best cage material ??

ok whats the best building material for building a cage ... specifically a BP cuz thats what about to build a cage for- so im making this in a poll... whats better ??... brichplywood.... MDF.... spruce ply... or maybe something i havent thought of

my home build rack, and several others here are built out of Melamine shelving. Lowes and Home Depot carry it.

birch thats what im building mine out of but its pricey mdf is great but you have to paint ir real good and make sure you use a sealerpaint on the bottom and most diff seal all the joint with clear water based chaulking mdf well expand if it gets wet

PVC or ABS plastics

Plastic is, in my opinion, the best mateiral to build reptile cages. Expanded PVC seems to be the best out of all of the plastic materials.

I would steer clear of plywood or anything porous. If you can't throw it in water without wrecking it I wouldn't use it. I built a few racks but in the long run I wound-up using professional racks I found on Craig's List and tanks.

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Originally Posted by Jenn

I would steer clear of plywood or anything porous. If you can't throw it in water without wrecking it I wouldn't use it. I built a few racks but in the long run I wound-up using professional racks I found on Craig's List and tanks.

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brich is very none porous its a really smooth . matter a fact it the best wood to build speaker boxes out of (better than MDF) cause of its strength and density or even oak plywood but nothing with pine NO PINE

i would recommend Birch if you cant get expandable pvc like everyone on here tends to like or melamine is nice to

where do u get expandable PVC ??... ive only ever see the plumbing pipes lol... how its for cutting ? would be able too use a standard table saw n mitre saw ??

easy to cut. look for plastic supply stores. they sell it in 4x8 sheets. super easy to work with.

Expanded PVC is quite pricey though. Is ABS plastic any cheaper or different?

ive seen a coupla posts on racks made of this PVC ... but has anyone used it in a cage ??

this is my chondro cage. i kinda helped build it. a friend of mine is really good at it. so he did most of the work, well all of the work actually. i helped put the door on and with the vents. we also made 3 ball python cages out ABS last weekend. i am just waiting on the acrylic doors to be cut. i wanted them to have a nice finished edge.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...icture_009.jpg

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Originally Posted by Lucas339

this is my chondro cage. i kinda helped build it. a friend of mine is really good at it. so he did most of the work, well all of the work actually. i helped put the door on and with the vents. we also made 3 ball python cages out ABS last weekend. i am just waiting on the acrylic doors to be cut. i wanted them to have a nice finished edge.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...icture_009.jpg

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wow that really super nice

whats that it made of ??? and what did you use for vents

i still think birch is the best. cause you can stain it and get a really nice finish. if i could go back and start over i would of used my small finishing nail gun. but glad i didn't cause i made a big booboo and had to take a lot of it a part and if was easy cause all i had to do is pull the screws and knock up the board before the glue set.:rolleye2:

made of PVC and vents are PVC drains but they are cut on an angle and are smaller mesh than most drains. hard to explain.

oh and i have to disagree totally. wood is sub-par to plastics in every way. plastics are ready to go after they dry and fume off and are good for life. they never have to be painted or sealed especially if you glue them right. they hold heat and humidity better than glass and come in a wide aray of colors. ABS is available in many colors, PVC is made in black or white.

well i think im gunna go with the brich plywood and do a dark stain on the inside and a lighter one on the outside and seal the whole thing with a polyurathane

what ever you do dont use mdf if you dont seal just littlest part of it it will expand

i just made mine out of birch and that seems to be the best in my opinion

Sheet plastic is the best material for racks and cages alike...

However, if you're poor (like me) or just can't find a supplier easily, then the better material is 3/4" plywood sealed WELL. I made a cage system of basic exterior roofing ply and it's working great so far. :)
Of course, I take mondo precautions for waterproofing and not only did I use water based polyurethane to seal the wood, but I also painted it with primer and two coats of a latex-based paint and covered the inside with contact paper. :D And made the back out of Corrugated Plastic sheeting.

o what exactly is this contact paper i keep hearing about ??

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Originally Posted by Argentra

Sheet plastic is the best material for racks and cages alike...

However, if you're poor (like me) or just can't find a supplier easily, then the better material is 3/4" plywood sealed WELL. I made a cage system of basic exterior roofing ply and it's working great so far. :)
Of course, I take mondo precautions for waterproofing and not only did I use water based polyurethane to seal the wood, but I also painted it with primer and two coats of a latex-based paint and covered the inside with contact paper. :D And made the back out of Corrugated Plastic sheeting.

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i hope you didn't use pine. i know you can buy hardwood it doesn't look like pine but its made out of pine. if you gonna make a cage use birch ply or oak ply and if you make doors and door frames with plexi use a solid wood such as oak etc but never pine or cedar

Oh trust me...I'm paranoid about cage materials. It's not pine, and the door frames are poplar. :D

As for Contact paper, it's also called Shelf paper. Used to line drawers and shelves, some of it is also very moisture resistant. It also looks really nice inside a wooden cage when you use a wood grain pattern paper.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...cages-open.jpg

Contact paper also covers the 'ceiling' of each cage (marble pattern) and clear contact paper is over the scrapbooking designs on the backs. :) It's great stuff.

popular wood is one i forgot about to good wood for framing

i would like to say i have worked with both mdf and birch and birch is so far the greatest

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Originally Posted by Lucas339

PVC or ABS plastics

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x2 :gj::gj:

acrylic!...lexan and the like.