Mesh enclosures

CaptainNemo

CaptainNemo

New Member
narrowed down to these (24x24x48):
ZooMed Reptobreeze
LLLReptile ($100 + $13.95 shipping from CA.)
Pet Mountain ($93.99 to $84.59 with coupon and Free Shipping from CA.)

DIY Cages ($105 shipping included from CA.)

Dragon Strand ($109 + $38.21 shipped from CA.)

My question is how much difference is there between these 3 mesh enclosures.
And is the Dragon Strand enclosure that much heavier than the others to warrant a $38.21 shipping charge?
 
Dragon Strand is a smaller company and probably not getting the shipping discount that the other do. I have owned all of the cages mentioned and like the Dragon Strand cages the best. They are all pretty much the same cage with a few little differences, those differences matter to me, easier to open, better alignment etc.

What are you putting in it?
 
Will be putting in a Male Veiled ............. I like the options of the Dragon Strand, but the high cost of shipping and no phone number to contact them....... makes me hesitant to deal with them. Thanks for your input, will see who else responds to this post !!
 
Bill Strand, guy behind Dragon Strand is probably one of the best people I have done business with. I had a very good experience with him very recently. He does a great job of emailing back rather promptly. Do not be hesitant to deal with him... I am getting my panther's adult cage from dragon strand with the ledges
 
I have two reptibreeze cages that I had used for my chams. I do not have any chams now but was looking at a Dragon Strand and am considering getting one when I get back into keeping. From what I have seen of them and the reviews I have read, they seem to be well built cages with a lot of features added (such as the ledges) to make them into a comfy home for an arboreal animal. To be honest the reptibreeze is rather flimsy and cumbersome when cleaning. I have dealt with a few of the sponsors of the forums and they have all been knowledgeable, honest and their products live up to the advertising.
 
CaptainNemo said:
Will be putting in a Male Veiled ............. I like the options of the Dragon Strand, but the high cost of shipping and no phone number to contact them....... makes me hesitant to deal with them. Thanks for your input, will see who else responds to this post !!
Click to expand...

If there is a problem with your order Bill will be all over it. I had an order delayed and Bill was in constant contact with me through email about every step. If communication is your only reason for not going with them, don't let that bother you for a second.

As for DIY I purchased a few of them but would never do so again due to poor construction. Steel screen that rusted out, a 70% failure on the door locks right out of the box that went to 95% a few months down the road. As for LLL and the and similar sellers, I think they get them all from the same place. They are okay and get the job done but you will need to come up with your own handles and fitment is sometimes sub-par.

In the end it's personal preference so go with what you feel will work best for your situation.
 
I had some questions and concerns and sent a message thru his website........... never received a response. Below is my shopping cart, pricing out what I would buy.......

http://dragonstrand.com/cart/

Would have to definately save up some more for my enclosure fund to cover the $90 shipping............ and had some questions on adding a screened floor above the bottom door access to the drainage tray to keep crickets and veiled from getting to the drainage tray. so much easier to talk on phone than type emails back and forth. Thanks all for your input............ time will tell.
 
I went with the breeder series from dragonstrand. Substrate tray which I will actually use for drainage since it can be easily removed though the lower panel and mesh can be added right to the top of that so nothing an get in it either.
 
Great idea !! Do you have pics of tray with mesh? How much clearance between the tray top and the top of the lower door panel when removing the tray. Although the drainage tray has the enclosure on top of it........... just have no idea how it drains, I have a bucket head vacuum for clean out. Hard to tell from the pics on website. thanks again for the idea.... please post pics if you have them !!
 
Well I just finished everything up and it's been ordered as of 30 mins ago. The drainage tray has a small slot in the front so a small vacuum tip would be able to get partially in there and vacuum out residual water. The substrate tray you can just get any light mesh and glue it down over the top so no cricket or anything get in it. I will post pics as soon as it arrives
 
Finally arrived!!!

5f6bfed8f3f76e497f9562be1994c845.jpg
 
screen cage choices

I have bought screen cages from LLL, DIY, Reptibreeze (through Petsolutions), and Dragon Strand. With Dragon Strand being the most recent. I did so with the idea of comparing the different units. The DIY was 24x24x48, the others were the 18x18x36 size. I would say that the DragonStrand was a better built unit. The screens were tight, (not loose as were the ones from DIY). DragonStrand also uses sheet metal screws as the hinges for the lower door. Much better than the plastic pins used in the others. I had to get replacement parts for several of those pins because they were broken during shipping.(somewhat due to a packaging method). Just yesterday one pin snapped when I opened it to clean the cage on one of the Reptibreeze. I drilled it out and replaced it with a sheet metal screw and it works fine.
All of the vendors were excellent in providing responses and solutions to all the issues. Bill Strand was quick to respond when I asked him about the high shipping costs, but I still don't why they are so high. I told him about a shipping incident I had with UPS and Fed EX recently. I had to return a large item (WeatherTech rear truck mat). It was larger and heavier than any cage I have received through the mail. UPS wanted $45 to ship it back from MA to Texas. I went down the street to FedEx, with the same box (approx. 36x48x6) and they charged only$15.00 to ship it.
The only unit I haven't tried yet is the one sold by MistKing. One of the more expensive units, but is does come with preinstalled holes for their mist nozzles.
In closing, if Bill could find away to reduce the shipping costs, I would prefer his DragonStrand cages.

Sorry to ramble, hope this helps
Kevin M
 
What are your thoughts on LLL's screen terrariums?

EDIT: I canceled my order of LLL's screen terrarium, and got a dragon strand terrarium. Can someone tell me what those black plastic loops are in the inside at the top of the cage?
 
Between everything that has been told to me and info that I have researched..... features and costs of most of the enclosures (24x24x48)on the market, I have narrowed down my choices to the LLLReptiles screened enclosure or the Reptibreeze enclosure. Found these two to be the best bang for the buck!! Some have suggested the Dragon Strand, but high shipping costs are a deal killer for me, and poor communication at best.

http://www.lllreptile.com/products/10309-24-x-24-x-48-inch-aluminum-screen-cage-5

http://www.lllreptile.com/products/11725-zoo-med-xlarge-repti-breeze-aluminum-screen-cage

Feel free to message me if you want more detailed information.
 
I recently purchased a #5 cage from LLL,along with the two foot extender cage and also the larger substrate tray. I have to say that I'm very pleased with the quality and workmanship of the cage.It seems very strong and well built...
 
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