Idea for Enclosure - What Do You Guys Think?

[m1ndless]

I was messing around in paint, and I decided to come up with a basic design for my next enclosure I plan to build. I threw together some dimensions, which look right to me but what do you guys think?

The grayed out area at the bottom around the cage is either doing to be plastic or the mesh, I wanted the door on the front to be raised up so when I open it nothing gets out, plus it will add to the reinforcement.

What do you guys think would be best to hold it together? Should I use the metal braces to help reinforce, or should I just nail it all together? I am a noob when it comes to wood working, so any tips would be awesome.

Also, is 40x36x22 big enough for a male veiled? I can only go that deep cause of where I am putting it.

 

[opihiman]

nice design...You are probably gonna want to brace up the bottom in the middle to support the bottom and anything else that you decide to place on it. If you plan to put larger plants you may consider 2 braces to make it really stiff.

Also have you considered your drainage?

Hope that helps

OPI

 

[m1ndless]

nice design...You are probably gonna want to brace up the bottom in the middle to support the bottom and anything else that you decide to place on it. If you plan to put larger plants you may consider 2 braces to make it really stiff.

Also have you considered your drainage?

Hope that helps

OPI

Yes, I forgot to post about the drainage. I plan on having a small drain in the middle at the bottom, with a tub underneath on the shelf to collect the water, which I will empty daily, and the excess water will just be wiped up daily with a paper towel.

I am going to reinforce the bottom with some extra 2x2 posts going across the bottom to help support extra plants.

 

[m1ndless]

I plan on painting the frame black or dark green, how long after I paint it before I can put the cham in the cage? Also, do I need to use a special paint or coating or anything or is just cheap latex paint alright?

 

[sandrachameleon]

I plan on painting the frame black or dark green, how long after I paint it before I can put the cham in the cage? Also, do I need to use a special paint or coating or anything or is just cheap latex paint alright?

I use acrylic latex semi-gloss. But I dont let the wood get wet much. If you're dealing with a lot of water, the latex may peel.
Use no VOC paint.

 

[m1ndless]

I have decided to sort of re-do my design, instead of the door opening to the side, it will have open from the top down, this way the door can hang open and basically fold in half.

This design also allows me to use more screen, which is always good. For the door I am using plexiglass, but the other half of the front is going to be screen.

I picked up a roll of "1/8th inch hardware screen" at Lowes, and it's 36"X10' so it will work perfectly, but how do I cut it?

I also decided to add some more depth to my design, so the cage itself will be 36 wide, 42 high, and 24 deep, which should be large enough for a male veiled, right?

Here is a basic idea of my new design - I put light blue to show where the plexi glass would be and the other shade of brown shows the door design.

 

[Grizz]

use tin snips or utility scissors. avoid ute knife it leaves strings.

 

[m1ndless]

I took more time on the design, and now I am just working on the measurements. The wood I found is actually 1.5x1.5 not 2x2, since it shrunk after drying.

I am going to use pvc board for the bottom and drill 1/4" holes in the bottom at the center for drainage, and just place a funnel and container on the shelf underneath to catch the water.

I am still undecided as if I am going to stain the wood or paint it.

 

[BigR]

I took more time on the design, and now I am just working on the measurements. The wood I found is actually 1.5x1.5 not 2x2, since it shrunk after drying.

I am going to use pvc board for the bottom and drill 1/4" holes in the bottom at the center for drainage, and just place a funnel and container on the shelf underneath to catch the water.

I am still undecided as if I am going to stain the wood or paint it.

The wood you found hasn't shrunk, it's just the way lumber is measured. The raw piece of wood is 2x2, but 1/4" is milled off of each side prior to shipping to stores. Can't remember why. For future reference, lumber 2x2 or larger has a 1/2" removed from each dimension. So a 2x2 is really 1.5x1.5, a 2x6 is really 1.5x5.5 and so on. Smaller pieces like a 1x1 have 1/4" removed, so that 1x1 is 3/4"x3/4". A 1x8 would be 3/4x7.5. I'm in the process of designing a new tank myself, and dealing with these weird dimensions is sometimes irritating.