I want to start making and selling HDPE cages

I plan on making HDPE cages and selling them for prices within $50 dollars of ap cages or the same price and some of the other 2 top pvc cage manufacturers. (BY THE WAY LIST 2 OTHER GREAT PVC CAGE MAKERS)
I have been looking into the designs of how these cages are made from over 5 different cage makers and have came up with the best ideas from each of them and want to implement them.

And yes every cage maker you know who uses pvc will use pvc foam board with the exception of one that uses CPVC but there is no excuse for people to not buy an HDPE cage because its a superior material in every way over pvc foam board.

HDPE is better than Expanded pvc foam board in every way, its a fact.

The only thing that could stop you from buying would be reputation which is something I would need to build. And that is for me to figure out and I am proactively working on it, by march I will have DIY guide on me building a HDPE cage and making a video for youtube for the visual learners. I will make a website that will offer information for free. I want to give value and I plan on doing that by showing and teaching people what I wish I knew when I first got in the hobby at 12 years old (21 now) like thinking petco and petsmart were the only places to get reptile stuff. Until I found out about craigslist , local reptile shops , lll reptile , forums , youtube videos , DIY videos.

It took me years to learn these things. But yeah just a lil bit of my vision. Im a web developer by the way so I make a good income already so im doing this because I love reptiles specifically monitors and snakes(Carpet pythons, green trees, and ball pythons).

Im sure alot of us in here can share that genuine love for reptiles and for me , I can come home tired from a 8 hour shift from work but still be able to come on my computer and research and learn about reptiles and my computer stuff as well. So its a love I have , as corny as it sounds. Almost to a fault my family says why I dont spend as much time with them and its because I enjoy what I do an im really focused. But thanks for reading.

Looking forward to see where this goes.

So are you planning on going big and starting your own little company or is this going to be like a hobby and just doing it yourself like in your basement or garage?

I know the one complaint people have on here about these kinds of enclosures are the long wait times. The companies custom build them with individual orders. But the quicker way would be to build a few different styles which are designed the most popular way stock them up and sell and see what goes. And listen to peoples input's.

Maybe some poster who like these kinds of cages (like dakski) can post what they like and would like to see come with your cages. You could build say 4 different styles in different sizes, stock them up somehwere and then start making more to replace the ones that sell the best. But you might need to hire some people and have a place to produce and store a few. (Unless you can come up with one style almost everyone likes in different sizes.)

In this day and age of bankrupcy's I would make sure I have the money in your bank first before shipping. And send them in a fairly timely way packaged in a way they would always or most likely arrive in tact and un-broken. If you can do this quickly and have nice cages people will start buying and bragging about them.

Having your own business can be a gamble but I have seen some people do well having their own business, but it is a bit scary at first for them but then they end up helping others have employment.

It sounds like you have a pretty solid plan in place. And I definitely think there's a place in the market for another quality enclosure option.

If I'm being honest though, I personally wouldn't purchase an enclosure without being able to see it in person or at least be able to hear some testimonials from reputable sources. I'd have a real hard time dropping AP comparable prices on an unknown enclosure.

I think your best bet would be to start selling locally. Hit some expos and bring some examples of your "standard" sizes as well as show some of your "customizable" options.

Reputation goes a long way, and without any reputation at all I think you'll have a hard time with online sales. But I could be wrong.

I wish you the best and I'll be watching to see how you do. Good luck!!

Honestly, as a part time business owner and working the trades for most of my life, if there is anything I have learned it's that your quality of work will always speak for itself. If you are good at what you do and create perfection everytime, reputation will come naturally. I have very much thought about selling my own racks as it's very easy for me to do. I built my own PVC racks and it went really well. The joints are perfect, its square, its strong and it looks good. What more could you ask for. The hardest part I had when I first started contracting was convincing a customer that I am competent at doing the work. Especially being a 22 year old kid. This was because of my lack of a portfolio so the first few jobs I only made 25-50% profit. Now it's much higher however when I quote a job I can show them very close examples of MY work, not come good searched work that it "will look close to this".

My part time company is a hobby but of course I like having the supplemented income of the work. Just don't get into this thinking you can half ass the craftsmanship. If the words "close enough" ever come out of your mouth, just re do it. Believe me you will be glad you did it in the long run and in a market as saturated as it is with good workmanship, you will fall to the side if you decide to cut corners.

Just my 2 cents, I love seeing guys try to start up things like this.

Also,I've never seen cages made with PVC foam board. I built everything with 1/2 PVC solid sheets. Expensive but awesome finished product (about $115 here in snow mexico) It likes to bind in table saws though, router tables are the way to go if you have access to one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Weremey59

Also,I've never seen cages made with PVC foam board. I built everything with 1/2 PVC solid sheets. Expensive but awesome finished product (about $115 here in snow mexico) It likes to bind in table saws though, router tables are the way to go if you have access to one.

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Expanded PVC is pvc foam board, from my understanding. It's a solid pvc sheet, despite the name.

Hmm I wasnt aware of that. I never needed to use PVC until I got into reptiles. I'll see if I can get a picture of my racks for you.

Every cage here is HDPE.
https://i.imgur.com/J4pdgbw.jpg

These are Pro-Line cages from Constrictors NW. Ed Lilley no longer makes these cages, or cages period.

The only other HDPE maker I know of is Monster Cages. Mathew Martin is still in business I believe.

I have really enjoyed these cages and have no regrets going with this material.

You may fill a niche if you go into business as I don't think there are many cage makers using HDPE.

All of my cages are naturalistic and set up for display, yet they are still easy to clean and maintain.

Best of luck.

Ok first, sorry for the late reply I was at work but it's pretty lax and I thought I set up email notifications but they're no coming it's kinda annoying. Ok now Thank you all for your feedback very much I want to really individually to each comment cause there something in each response you all made thanks (:

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Originally Posted by Alien

Looking forward to see where this goes.

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So do I, I have a lot of momentum on my side right now so I want to keep pushing forward. I love the process of figuring out all this stuff(my plan).

My hesitation with buying from a lesser known seller would be the risk of them going under and then not being able to get matching enclosures. Not much you can do about that, but just my viewpoint.

FYI, the HDPE cages I had were Pro-lines also.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ballpythonsrock2

So are you planning on going big and starting your own little company or is this going to be like a hobby and just doing it yourself like in your basement or garage?

I know the one complaint people have on here about these kinds of enclosures are the long wait times. The companies custom build them with individual orders. But the quicker way would be to build a few different styles which are designed the most popular way stock them up and sell and see what goes. And listen to peoples input's.

Maybe some poster who like these kinds of cages (like dakski) can post what they like and would like to see come with your cages. You could build say 4 different styles in different sizes, stock them up somehwere and then start making more to replace the ones that sell the best. But you might need to hire some people and have a place to produce and store a few. (Unless you can come up with one style almost everyone likes in different sizes.)

In this day and age of bankrupcy's I would make sure I have the money in your bank first before shipping. And send them in a fairly timely way packaged in a way they would always or most likely arrive in tact and un-broken. If you can do this quickly and have nice cages people will start buying and bragging about them.

Having your own business can be a gamble but I have seen some people do well having their own business, but it is a bit scary at first for them but then they end up helping others have employment.

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Going big is not really what I'm trying to do. That statement is vague in itself but to be more clear I want to fix a problem I see in cage building right now. Everything else will follow with that because I want to make a website as well so (Cages , website) go hand and hand , plus a youtube channel. But I do want to start locally selling these reptile cages all over california first so shipping is not bad and people can give honest reviews. I will try an get people to post on these forums to give brutally honest reviews... So if you are in cali we can work something out, of course I'm open to other states but I'm not comfortable yet myself because I want people being comfortable in buying something.... I wouldnt want someone looking at it like a risk.... Plus in state shipping is much cheaper if things go wrong , I can fix things and ship back for cheap instead of across the country

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

It sounds like you have a pretty solid plan in place. And I definitely think there's a place in the market for another quality enclosure option.

If I'm being honest though, I personally wouldn't purchase an enclosure without being able to see it in person or at least be able to hear some testimonials from reputable sources. I'd have a real hard time dropping AP comparable prices on an unknown enclosure.

I think your best bet would be to start selling locally. Hit some expos and bring some examples of your "standard" sizes as well as show some of your "customizable" options.

Reputation goes a long way, and without any reputation at all I think you'll have a hard time with online sales. But I could be wrong.

I wish you the best and I'll be watching to see how you do. Good luck!!

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I appreciate the feedback... Reputation is the biggest hurdle of course but it will come. I'm in no rush and I do live close to the San diego expo so it's nice to be able to do that and maybe show up there for a few days showcasing my cages. Maybe sell a few. But hey I agree with you, if I w as s the buyer I'd want to see reviews and hear peoples opinions on a product. I totally understand and would do the same so I see it from that perspective as well, and proactively researching , seeking feedback and then action is what it comes down to.

Even though I'm not going to be your customer (because, well, I like glass...) I do think there's a niche for your cages if all goes well. And California is a good
place to start, there are more snake-keepers in California (I'm a former resident of many years) than in many other states, so wish you best of luck. :gj: You
should be advertising to the various herp societies there too, once you get up & running. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Weremey59

Honestly, as a part time business owner and working the trades for most of my life, if there is anything I have learned it's that your quality of work will always speak for itself. If you are good at what you do and create perfection everytime, reputation will come naturally. I have very much thought about selling my own racks as it's very easy for me to do. I built my own PVC racks and it went really well. The joints are perfect, its square, its strong and it looks good. What more could you ask for. The hardest part I had when I first started contracting was convincing a customer that I am competent at doing the work. Especially being a 22 year old kid. This was because of my lack of a portfolio so the first few jobs I only made 25-50% profit. Now it's much higher however when I quote a job I can show them very close examples of MY work, not come good searched work that it "will look close to this".

My part time company is a hobby but of course I like having the supplemented income of the work. Just don't get into this thinking you can half ass the craftsmanship. If the words "close enough" ever come out of your mouth, just re do it. Believe me you will be glad you did it in the long run and in a market as saturated as it is with good workmanship, you will fall to the side if you decide to cut corners.

Just my 2 cents, I love seeing guys try to start up things like this.

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Well I appreciate the feedback and your perspective.. I want to private message you about how you manage your time by the way , I just like learning so maybe I can learn some things (: . And yeah I have sold many things before I've always been competent in researching my competitors and doing due diligence but on a much smaller scale for different things in different industries. My philosophy is if I dont like what I'm selling I cant sell it, because I have to know the product I have to be able explain it to people etc. It sounds corny but I have to really like what I do in order for me to excel in it. Just the truth...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Weremey59

Also,I've never seen cages made with PVC foam board. I built everything with 1/2 PVC solid sheets. Expensive but awesome finished product (about $115 here in snow mexico) It likes to bind in table saws though, router tables are the way to go if you have access to one.

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Actual solid pvc sheets are over $200 bucks for 1/2 inch thick. Trust me I know , its pvc foam board that your using . If your literally making them for yourself and not selling I can believe you use pvc sheets like actual solid pvc because theres no profit in buying real pvc sheets and making cages for the purpose of profit..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

Every cage here is HDPE.
https://i.imgur.com/J4pdgbw.jpg

These are Pro-Line cages from Constrictors NW. Ed Lilley no longer makes these cages, or cages period.

The only other HDPE maker I know of is Monster Cages. Mathew Martin is still in business I believe.

I have really enjoyed these cages and have no regrets going with this material.

You may fill a niche if you go into business as I don't think there are many cage makers using HDPE.

All of my cages are naturalistic and set up for display, yet they are still easy to clean and maintain.

Best of luck.

---

I got my idea from proline cages. Ed is where my idea came from because I see his product was superior in every way compared to PVC cages but unfortunately it was too expensive for the buyer , and PVC just works. Not even trying to start this into a PVC wont off gas debate but it does 140 degrees is its tolerance before it gets structurally weaker and starts to off gas. Chlorine is the main toxin that is bad for your health in PVC(Poly vinyl chloride). As opposed to HDPE which tolerates 248 degree before becoming structurally weak and off gassing, though it's not really toxic you dont want to inhale anything.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Even though I'm not going to be your customer (because, well, I like glass...) I do think there's a niche for your cages if all goes well. And California is a good
place to start, there are more snake-keepers in California (I'm a former resident of many years) than in many other states, so wish you best of luck. :gj: You
should be advertising to the various herp societies there too, once you get up & running. ;)

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Hey bro listen , I like to listen and learn you dont have to be a customer I like just taking about reptiles and anything related. And yeah california is great. I know alot of local breeders I want to sell to them too it's a good way to get started.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wnateg

My hesitation with buying from a lesser known seller would be the risk of them going under and then not being able to get matching enclosures. Not much you can do about that, but just my viewpoint.

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I learned something else thanks again for this. I didnt think about that... but I mean yeah it's a definite risk especially with a smaller cage maker but another thing I seen is a bad problem for consumers and good and bad for a company like AP plastics is that they have a long wait time when it comes to making cages. That's one thing I want to excel at if I get to that level, the time it takes to make which is something that needs to be more efficient for a company like AP cages.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Angel619392

I appreciate the feedback... Reputation is the biggest hurdle of course but it will come. I'm in no rush and I do live close to the San diego expo so it's nice to be able to do that and maybe show up there for a few days showcasing my cages. Maybe sell a few. But hey I agree with you, if I w as s the buyer I'd want to see reviews and hear peoples opinions on a product. I totally understand and would do the same so I see it from that perspective as well, and proactively researching , seeking feedback and then action is what it comes down to.

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I'm rooting for you, best of luck! :gj:

Good luck! I am patiently waiting to see your cages.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kam

Good luck! I am patiently waiting to see your cages.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Thank you

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Angel619392

I got my idea from proline cages. Ed is where my idea came from because I see his product was superior in every way compared to PVC cages but unfortunately it was too expensive for the buyer , and PVC just works. Not even trying to start this into a PVC wont off gas debate but it does 140 degrees is its tolerance before it gets structurally weaker and starts to off gas. Chlorine is the main toxin that is bad for your health in PVC(Poly vinyl chloride). As opposed to HDPE which tolerates 248 degree before becoming structurally weak and off gassing, though it's not really toxic you dont want to inhale anything.

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I'm glad Ed had a bit of an influence on your current idea. Ed actually got some of his ideas from Matthew Martin (Monster Cages) at the beginning.

Ed was very easy to work with and his prices at the time were excellent. He built 2 custom cages for me out of the 4 I have.

This is the retic cage. It is a double cage and it shipped flat. The material is very heavy. The dimensions here are 6' x 2' x 30" deep.
https://i.imgur.com/uByQgoa.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ArXfzsf.jpg

Ed shipped the cage with the backgrounds for each module. I added the perches and heavy hardware to mount them.
https://i.imgur.com/5YbiIYx.jpg

It turned out looking very nice.
https://i.imgur.com/JYf50rt.jpg

The other 3 are 4 footers. The bottom cage is a custom build 30" deep and 20". The other 2 were "standard" orders. Top 14" tall and middle 2' tall.
https://i.imgur.com/KDrpUT2.jpg

The HDPE Ed used was Marine Board and the cost to buy it was increasing.

Had it not been for Ed, I may have gone with Animal Plastics to try the PVC. Matt Martin didn't call or text me back after our first conversations. I believe he was going through some difficult family issues.

I have had a good experience with what I have and setting up and adding decor got easier with each cage. Once I had a system that worked changing it didn't appeal to me.

I haven't and won't have the need for a new cage so I've not looked at the Monster Cage site lately.

Matt has improved his process and design ideas over the years. I did see that he had some sliding glass cages and he uses structural support in the ceilings of some cages.

Matt's cages are shipped assembled and his cage seams are thermo welded.

This link shows old and new designs.

https://www.facebook.com/monstercage...1&l=52a8bcb389

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

I'm glad Ed had a bit of an influence on your current idea. Ed actually got some of his ideas from Matthew Martin (Monster Cages) at the beginning.

Ed was very easy to work with and his prices at the time were excellent. He built 2 custom cages for me out of the 4 I have.

This is the retic cage. It is a double cage and it shipped flat. The material is very heavy. The dimensions here are 6' x 2' x 30" deep.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/uByQgoa.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/ArXfzsf.jpg

Ed shipped the cage with the backgrounds for each module. I added the perches and heavy hardware to mount them.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/5YbiIYx.jpg

It turned out looking very nice.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/JYf50rt.jpg

The other 3 are 4 footers. The bottom cage is a custom build 30" deep and 20". The other 2 were "standard" orders. Top 14" tall and middle 2' tall.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/KDrpUT2.jpg

The HDPE Ed used was Marine Board and the cost to buy it was increasing.

Had it not been for Ed, I may have gone with Animal Plastics to try the PVC. Matt Martin didn't call or text me back after our first conversations. I believe he was going through some difficult family issues.

I have had a good experience with what I have and setting up and adding decor got easier with each cage. Once I had a system that worked changing it didn't appeal to me.

I haven't and won't have the need for a new cage so I've not looked at the Monster Cage site lately.

Matt has improved his process and design ideas over the years. I did see that he had some sliding glass cages and he uses structural support in the ceilings of some cages.

Matt's cages are shipped assembled and his cage seams are thermo welded.

This link shows old and new designs.

https://www.facebook.com/monstercage...1&l=52a8bcb389

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Yeah ed has a lot of influence on my ideas because I wanted to buy a a cage and seen proline cages , researched the materials and found out its a superior product in every way. Factually HDPE is better in every way. Had me thinking of this problem of PVC taking over when its inferior and there is a void I can fill. Also Animal Plastics uses PVC foam board they just call it CDPVC. Call up any plastic company and they will tell you either they never heard of it or its foam board pvc or call AP themselves and ask them if its foam board pvc.... So HDPE is better and if people can see the facts for what they are and being priced competitive with companies like AP plastics it should really be a no brainer if I could make some quality cages. But again selling them is not my main goal, its to fix this problem of pvc being used over hdpe and at the same time I get to do what I like to do.... I also think of this as a way to also get my way into making websites for different reptile companies because I am WEB developer and I could get my feet wet in that by doing this reptile cage making , my own website for reptiles that I want to be the website people will be like "Go to yadadada website to learn everything for ball pythons, green trees, carpets or tegus..."... I just love anything with reptiles and computers so i found my niche

I posted on your fauna thread with detailed close ups of the NW constrictor cages I have, hope it helps!

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Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

I posted on your fauna thread with detailed close ups of the NW constrictor cages I have, hope it helps!

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Ahh ok perfect thank you yeah I have the same name lol, thanks bro.... I hope more people show their proline cages and answer
1. how long they had them ?
2. Any bowing or warping?
3. stains?
And a few pics of the cages

- - - Updated - - -

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

I posted on your fauna thread with detailed close ups of the NW constrictor cages I have, hope it helps!

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Ahh ok perfect thank you yeah I have the same name lol, thanks bro.... I hope more people show their proline cages and answer
1. how long they had them ?
2. Any bowing or warping?
3. stains?
And a few pics of the cages

While HDPE might be superior(I personally don’t see any groundbreaking upside to it), the bottom line is pvc serves the exact same purposes as HDPE at a cheaper price. Both materials insulate, hold humidity, are easy to clean, easy to work with, and light. I had a Proline cage too and I personally was not impressed. I won’t go into details but I sold it and switched everything over to AP cages. And Ed actually lived about 3 hours from me.

In my opinion, if you go HDPE, make sure you use thick enough material so you have no flex. That was a huge negative on Proline to me. I could literally twist the cage and cause it to shift. But anyways, like I said, I wish you the best on success. Do what you love and you will never fail at it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

While HDPE might be superior(I personally don’t see any groundbreaking upside to it), the bottom line is pvc serves the exact same purposes as HDPE at a cheaper price. Both materials insulate, hold humidity, are easy to clean, easy to work with, and light. I had a Proline cage too and I personally was not impressed. I won’t go into details but I sold it and switched everything over to AP cages. And Ed actually lived about 3 hours from me.

In my opinion, if you go HDPE, make sure you use thick enough material so you have no flex. That was a huge negative on Proline to me. I could literally twist the cage and cause it to shift. But anyways, like I said, I wish you the best on success. Do what you love and you will never fail at it.

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To me what worried me is
XPVC can and will off gas at 140 degress so the Chloride (Poly vinyl Chloride) can be toxic not only for the animals but you if you do reach those temperatures... Or if you want Ackies that need 150 degree basking you cannot do it with these cages.
HDPE tolerates 248 before the off gassing happens

Also I plan to offer an HDPE enclosure that is same price or within $50 dollars of AP plastic cages... The only thing stopping somebody from buying a cage made from superior material would be the company... Or in other words reputation, which I want to build by first selling locally and having people come on forums and give their opinions and also making youtube videos of me building/setting them up.... Keeping people updated with how my cages are doing for my animals because its better all around for me to be honest and let you guys know about problems my cages are having through youtube for 2 reasons.
1) You guys know im being honest
2) I do not have to stress or pay extra shipping to get it back and potentially lose business from people

So it really comes down to quality and reputation... If that is equal then it comes down to the superior product... Im basically saying I aim to match the quality of animal plastics and reputation will come through that... But yes I plan to deal locally first... Im ambitious (:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Angel619392

To me what worried me is
XPVC can and will off gas at 140 degress so the Chloride (Poly vinyl Chloride) can be toxic not only for the animals but you if you do reach those temperatures... Or if you want Ackies that need 150 degree basking you cannot do it with these cages.
HDPE tolerates 248 before the off gassing happens

Also I plan to offer an HDPE enclosure that is same price or within $50 dollars of AP plastic cages... The only thing stopping somebody from buying a cage made from superior material would be the company... Or in other words reputation, which I want to build by first selling locally and having people come on forums and give their opinions and also making youtube videos of me building/setting them up.... Keeping people updated with how my cages are doing for my animals because its better all around for me to be honest and let you guys know about problems my cages are having through youtube for 2 reasons.
1) You guys know im being honest
2) I do not have to stress or pay extra shipping to get it back and potentially lose business from people

So it really comes down to quality and reputation... If that is equal then it comes down to the superior product... Im basically saying I aim to match the quality of animal plastics and reputation will come through that... But yes I plan to deal locally first... Im ambitious (:

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Well, for most reptiles minus monitors, 140F would either kill them or do some severe neurological damage that the off gassing would be a moot point. I’ve had a Nile monitor and a couple Savannahs and honestly for a monitor, I would just use 1/2 Inch plywood. You need something like an 8x4 cage and around 2 feet of soil for them to dig in. There is a local guy here who builds cages from pvc and breeds water monitors and he uses plywood as well. Then just stack a bunch of bluestone or slate to create the 150F hot spot with hanging lights. Not sure I would trust pvc to hold the weight of an 8x4x2 flat of dirt. Arboreal monitors would be different but I would think you would be wanting to heat a branch or log and not the floor of the cage. Not exactly sure as I’ve never kept anything like Ackies. But a plywood cage would be easy to make. Just use 1x1 for a frame and nail plywood sheets to it. Then frame in a tempered glass window.

Not trying to discourage you like I said in PMs. Just be ready to answer questions from guys like me who are skeptical to reinvent the wheel lol. Like I said, I run a automotive shop and I always get vendors wanting me to switch to them and how their products are “better”. Yet when I press them to explain what exactly makes their products so much better that I would want to switch my stock etc, they can’t give me a good enough reason.

If you do the same quality as AP in a faster time, I would think you would do fairly well locally. You can also talk to your local reptile shops and see if they would be interested in maybe doing a consignment. That would get you decent advertising and then the local customers could either contact you through business cards left with the reptile store or the reptile store buys them from you and then resells them. Either way it would be a win/win for you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Well, for most reptiles minus monitors, 140F would either kill them or do some severe neurological damage that the off gassing would be a moot point. I’ve had a Nile monitor and a couple Savannahs and honestly for a monitor, I would just use 1/2 Inch plywood. You need something like an 8x4 cage and around 2 feet of soil for them to dig in. There is a local guy here who builds cages from pvc and breeds water monitors and he uses plywood as well. Then just stack a bunch of bluestone or slate to create the 150F hot spot with hanging lights. Not sure I would trust pvc to hold the weight of an 8x4x2 flat of dirt. Arboreal monitors would be different but I would think you would be wanting to heat a branch or log and not the floor of the cage. Not exactly sure as I’ve never kept anything like Ackies. But a plywood cage would be easy to make. Just use 1x1 for a frame and nail plywood sheets to it. Then frame in a tempered glass window.

Not trying to discourage you like I said in PMs. Just be ready to answer questions from guys like me who are skeptical to reinvent the wheel lol. Like I said, I run a automotive shop and I always get vendors wanting me to switch to them and how their products are “better”. Yet when I press them to explain what exactly makes their products so much better that I would want to switch my stock etc, they can’t give me a good enough reason.

If you do the same quality as AP in a faster time, I would think you would do fairly well locally. You can also talk to your local reptile shops and see if they would be interested in maybe doing a consignment. That would get you decent advertising and then the local customers could either contact you through business cards left with the reptile store or the reptile store buys them from you and then resells them. Either way it would be a win/win for you.

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Damn bro thats a great idea tbh the local reptile shops are a cool way to get my feet wet too because odds are a person walking into local reptile shop would know whats up with the plastic cages. But hey thanks a lot for that idea..