My Custom Wood Frame DIY Enclosure

FrankTheTank

FrankTheTank

Established Member
So lets just dive right in shall we? Let me start off by saying this is a How To along with a How Not To. I will explain exactly how I did everything and give you pointers on how you should go about doing it differently if I think there is a better way. I made a huge mistake to begin with that cost me a lot of extra time, and made things so much more difficult. I started off with a 4’x3.5’x6’ cage that I house my iguana in before he passed away. I decided wouldn’t it be great to just cut the cage in half and use that part of the frame for my new cage? Well it wasn’t a great idea. I should have stripped the entire cage down and started from scratch because it ended up not being totally square and that threw everything off from there on out. (This is also why I won’t be posting any measurements on my cage because they are so wack and would just confuse you) Lots of measuring and remeasuring. Luckily I learned one good thing from taking carpentry in high school. Measure twice, cut once. It saved me from throwing a lot of wood away. So PLEASE make sure your frame is perfectly square and you will save yourself so much time and effort in the long run. That was the easiest thing that I could have done that would’ve taken me an extra half hour at the very most, but it ended up costing me several of hours down the road.

So this is what I started out with. These were 2x4s stripped in half.



First off I trimmed out the entire frame.



Everything you see here (besides the side panels that will come into play later) is reclaimed wood, or things I found lying around my garage. The ¼” plywood is the only thing I purchased for this build, so hopefully you aren’t looking for a cost guide, because this build will cost you several hundred dollars if you buy all of the wood and everything else you will need.

Next, I made the lid for it and cut up an old door for the bottom storage space and made two small doors for it. The top part is made up of some kind of 2” particleboard with a cherry? finish. I cut the corners at an angle and joined them with nails for a nicer finish. Then I took some old 1” crown molding that I found and decked out the top and bottom of the lid. I just ran two pieces of split 2x4s in between the two sides of the lid for support.

 
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I decided where I wanted the bottom of the cage to be on the inside and framed it out. Then I put the ¼” side panels on the bottom for the storage space.

 
I decided I wanted a drainage system that I could take out for easy cleaning if I ever needed to. I used shower liner that I found at Lowes and framed it out with wood for a nice slope to the center, and then attached it to the 1x6 that you see in the front of the cage. I made a drop down rail that the drainage frame sits on so that I can slide it out easily.





 
Then I began working on the rock wall background. I used 1” think Styrofoam cut to the size I wanted and glued three pieces together. I didn’t pay attention to the kind of liquid nails product I was supposed to use and ended up using regular liquid nails heavy-duty caulking. BIG mistake. I was supposed to use liquid nails power grab. So be sure to get that if you are trying to adhere two or more pieces of styro together. It ended up melting a lot of the Styrofoam and causing large voids in between layers.
I used a serrated knife to carve out my “design” of the rock wall, and cut a hole in the top left for a planter that I wanted to add. I ended up using expanding foam to fill the gaps left from the liquid nails, and then I trimmed it to look seamless with the styro.



Then I took a piece of Tupperware and cut one of the sides off and stapled it to the ¼” plywood. I used waterproof caulking to seal the edges around the Tupperware and also to cover the wood for a nice waterproof layer.



I laid the Styrofoam on top of the board and joined the two with the waterproof caulking. I used the same caulking to fill any gaps left over and smoothed it out with my hands (with a pair of latex gloves of course). After the caulk dried, I mixed a bag of light-gray non-sanded grout and began to smear it on.

 
After completely coating every inch and inside the planter, I patted it down with a facial scrub pad, but you can use a sponge (I just didn’t have one).



 
I let that dry, and then sprayed it with a dark gray paint, and topped that with a lighter gray after it dried. There are several techniques you can use to get the look you want. Some people add sand, moss, coconut fiber and other things depending on their tastes. I just went the simple route. I added some darker tones to the deeper cuts to provide a little more depth. Only used spray paint cans. No special techniques. Nothing fancy. Like I said, you can apply any of the several techniques out there.





After I finished with the rock wall, I stained the entire cage with an ebony base so that all of the different colored wood wouldn’t show so badly. I scuffed it up with a sanding block to give it a dull worn look to it. I added Plexiglas to the front door, and screen on the sides. Make sure you predrill holes in the plexi just a tad smaller than the screws so that you don’t crack the glass. If you aren’t good with drills, then I would suggest putting in the screws by hand so you don’t go too hard with the drill and crack the glass that way. Nothing’s worse than cracking a very expensive piece of plexi. Sorry about these pictures. The ghosts in my garage kept getting in the way!

 
I made a wood frame with a screen on top to cover the drain for the plants to sit on and keep large debris from clogging it. In this picture you can also see that I cut a hole and stuck a sink drain in it with a section of pipe that goes down into a bucket.





I “borrowed” a solenoid with a timer from work. (I say borrowed bc of a guy from my work always says he borrows things from work and that he will return it when he isn’t using it anymore lol) But on a serious note I didn’t steal it, we weren’t using it for anything and it was just going to be thrown out. I would not suggest using something like this because you can get a mistking for around the same price and not have to do near as much of the work, but since I got it for free I figured it would save me a few bucks. So I hooked this solenoid to my hose line in the adjacent laundry room and ran a ¼” line (with an inline filter) to my cage.

 
I then hooked this to a “sprinkler” head and put it inside of a Tupperware container to create a rainfall effect that goes off every hour for ten seconds. I dialed down the pressure so its not like the cage gets soaked.

 
And then the fun part! Adding a schefflera and put a couple of pothos vines in the rock wall planter and natural vines (cooked at 300 F for 30 min) turned on the lighting and water and viola!





 
I hope this helps someone with their build. I really enjoyed this build. Over 2 years in the making (I know its sad. Went almost 6 months without so much as looking at it) I will kind of miss working on it, but at the same time I am so glad I can sit back and enjoy it! Now if my baby panther can hurry up and get bigger so he can enjoy it!

If anyone ever has any questions about something I did, or you need any help at all with your build. Just PM me!
 
Chaka said:
The drainage frame with liner is fantastic, i wish i had thought of that!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the complement! It was definitely an original concept that I hadn't seen before. I just knew I wouldn't be able to find something that would fit my cage so I had to improvise.
 
Absolutely love it! I may have some q's in the near future for you. I want to build Kai a custom wood, screen and acrylic cage before he is ready for the big boy enclosure again. I was thinking id like to do a wider split, ya know for the next cham too :D I just know already I'm going to want another panther and then some carpets for the empty exoterra.
 
shmeenakoz said:
Absolutely love it! I may have some q's in the near future for you. I want to build Kai a custom wood, screen and acrylic cage before he is ready for the big boy enclosure again. I was thinking id like to do a wider split, ya know for the next cham too :D I just know already I'm going to want another panther and then some carpets for the empty exoterra.
Click to expand...

Well I would love to help! I can't wait till I can afford another so I can build another enclosure! I want a breeding pair and make babies!
 
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