue also it will be fine. $5.20
1.5 qrt. - Black Pond epoxy (Hope this is enough for both) $65.
1 - Vivarium Electronics VE-300x2 Dual Zone Thermostat $194.99 on sale for $175.49
2 - RBI 12.5" x 22.5" 80 Watt Radiant Heat Panel $89.99 on sale for $80.99 each - total $161.98
2 - AcuRite 00891A3 Indoor/Outdoor Digital Thermometer with Humidity $7.99 / ea. - total $15.98
1 - Etekcity Lasergrip 1080 Non-Contact Digital Laser Infrared Thermometer $18.99
1 - Reptile Prime (lets see if 1 bag is enough for 2 cages) $20.99

Total spent so far: $573.60


Still need to pick up:
Hinges. Thinking of going with a hidden hinge like a cabinet. May make entire front of enclosures be a door.
latches. Need to make sure they lock somehow so kids can't get in without me.
Stain for exterior. I like light wood stains. May have some on shelf from last project.
Plexiglas from local glass shop so I don't have to bother cutting it.

The wife and kids all want to help with the build. Glad everyone is excited (helps get the cost by with less difficulty). My 9 year old daughter spent 2 hours yesterday asking questions about BP health and care. I will update as the build progresses.

Pile of pre cut wood. Saved a lot of time having them cut it for free.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d2f83cd38b.jpg

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Very cool your daughter is interested in this. Sounds like you have a future snake keeper on your hands!

You should be good on the 1 bag of reptile prime. I get 2 full 4'x2' cages out of 1 bag. :)

Sounds like a fun project, looking forward to seeing progress pics, or at least the finished project.

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

You should be good on the 1 bag of reptile prime. I get 2 full 4'x2' cages out of 1 bag. :)

Sounds like a fun project, looking forward to seeing progress pics, or at least the finished project.

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How thick do you put it down. Only post I could find said 1/2 inch.

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Originally Posted by gunkle

How thick do you put it down. Only post I could find said 1/2 inch.

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Eh... probably close to 1 inch before the snakes pack it down. It is fairly loose initially. Ends up being around 1/2" packed, but I do clear it out from under water bowls so that saves me some coverage.

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Originally Posted by Treeman

Very cool your daughter is interested in this. Sounds like you have a future snake keeper on your hands!

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We have spent a bit of time looking at different photos on here together seeing what we like and might want. She is very excited. We both like the varieties with a lot of yellow in them.

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Cool project!


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So I got around to starting the build today with the "help" my two daughters age 7 and 9. I took this opportunity to start teaching them some things about carpentry as handing me screws and holding the glue doesn't work anymore. This gave me the idea that some people here might not know a few good tips I have learned over the years. I learned a new one today also. Don't have Home Depot cut your plywood for you they are very accurate. Need to do some creative sanding and gluing but I can save it. Mind the mess its been near in the single digits lately so I cleared some room in the basement to start working.

So here are some tips while I show off my Work In Progress:

1: Don't have the saw blade to low. It should be set just below the thickness of the wood. This will help prevent chipping with plywood.

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2: Use a long flat edge and some clamps to make a guide for your saw so you make really straight accurate cuts.

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Here are some photos of the first one minus the front.

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I have the front door clamped and gluing right now so all in all it took me about 2.5 hours to get one cage built. Need to mount Plexiglas and hardware.

Got the second box assembled today. took about 2 hours on my own. This time I did some corrective cuts to fix the less then stellar cuts from Home Depot. This one is far far more square but about 1/4" less deep. I will have a lot less sanding to do on this one. This is a very easy Beginner level carpentry project as long as the initial cuts are good ones.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/tC...=w1699-h955-no

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This image has the front door on top of the black plastic clamped and gluing for at least 12 hrs.

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First box with door siting on top

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With door held in place

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Still need to settle on hardware. Haven't decided how to latch and lock cage doors but I like that they are large it should help with access and cleaning. Also considering what to do about air vents. Think I may drill a series of holes and we can cover or uncover them as necessary. The vents I used for the Bearded Dragons cage is too big I feel. I am thinking along the lines of a series of holes in a circular pattern with a piece of wood screwed on one corner that we can swing around to cover more or less holes. Doing this on each side I feel should help in heat / humidity retention and give us some fine grain adjustments.

Also I ordered:
1 bottle - Prevent-A-Mite $19.99
1 - 18" straight hemostat $15.99

Beautiful weather today (almost 60F) so I took the boxes outside to get them sanded up. Took about 1.5 hours to get it done. Ready to stain the outside and paint the inside with Pond Armor. Should be staining this weekend in the garage at work so it has a good space to air out in and is heated. Also the thermostats, temp gun and Reptile Prime arrived today.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yB...Q=w588-h331-no

Had to shim the top box a bit to fit the door on the front of the bottom one, thats what your seeing between the two boxes. Will be putting some kind of feet on it. Maybe even just those felt pads.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1e...=w1699-h955-no

Still to do:
Mount RHP's
Wire in thermostat probes
Place Thermometers and probes
Hardware (hinges, latches, locks, handles?, feet)
Drill air holes and create something to increase / decrease air flow (probably on 3D printer)
Stain / Pond Armor
Complete above by March 1st
Fill, test and adjust by March 29th
March 31st Get some Ball Pythons and enjoy...:snake::snake::D

Picked up a sheet of clear acrylic and cutting tool, 2 matching key cabinet locks and hidden hinges (these may leave too much of an air gap though so will have to see)https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f035ee8fa2.jpg

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GOOD ON YOU for planning to epoxy coat, I've been telling this to people building cages on here for a long time and most end up putting shellac or something usually that won't protect the cage. Epoxy is the only thing I know of that will permanently hold up to urates and poor. Very well planned.

Got the first coat of stain/polyurethane on today after work. Its nice that our shop is heated and no one works weekends.

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Also got the Pond Shield and hooks to hold the doors in place delivered today

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Looking great so far! How is Pond Shield? I've been considering it for future projects and was wondering how your experience is with it is/will be

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Originally Posted by MissterDog

Looking great so far! How is Pond Shield? I've been considering it for future projects and was wondering how your experience is with it is/will be

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Haven't used it yet but I will document my experience with it. Looks fairly straight forward if you follow directions. I have used 2 part epoxy plenty times in the past for other things. Hoping one is enough as I'm a bit over my initial budget but if it takes two it is what it is.

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3rd coat of stain on. Now to get the hardware installed. Should have prepared hardware first but had a great chance to get the stain done in a heated garage so I jumped a few steps. RHP's and thermostat should be here today if the weather doesn't get in the way.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0551202fcc.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...68aa4b4711.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...49f2be08ab.jpg

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So over the last week I have had to deal with 2 sick kids, wife with the flu and a snow storm (I work snow removal). I didn't get any time until today to work on these. I spent about 5 hours mostly uninterrupted and got some great progress done, wife in bed still sick and kids built a crazy fort in the living room.

I got the air ventilation holes drilled and the screens mounted in one of them. Ran out of screws but will only be about 15 minutes to get the second one done. Drilled them with a 1" wood bit. Thought the pattern looks neat. I originally planned to put the screens on the outside but I liked the look of the holes being visible.

Using a speed square and a ruler helps to quickly mark out center points for holes.

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Helps when working with plywood to only cut through 3/4 or so from one direction and finish the hole from the opposite side. This helps to keep the splintering to a minimum.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/iL...Z=w538-h954-no

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I mounted the RPH's in each enclosure and made holes for power cable and thermostat probe.

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The Acrylic glass cutting didn't go as good as I would have liked but I was able to get 2 usable pieces out of it and mounted them to the doors. I will have to do some sanding on the rough edges.

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You can see what I used to hold the right hand side of the doors in place here. They are actually for hanging pictures on the wall.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/L8...H=w538-h954-no

I left the plastic over the acrylic sheets so it will be protected till ready for final installation. Next I have to purchase a 3/4" drill bit to install the cam locks. Then take everything out of the inside and remove the acrylic sheets so I can apply Pond Shield to the inside then remount everything and start testing. The end is in sight..

Got to the first coat of the Pond Shield application this morning. Was able to use the garage at work again. It was very straight forward with good directions. I followed the not smooth surface instructions as I wasn't sure if the wood counted as smooth or not but since I wasn't planning to use a squeegee I think I made the right call. So I mixed 2 cups of Part A with 1 cup of Part B and 2oz denatured alcohol. I re-read the instructions and watched a few youtube videos to prep for this. It turned out to be very easy.

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Then I got to painting. It rolled on pretty easy like a slightly thick paint. Once I rolled all surfaces I used a cheap throwaway paint brush to get all the corners that I couldn't get with the roller.

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The roller didn't give as good of a first layer as I would have liked on close inspection but the second coat should be no problem finishing it off.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hX...=w1696-h954-no

The second coat is cut with double the denatured alcohol so it will be a hair thinner So all should be fine. Since I am not going to be holding water in these I will be forgoing the fiberglass cloth in the seems. The first coat with the paint brush sealed these up just fine for my use case. I will update after the second coat but that may be a few days unfortunately. Possible ice storm coming.

So I managed to get the second coat on tonight. Like I thought it made a huge difference in coverage quality. Went fairly straight forward. I would recommend anyone thinking of giving this a try to go for it. I even managed to get some into the holes in the sides to help seal them up. Used my finger in a pair of gloves to do the holes. Had some dripping from the paint brush application in the seams from coat number one and not much I can do about it. Also a tip use the paint brush in seams then use the roller to help with any excess. I did go over it quickly with the roller after but obviously not well enough. I don't think it will be too noticable when it's in use though. So happy that the build prob is about done. Now to reassemble them and start testing. [emoji16]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...250d9a8cd2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9024401fa7.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3c39983897.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0b354dc5a8.jpg

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These are looking great and I appreciate the info on the Pond Shield. I currently use plastic and pvc cages, but this looks like it will work very well to seal wooden cages. The tendency to absorb moisture and urine was the main reason I went to professional cages. Wooden cages always seemed to retain heat well, though the pvc and plastic does fairly well at this too.

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Originally Posted by Dianne

These are looking great and I appreciate the info on the Pond Shield. I currently use plastic and pvc cages, but this looks like it will work very well to seal wooden cages. The tendency to absorb moisture and urine was the main reason I went to professional cages. Wooden cages always seemed to retain heat well, though the pvc and plastic does fairly well at this too.

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I'm hoping they retain heat well as my current home has poor insulation and I keep it on the cooler side during the winter. I put in plenty of holes for air flow that I can block off as needed to help. So far including RHP's, thermostats, thermometers, hygrometers all build materials, stain and Pond Shield I'm at about $300 each. Plus the satisfaction of doing it myself.

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Originally Posted by gunkle

I'm hoping they retain heat well as my current home has poor insulation and I keep it on the cooler side during the winter. I put in plenty of holes for air flow that I can block off as needed to help. So far including RHP's, thermostats, thermometers, hygrometers all build materials, stain and Pond Shield I'm at about $300 each. Plus the satisfaction of doing it myself.

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At $300 each for the complete setup, you are well below the cost of the pvc or plastic enclosures. The new Reptile Basics cages I purchased last year were $225 each for the 3’x2’x12” model. Add the rhp, thermostat, and Acurite thermometer/hygrometer for another $170. I’m looking forward to hearing about how these perform, especially long term.

I live in a home built in 1945, so there is no insulation. :( This means my house is usually fairly cool in the winter as well, though it’s better since I upgraded the windows to double paned and added insulated siding. My snakes have a dedicated snake room that stays a minimum of 72-73F in winter on the coldest nights (teens to twenties outside) and 75-77F normally. With these ambient temperatures, I don’t have any issues maintaining cage temps. If your home is significantly lower than that where you have your snakes, you can always wrap the cages with rigid insulation for the winter.

So I have this cage I built for our bearded dragon a few years ago with a che that has no problem maintaining 90 and it's 4'X2'X2' so I'm hoping to have good luck with the new ones. I even went with the next size up from recommendations RHP for good measure since I've never used one before.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e5c4e2f21f.jpg

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If that cage is maintaining temps, then you shouldn’t have any issues. As you mentioned, you can always reduce air flow by partially covering the vents in the ball python cages.

So the final missing piece for the enclosures feel into place yesterday. I found something to use as a stand on Facebook marketplace. My daughter's love the color. I think it will work good and give me a place to store some supplies. Not bad for $15 and a few minutes drive to pick up. Also I started the reassembly tonight. Got both doors back together and on, and the vent covers in one. Should be able to finish tomorrow evening.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...eb6c2a9a9e.jpg

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Alright. Got them put back together and ready to start testing out. Wiring placement is all temporary while initial testing is going on. Started with 24 hours of no substrate in either and a water bowl in one. Have been recording Thermostat settings, thermostat readings, hot side, cool side, humidity, room temp and any changes made on a spreadsheet. Best humidity I got was 38% with the bowl and 22% without. Also figured out that the top one is a few degrees warmer on both sides then the bottom one. Thinking its heat rising from lower enclosure. Will have to monitor with temp gun to see if I need more separation so the floor doesn't heat too much. After 24 hours I put about an inch of Reptile Prime in each and it felt very very dry so I put about 2 cups of water in each enclosure and mixed it with the Reptile Prime. Then I put the same size bowl of water in each directly under the RHP. After about 3 hours the humidity in the lower one was 81% and the upper one was 85%. Maybe not a good idea to add water to substrate. Will let it go till tomorrow and see if it settles. I also turned the thermostat for the upper cage to 86 degrees which brought the temp range down to 90 hot side and 80 cool side from 94 and 84 when set at 90. Again I think i'm getting heat from lower cage.

Getting some condensation on the door due to too high humidity. No other spot in cage was wet I felt all around (sides, floor, ceiling, RHP) to make sure I didn't have an air flow issue.
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I do have a question about the RHP though. I think I have it right but might as well double check. When using an RHP the top of the substrate should be the hottest part correct? the floor under it should be slightly cooler as its getting heat soaked through from the substrate. Unless of coarse some of it is moved away and the floor is exposed. So if my floor is hotter then the top of the substrate it would probably be caused by the heat rising from the lower cage.

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Originally Posted by gunkle

I do have a question about the RHP though. I think I have it right but might as well double check. When using an RHP the top of the substrate should be the hottest part correct? the floor under it should be slightly cooler as its getting heat soaked through from the substrate. Unless of coarse some of it is moved away and the floor is exposed. So if my floor is hotter then the top of the substrate it would probably be caused by the heat rising from the lower cage.

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I don’t use any type of chip substrate, so I can’t speak to that part, but I can confirm that the heat does rise and warm the floor of the cage above. I don’t get a lot of transference with my plastic or pvc cages, but it is a little warmer on the cage floor due to the rhp on the cage below. It takes a little tweaking with the stack to get the temperatures where I want them. Each thermostat has a slightly different setting. That said, rarely are all the rhp’s running at the same time because my thermostats are the on/off type rather than proportional.

You could use a sheet of rigid foam between the two cages (1/2” maybe?) to provide a break between the cages.

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Originally Posted by Dianne

I don’t use any type of chip substrate, so I can’t speak to that part, but I can confirm that the heat does rise and warm the floor of the cage above. I don’t get a lot of transference with my plastic or pvc cages, but it is a little warmer on the cage floor due to the rhp on the cage below. It takes a little tweaking with the stack to get the temperatures where I want them. Each thermostat has a slightly different setting. That said, rarely are all the rhp’s running at the same time because my thermostats are the on/off type rather than proportional.

You could use a sheet of rigid foam between the two cages (1/2” maybe?) to provide a break between the cages.

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Thanks. I have those little felt pads for under chair legs on the top one. Was hoping that 1/4" air gap would be enough to minimize it. I will keep and eye on the floor of the top cage and see if I need more separation. I gave myself a month to get the tweaking in so I should have plenty of time to get it all figured out. I bought the dual zone VE thermostat so I only have one unit to work with and it was cheaper then buying 2 separate ones. I have it set to proportional.

So it does appear that I need to put more than a small air gap between. I'm getting readings ranging from 95 to 105 at the floor under the substrate of the top cage right above the RHP from the lower cage. Home Depot here I come. Again.

So I raised the top cage by 1.5", still only an air gap no insulation yet, and now the hottest spot I can find on the floor under the substrate is 95F (its a small area) and it has a range of 95 - 86 in the area directly above the lower RHP. On top of the substrate is between 88 - 91 on the side directly under the RHP and 78 - 81 on the cool side with the floor on this side a few degrees cooler then the substrate. Ambient air temp is hovering around 83 - 85 across the cage. All floor and substrate temps are being collected with a temp gun and ambient temps are from the Accurite thermometer/hygrometers. I've been able to maintain a humidity fluctuation between 50 and 70. I am recording how much water I add and when to be able to get it under even finer control but from my reading here this should all be fine. The floor still being over 90 in some spots I think is the only issue still to attack. I may have to break down and get some insulation to isolate it more.

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Originally Posted by gunkle

So I raised the top cage by 1.5", still only an air gap no insulation yet, and now the hottest spot I can find on the floor under the substrate is 95F (its a small area) and it has a range of 95 - 86 in the area directly above the lower RHP. On top of the substrate is between 88 - 91 on the side directly under the RHP and 78 - 81 on the cool side with the floor on this side a few degrees cooler then the substrate. Ambient air temp is hovering around 83 - 85 across the cage. All floor and substrate temps are being collected with a temp gun and ambient temps are from the Accurite thermometer/hygrometers. I've been able to maintain a humidity fluctuation between 50 and 70. I am recording how much water I add and when to be able to get it under even finer control but from my reading here this should all be fine. The floor still being over 90 in some spots I think is the only issue still to attack. I may have to break down and get some insulation to isolate it more.

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i wouldn't insulate the gap between the enclosures and spacer. i would rather keep the airflow. i know many peeps use hockey pucks as spacers at each corner and maybe middle/center edge. they would stack the pucks 1, 2, 3 high or whatever to get their desired airflow and temps.

the cages looks great and i hope they work out for your snakes as good as they look.

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Originally Posted by Ax01

i wouldn't insulate the gap between the enclosures and spacer. i would rather keep the airflow. i know many peeps use hockey pucks as spacers at each corner and maybe middle/center edge. they would stack the pucks 1, 2, 3 high or whatever to get their desired airflow and temps.

the cages looks great and i hope they work out for your snakes as good as they look.

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Do you think the floor temps are ok or should I go for more height to try to bring them down a few more degrees? I have plenty of left over plywood from the build that I can make something that will look better as spacers. right now its just scraps to see how much space I need.

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Originally Posted by gunkle

Do you think the floor temps are ok or should I go for more height to try to bring them down a few more degrees? I have plenty of left over plywood from the build that I can make something that will look better as spacers. right now its just scraps to see how much space I need.

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u would feel better if they were a tad lower but it's a small spot it seems. this is all RHP placement. u could probably swing it if no hides were place on top of it as hides are where the snakes would spend most of their time. another thing u could look at is thermostat probe placement. i haven't read this entire thread and not sure whether u placed the thermostat probe underneath the RHP, along the wall or on the floor.

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Originally Posted by Ax01

u would feel better if they were a tad lower but it's a small spot it seems. this is all RHP placement. u could probably swing it if no hides were place on top of it as hides are where the snakes would spend most of their time. another thing u could look at is thermostat probe placement. i haven't read this entire thread and not sure whether u placed the thermostat probe underneath the RHP, along the wall or on the floor.

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The thermostat probe is about 3" below the center of the RHP so basically hanging in mid air with another 11" or so till the floor. This is the recommended placement according to the RHP and the thermostat I believe. I was thinking I should move the water bowl to that hot spot. It would leave the hottest accessible spot on the floor to 92 and maybe help a little with humidity. I could put the hide more in the corner where it is 89 at the floor.

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Originally Posted by gunkle

The thermostat probe is about 3" below the center of the RHP so basically hanging in mid air with another 11" or so till the floor. This is the recommended placement according to the RHP and the thermostat I believe. I was thinking I should move the water bowl to that hot spot. It would leave the hottest accessible spot on the floor to 92 and maybe help a little with humidity. I could put the hide more in the corner where it is 89 at the floor.

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ah yes, let it dangle. 3inches is recommended but that's based on averages and u can make adjustments on your own temps, where u live and climate. i think putting the water bowl on the hottest spot is a good idea and would help w/ humidity w/o adding extra water to the substrate.

:gj:

Yeah I have an accurite thermometer/hygrometer to check ambient and humidity and I've been checking the substrate and floor temps with a temp gun as I know the thermostat is measuring the output of the RHP and not the ambient or floor so its more of a setting reading then a usable reading.

Added some more clutter. Really just need the hides that will be bought when we but the snakes to get the right size.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f02adc7795.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1ed05f11d8.jpg

Update. Just shy of one month in use with animals and 2 months since completion and testing started and all is going great. I never need to mist. Every 3 to 4 days I take a few handfuls of water from the water bowls as I change it and splash it around the enclosure getting substrate, rocks and vines a bit. I then mix around the wet spots of substrate so they aren't wet spots and that's it. Humidity raises to about 75% and drops to around 55% in 4 or 5 days or so. Temps have been holding solid. No mildew or mold forming that I can see when checking and spot cleaning. So far so good. I am happy with the results.