Ground up enclosure

[nathe89]

Hey I had some free time yesterday so I started building an enclosure to house all my feeder insects and water necessities as well as my chameleon. Thought I’d share it with you guys as I move along. Pardon our basement as it is a work in progress as well. I also made the drain system as well yesterday but forgot to take pictures of that as it was the last thing I did and taking photos is not my thing.

 

[JoXie411]

Love it. Will keep in mind when I build mine, again great work

 

[Beman]

Looks really cool so far!

 

[nathe89]

Tonight’s progress. The enclosure is up side down on the base, just wanted to see how large it is, I thought of it with being able to hold 2 enclosures in mind

 

[nathe89]

 

[Beman]

Nice is it large enough for two enclosures? What will you use to seal the wood so you don’t have water damage. Are you doing screen or plexi glass? Fun to follow this along! Great job!

 

[nathe89]

It will fit 2 enclosures side to side. I’m starting with one but it will be modular enough I could easily slide it over and build another. I’m doing screen on the ceiling, lower front section and both sides with an acrylic door for better viewing and maybe one of those foam backgrounds with dirt sprinkled on top that I see all over the place.

 

[Beman]

It will fit 2 enclosures side to side. I’m starting with one but it will be modular enough I could easily slide it over and build another. I’m doing screen on the ceiling, lower front section and both sides with an acrylic door for better viewing and maybe one of those foam backgrounds with dirt sprinkled on top that I see all over the place.

Awesome have you seen the backgrounds where the pots are built in using pond foam? Those are pretty cool then you could do the pot in a pot method.

 

[Clayton0520]

Sweet setup, I wanna do the same thing once my cages come in. There supposed to ship this month

 

[Beman]

Sweet setup, I wanna do the same thing once my cages come in. There supposed to ship this month

What type of cages?

 

[Clayton0520]

I ordered 2 of the XL breeder series cages from Dragon Strand

 

[nathe89]

I ordered 2 of the XL breeder series cages from Dragon Strand

They look very well made! You’re planning on building a base for it I guess?

 

[Beman]

They look very well made! You’re planning on building a base for it I guess? View attachment 222640

Awww look at that face!!!!!!! So cute!

 

[SharpShooter]

Good job. I've got a few things need doing around here when you have the time lol

 

[nathe89]

Awesome have you seen the backgrounds where the pots are built in using pond foam? Those are pretty cool then you could do the pot in a pot method.

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Really like the idea of this and will keep it in mind when I get to that point!

 

[Beman]

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Really like the idea of this and will keep it in mind when I get to that point!

If you do this you should get the great stuff pond foam. It is black so if you want to cover with the soil and you miss a few areas it will look really natural. I watched a few videos on youtube where they used the pond foam that was yellow and they had a heck of a time covering the surface so no yellow showed through. If you google on youtube backgrounds using foam it brought quite a few up for me.

 

[iMi]

Fantastic. I’m following along.

 

[zigzagzug]

what did you use to make the drainage platform?

 

[nathe89]

what did you use to make the drainage platform?

I used a shower pan liner, shower drain and silicone. I made a light duty shower pan that extends the full length of the base in case I decide to get another chameleon and need a side by side enclosure. It drains into a bucket I won’t have to see that sits beside my feeders and behind the mist king reservoir. Will post more pics later as it sits now but here is the most recent ones I have. Her plants are outside getting some sun so don’t judge me on the enclosure lol! I’m 3 days into this project but for now it looks like I have a lot of staining and sealing to do before much more construction. It’s all good as I have to work the rest of the week so it’ll hopefully be relaxing to do after work.

 

[nathe89]

I guess I forgot to mention that I do intend for my enclosure to be easily removable or on sliders to get underneath for easy cleaning