Homemade Caging System Complete!!

[NewbieNick]

im building a aboreal set up for some crested gecko's and a garg. Ive been looking for cheap vents like that!!! where did you get your PVC drain covers and how much werre they? i tried searching on lowes n homedepot.com to no avail.

[Argentra]

You guys are being so nice...saying it looks professional. I actually have plans to start a small business building reptile enclosures once I'm out of college, and your comments are making me feel better about doing that.

As with WalMart.com... the home improvement stores online sites do not all have the same things that the stores do. The best thing is to actually go there and check it out.
I can't remember how much they cost, since I got almost all the supplies for this on gift cards, but they were fairly cheap. I got them at Lowes in the PVC piping section.

To install them, I had to use a hole cutter bit that was a tiny bit larger than the vent (which was better than the one that made a hole the vent wouldn't go all the way into), and I secured them by drilling holes into the vent sides and sliding a nail through...on the outside of the cage of course.

[Dragnbaron]

You probably mentioned this but i may have overlooked it. what are you using for heat? I couldn't see anything definitive as a heat sorce so i was curious. This is a great looking cage! Def. furniture quality.

--edit--
Ohp, i just saw that you used a UTH. Any reason why you went with a UTH instead of flexwatt? And where do you hide all those magical wires? How is the electric all wired up? I LOVE the idea of having lights above each and every enclosure. How do you keep the snakes from getting in contact with the lights?

[Argentra]

I use UTHs because I have a ton of them already. Plus, they just seem to work better for me than flexwatt. The full size cages each have a 30-40g size UTH, and the two smaller cages each have a 10-20g size. You can't see them, because they are foil taped underneath the tile that makes the floor of each cage. And the wires are bundled up behind/beside the cage where the t-stat strip is. This cage is on a Ranco with a 6-outlet strip.

The lights aren't above each cage...they're inside on the cool side 'wall' up against the ceiling. They're small halogen closet lights that I placed clear contact paper over, not only to keep the switch from being pressed but to keep the thick cover closed and provide a barrier from the lamp heat. I tested these lights LONG before I even started building, so I know they don't get Super hot...the advantage of getting lights that belong in a closet with clothing.
If the lights ever heat up too much, or the snakes get up high enough to rest fully on them, then I'll just install hardware cloth light cages or plastic light boxes around them.
The cords for the lights come out the back and are all plugged into a day/night timer strip.

[Dragnbaron]

I use UTHs because I have a ton of them already. Plus, they just seem to work better for me than flexwatt. The full size cages each have a 30-40g size UTH, and the two smaller cages each have a 10-20g size. You can't see them, because they are foil taped underneath the tile that makes the floor of each cage. And the wires are bundled up behind/beside the cage where the t-stat strip is. This cage is on a Ranco with a 6-outlet strip.

The lights aren't above each cage...they're inside on the cool side 'wall' up against the ceiling. They're small halogen closet lights that I placed clear contact paper over, not only to keep the switch from being pressed but to keep the thick cover closed and provide a barrier from the lamp heat. I tested these lights LONG before I even started building, so I know they don't get Super hot...the advantage of getting lights that belong in a closet with clothing.
If the lights ever heat up too much, or the snakes get up high enough to rest fully on them, then I'll just install hardware cloth light cages or plastic light boxes around them.
The cords for the lights come out the back and are all plugged into a day/night timer strip.

Did you use anything to seal the holes that you drilled to allow the light cords to come out? I was thinking of using expandable foam insulation and then filing it down and polyeurethaninh (however you spell it) over it to make it watertight too. How did you do this?

[Argentra]

I sealed the holes, and the inside seams of all cages, with hot glue. I was going to use silicone, but that would have needed days to cure outside and at the time it had just snowed here. I searched DIY cages and found out that hot glue works just as well, doesn't really need to cure (I let it sit for a day or so just to be sure), and is moisture proof.

For the cord holes, I stuffed in a small piece of the same foam window striping I used to fill in any gaps between the tiles and wood, used gorilla tape on the OUTSIDE back to hold it in place, and hot glued the foam around the cord to make a complete seal. Works great so far, and dry hot glue takes quite a bit of heat to soften let alone melt.

[cassandra]

Bravo! It looks awesome!

Towah of Snakey Powah!

[zombie&lemons]

Yes, the cage system I've been planning for months and working on for 3.5 weeks is complete! Turned out Very well, too, for being the first thing of its nature I've ever built. But enough talk, let's get down to pictures:

All finished and being heat tested:


Closeup of an open cage:


All filled up!


Here's my female snow checking out her new home:


And my big guy ghost loving the space!:



All in all, it seems a great success. And of course, I am perfectly willing to explain how it was built and what was used.
So, what do you think?

where did you get the vents at?????

[rkingdom]

nice cage u have there