Finally finished....

[daniel1983]

Well....I have been working on my v. storri trio cage upgrade for about a month now....and I think it is finally ready for dirt. I just wanted to put it past everyone before I load it up, just incase anyone can remind me of something that I forgot or provide any improvement suggestions.

The cage is 48" x 24" x 24". It has a 12" opening with removable sliding 1/4" glass doors. The bottom will hold 9-10" of dirt and is lined with 1/8" black PVC and sealed on the inside and outside of each joint. There is a 1"x6" board running down the middle of the top to keep the light from shining in everyone's eyes as the look in and there is a 3"x 36" vent in the back located 2" from the top. It has two ceramic sockets wired into the enclosure for heating and light. The stand was made just high enough to slide my substrate and insect tubs underneath.

Let me know what you think of the design. I am also planning on an identical one (maybe 12 soil bed instead) for my ackies, what do you think about using it for those?

[xdeus]

Looks pretty nice, Daniel. I have no idea how to take care of storris (or any monitor for that matter), but I imagine they'll be pretty stoked!

[jknudson]

Looks really good Daniel! I'm sure the storri will be thrilled with their new digs.

-Jason

[daniel1983]

Thanks you two

I'm sure the storri will be thrilled with their new digs.

Hopefully.....we wouldn't want them to be eatting each other would we?...LMAO...

[iceman25]

Looks pretty dang good man! I wish you well with your future projects!

[jknudson]

Hopefully.....we wouldn't want them to be eatting each other would we?...LMAO...

That would not be good...they are rare enough as is! You'll have to post more pictures after they get all settled in. Good work.

[daniel1983]

You'll have to post more pictures after they get all settled in.

I have to get them in there first I posted this same thread at some monitor lizard specific forums looking for input. Hopefully some of the 'experts' do not bash my design. It has a few 'people features' like the light blocker that serve the animals no good or bad...it is just in there for me. I knew that I wanted to build something with sliding front doors instead of the traditional stock tank, so I made note of any complaints/critisims that I heard concerning these types of enclosures. The main reasons that I heard against using designs similar to this were:

1. Wood enclosure rot where they contact soil.
2. Sliding glass door tracks and soil don't go together.
3. Crickets can get out easier than in stock tanks.
4. Don't hold enough soil.

I think I resolved most of those issues, but we will just have to see.

Now to get to work on that wicked cool ball python enclosure I have designed

[jknudson]

Did you use a polyurethane to seal the wood to keep the humidity/mold/rot issues to a minimum? I've been trying to get any ideas for an enclosure this size or larger for a monitor of some kind... thinking 60x30x36...I figure this would be fine for a colony of ackies, or a sav, or an argus....haven't decided yet. I'll probably try this design.

Guess I'll have to break out the tools myself.

[daniel1983]

Did you use a polyurethane to seal the wood to keep the humidity/mold/rot issues to a minimum? I've been trying to get any ideas for an enclosure this size or larger for a monitor of some kind... thinking 60x30x36...I figure this would be fine for a colony of ackies, or a sav, or an argus....haven't decided yet. I'll probably try this design.

Guess I'll have to break out the tools myself.

I did not use any polyurethane to seal the wood. The air inside the enclosure is pretty dry due to the lamps so even if I mist, the sides are dried off in a matter of minutes. I also was unsure of how the polyurethane would hold up to heat. My main goal was to keep the soil moist but protect the plywood.

Get to work...that sounds like a big enclosure that you have planned......building reptile enclosures is great stress relief

[wildlifewarrior]

thats sweet!! i would love to get into ackies, and that is an awsome cage to me, my only concern would be the soil moisture contacting the wood, but you have that covered!


looks awsome!

~mike