I'm contemplating...

[Midnighthwk]

Parts List so far.....

6' tall
3' wide
3' deep
-4.5' climbing space
-1.5' drainage area
_____________________________________________________________
Parts List:

1. Eight 6' pieces of 1x2" wood
2. Nineteen 3' pieces of 1x2" wood
3. Six 6' pieces of decorative wood siding
4. Nine 3' pieces of decorative wood siding
5. One 3'x 3' sheet of plywood
6. Three 1.5' panel for drainage side/back
7. One 4.5' x 3' panel for back
8. 2 Door Hinges
9. 1 Cabinet doorknob
10. 36" x 25' of aluminum mesh
11. Grid light cover/grill grid rack (not sure what to use since i cant find one and not sure i can cut the other to fit)
12.

i spent 70$ making mine not counting the 10$ shelf and plants/vines.
i am an aprentice carpenter and to me it looks like u have too must material or are trying to make a "show case" that will be selling later.
mine is probly bigger than what u are looking for, but i wanted something easy
walkmat has 10$ pullout tubs u can get for the drainage bin
i used a 4'' drainage space so my guy could have more room
mine is 29 1/2'' d, 38''w, 72''t
inside, 28 1/2''d 38''w, 68''t
door i did the screen on the inside to make opening it and putting a lock on it easyer, the rest the screen is on the outside.
i used old blinds and cut them to size to hide staples and didnt feel like painting them yet.
now that my guy is in the big cage he doesnt want out, he always wanted out of his old 2x2x3.
tools i used, skill saw, drill , pencil, mesuring tape, quick square.

if u want tomorrow i will send u the list of the stuff i used. and u can go to a construction site and ask if u can have any of thier scrap playwood or 2x4's and have your friend rip (make smaller) them to the size u need

and yes the green in the back is the color of my room walls

 

[Jammonlee]

Wow, not bad. I'll take that list for sure...If i can get something like that I'd be happy. I'm not really looking to sell or create a showroom piece, just something decorative for the living room. Right now the screened reptarium sitting on an aquarium stand just isnt too apealling, though has gotten me by so far. I'd like to just replace it with something more nice that fits into the living room as a a piece of furniture

 

[Midnighthwk]

Wow, not bad. I'll take that list for sure...If i can get something like that I'd be happy. I'm not really looking to sell or create a showroom piece, just something decorative for the living room. Right now the screened reptarium sitting on an aquarium stand just isnt too apealling, though has gotten me by so far. I'd like to just replace it with something more nice that fits into the living room as a a piece of furniture

have fun reading the wall of text in them 2 pm's i sent u, blasted limited space in pm's. only 5k charecters :*(

if i forgot anything let me know

 

[Hugh Wahl]

Your plans look good I think it is plenty of room. I was gonna build a cage for my guys but with the cost and time it would take buying screen cages was a better way for me to go. If you want to build it for yourself or something to do great. If you are looking for a good cheap cage that is large enough LLLreptiles sells a large screen cage for like 90 bucks and with the drip tray you can achieve what you want without spending a lot.

 

[Hoj]

here is a link to my diy cage it has a step by step, and i have all the measurements as well.
I build 2 of them and it cost about 300 for both, but it could have been done cheaper with a few cut backs.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/enclosure-how-pics-pt1-55241/

 

[Jammonlee]

here is a link to my diy cage it has a step by step, and i have all the measurements as well.
I build 2 of them and it cost about 300 for both, but it could have been done cheaper with a few cut backs.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/enclosure-how-pics-pt1-55241/

That is the exact thread that got me interested in the first place...haha

 

[Hoj]

well if you need any help or info just pm me ill do what i can

 

[Jammonlee]

So I've drawn up another diagram, this time adding a small storage space below for things such as calcium, multi-vitamins, my duster cup and etc. That and I really didnt need a 1.5' foot space for a drainage drawer, if that much water drains out of this cage from my auto mister set at 1 minute every 2 hours I'm going to build his home over a toilet. The picturs have different colors for each side, I was curious as to how light or dark i should go and after reading, think I will just use some black exterior latex paint ....all furniture in the room is black, why not? Everything is replicated to exact size as I had a grid up on the MS Paint canvas, each square equaling an inch. Front, both left and right sides, top, and the section dividing the drainage and livable are will be screened. Back with have plywood. Drainage will either be egg crate light cover or a bbq grill grate cut to size.

Anyways, my friend said he'd be then happy to help for some beer, just have to wait till friday to get the supplies. Then I shall start building, pictures will be taken as progress is made.

 

[Jammonlee]

Only a little progress since buying the materials on Saturday. unfortunately, but fortunately, my friends business is kicking off now that the summer is here. He runs a Handyman company, FFI (Firefighter Fix It), so while he agreed to help, he said it may be minimal with all the side jobs he has after being on duty for 24 hours.

Here is my progress so far. I'm thinking I may just make it a 2 part enclosure, drainage and living and not do the storage below the drainage. The area I had planned for drainage and storage isnt as big as I had thought it to be, I atleast wanted to fit jugs of purified water underneath and it looks as though its not going to work. So I may just have an extra large drainage area.

 

[Jammonlee]

unfortunately, I also have built my enclosure 2 inches too big to fit through the door...Mo^$*^@#*^%!@_ !!

 

[javsto]

Ive searched on EBAY and found this company that makes customized wooden cages/reptarium/vivarium whatever you want to call them. here is a link to one that i am watching
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320674335965&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I asked them directly if they could change the locations of the screen to fit height wise instead of lenght wise for a cham instead of a snake and they said that it would not be any problem. by height wise i mean screens on left/right and top with a 2" diameter hole drilled in middle of floor for drainage. I just hope that i win the bid. but contact them, they make lots of different customizable cages per your specs. www.cagecompany.com is thier direct website.

 

[Hoj]

unfortunately, I also have built my enclosure 2 inches too big to fit through the door...Mo^$*^@#*^%!@_ !!

oh no what r u going todo? do you have a sliding glass door or big window?

 

[Jammonlee]

Well, luckily, right now everything is held in by only screwes, I think I may take one side off the enclosure and angle it inside the house, then turn my living roon into a constructions zone. I'll all my cutting and so on outside, bring the goods inside and put them together.

After i measure all my windows, its my last resort

 

[NWD]

Well

If u wanna spend less for drainage those cooking tray things u can get at the 99 cent store can fit inside a cage and u just dump and clean every now and again. Saves space money and time not to fancy though

 

[Jammonlee]

Like baking trays, or like the aluminum foil type? I'm thinking of making a drawer, but instead of a pull out drawer, its just going to be a hinged door that opens downwards with a tupperware drawar insde that i can pull out and dump...

 

[Jammonlee]

Well, I shaved off about 7 inches. Its for damn sure fitting through the door now. So instead of being more square of an enclosure, its more of a rectangle. Wider then it is deep, still the same height, 6'

 

[NWD]

Uh

The foil ones I use um in a couple cages but yeah ur design looks cool I was gonna make a fancier drainage systems and use those temporarily but then they just seemed pretty convenient so they stuck.

 

[Jammonlee]

Update, bought the rest of my supplies today, but I'm not sure how I want to do the door. I'll figure it out with some thinking. Here are my updated pics, enclosure is fully painted with two sides of screen put in. Its kind of sloppy and will be touched up. I am going to coat this thing in so much paint that it ends up looking more smooth. I need to find a way to hide the frayed ends of the wire after cutting, maybe some weather stripping (black in color).

Back of Cage (I'm still deciding whether to do a black plywood backing)

Went with grill grates rather then egg carton cover because of price

Grill grates again, not secured yet

Some frayed wire before covering with wood

Frayed wire screen after covering with wood

Half-done Cage from unscreened side

Half-done Cage from screened side

 

[Jammonlee]

Im still liking the black mesh screen better than the metal like I have now. i might go and grab a roll and replace a side (back if I decide to go with painted plywood back instead of screen) just to get an ideal. The metal screen is just a mess to deal with and punctures easily...

 

[sdheli420]

I built my own and I have found that the cost is not much less then buying a 2x2x4 screen cage. You can definitely build a very large cage cheaper then buying a built one. There are some great deals on the internet for normal cages though. I found it fun building my own, but I'm not the best handyman. I went the easy route and just bought the rest of my cages.

ya to build a really rad big one with features ( like drainage, misting mounts, cup feeding mounts, light fixture hider on the top, ect ect..) it costs about the same as buying a prebuilt one..but you can at least customise it just to your liking..good luck!