My Lady Parson's Jungle Oasis (part 1)

[Bammer]

Hello again Chamunity Friends,

As promised, here is my post showing how I made a large screen cage measuring 48"w 48"h 36"d to house my female orange eye parson's. My male orange eye has the identical cage.

You might have seen my previous post Enclosure from Ikea Armoire. I used the similar technique to finish the background walls thus keeping all of my enclosures in theme.

I really wanted a pair of Parson's. Knowing they would need ample living space, I designed a screen enclosure that sets atop a box-stand. The box stand has storage underneath including space for a plastic tote that collects drain water. The box-stand is on casters allowing me to move the entire enclosure with ease. The enclosure is made with window screen kits (48"x48"). With exception to the moss, ZooMed Natural Cork Rounds, and orchid bark, everything was purchased at Home Depot.

The tools I used:

Table saw
Chop saw
Drill
Dremel with metal cutting tip
Paint brush
Screen spline tool
Flat head screw driver
Razor blades
Scissors
Safety Glasses!
A friend (kind of a tool! lol)

(6) cans of black flat spray pain
(8) 48"x48" 5/16" screen kits
(2) 96" 5/16" screen frame aluminum
(3) 5/16" screen frame corners
(2) 50pk of 5/8" panhead #8 screws
(7) cans of Great Stuff expanding foam
(1) Large bucket Air Duct Sealant
(2) Coco Coire Seed Starter blocks
(1) Box of 3.5" screws
(2) packs of small hinges [2 hinge per pack]
(1) 36"x72" polypropylene plastic cardboard
(1) 48"x96" polypropylene plastic cardboard
(7) 3/16" 24"x48" ply sheets
(I am sure there are some things I am leaving out such as zip ties...but will update this list as I recall more)

I started with a quick sketch (that slightly changed at build-out) and then dialed in my cuts for both the box-frame on casters and the actual screen enclosure.

For the box-stand..
It needed to be exactly 48"w 36"d 24"h.

While not pictured completely, I also bought (7) 3/16" 48"x24" ply sheets to wrap the box-stand. I cut (2) of the (7) to 36"x24" and used on the ends as shown in the picture below.

I purchased a couple of extra 1.5" x .75" common boards and used on to create the upper border giving an edge or a lip so that the screen enclosure will fit snug. The opening in the center is for drainage.

Must water proof! I used this polypropylene plastic cardboard and cut a piece at 48"x36" which fits perfectly in the opening atop the box-stand. You can also see the sink drain ready to install in the dead center.

Ready to be painted black.

For the screen enclosure, I used 48"x48" screen kits from Home Depot.
Then I made a spread sheet detailing each screen frame size.

(continues in Part 2) Click here to advance to Part 2 of this post.

 

[TaylorLMatthews]

What was the total cost for this project? I recently got my first parsons, she is about a year old. She's comfy in a 24"x24"x48 dragon strand currently because she is still small but won't be for much longer.

 

[NorCalAnthony]

Very cool build you have going on, can't wait to see how it turns out. I built something similar a few years back for one of my Male Panthers that was one of my first big wood working projects and was actually a lot of fun learning how to do everything. Looks like you already have a solid plan in place but if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Never mind, just realized you already had s Part 2 thread lol. Great job, it turned out great!