Building terrarium......

[Wobbilly5]

I am going to be building some stackable vision cages for my ball pythons soon and I just wanted to get some feedback on what type of wood I should use.

I wanted something lightweight and strong, so I was thinking cedar, but then I hear cedar is bad for ball pythons? So would cedar be a bad choice to build the main frame of the cage out of? If not cedar, what would be the best choice?

Thanks all!

[mainbutter]

Stay away from cedar, but I am no woodworker so I don't know what to suggest.

[zeke]

Melamine.. it's not light but once it is built and all seams are sealed it will be good to go.. how are you goin to do doors? I just finished up a cage unit with flip down doors made with plexi.. good luck on the build...


Cheers

[Wobbilly5]

Melamine.. it's not light but once it is built and all seams are sealed it will be good to go.. how are you goin to do doors? I just finished up a cage unit with flip down doors made with plexi.. good luck on the build...


Cheers

I was thinking about either doing to the flip down plexi doors or trying to figure out a double sided sliding plexi door. I am told it wouldn't be hard to do......but I am not yet a craftsman. What would you suggest?

[zeke]

I was thinking about either doing to the flip down plexi doors or trying to figure out a double sided sliding plexi door. I am told it wouldn't be hard to do......but I am not yet a craftsman. What would you suggest?

I havnt done a full plexi door any larger then the one on my cresties tank and it works but it's only 10" x 20" so it's not too big.. how big would the doors be? I would say use a thick plexi for the door so that it wont bow on you.

they way I built my doors was just like you would for a kitchen cabinet door. the plexi is set inside grooves in the wood... I'm not sure how handy you are with wood woorking, but to do sliding doors would be much easier for someone who is not familiar with tools.

All you really need is the track which you can get at home stores ( I prefer Lowes) and the plexi cut to size, also some locking system.. what i see the most for locks is the style they use on electronic case in stores.. Ithink reptilebasics.com carrys the locks and track.

here's a few pics of what i did, these where my work in progress pics.

a shot of the door opened. after the plexi was inplace I siliconed the seams to seal it an keep it from movin about.

Cheers

[WakoNako]

I built my cage outta plywood then sealed it to protect the snakes. An easy way to do the plexi doors would be to trap a piece of plexi between two pieces of wood that compose the frame.
Essentially, make two square frames from say 1/2" material, lay a piece of plexi on one and glue it in place. Run a bead of glue on it and lay the other piece of frame on top and screw/nail the wood together. Fill the gap between the two pieces of wood with silicone and your done.