new cage build!

[chlobo]

hi everyone! vincent is a little more than a year old now, and it's time to move him into his "big boy" cage.
this new cage is going to be made of 1/2 inch pvc pipes and will be about 4 feet tall by 4 feet long by 2 feet deep. the siding will be a combo of fiberglass and either insect screen or a type of garden fence. i have an unused tv stand thingy that i will be using as the stand.

so far i have finished the frame of the cage and door, but i still need to attach the door to the frame, drill in the fiberglass and attach the screen, get the insides furnished, and work on the stand.

i'll try my best to keep this thread updated. this is my first time building a cage, so suggestions and tips are appreciated . thanks!


here is the frame of the cage, with the door frame sitting at the bottom

 

[chlobo]

 

[BryanP]

Looks good!

Are you going to paint the PVC or just leave it white? If your going to leave it white do yourself a favor and get some acetone and a rag and get the black labeling off the piping.

Cant wait to see the end result!

Are you using something as your inspiration? Would love to see

 

[chlobo]

Looks good!

Are you going to paint the PVC or just leave it white? If your going to leave it white do yourself a favor and get some acetone and a rag and get the black labeling off the piping.

Cant wait to see the end result!

Are you using something as your inspiration? Would love to see

thanks!
i'm going to leave the pvc white, i didn't really like that labeling, so i will make sure to get that off asap
i really liked the dragonstrand atrium cage, but didn't want to pay ~$300 plus shipping and handling when i could do it myself and customize it for less. i wanted to make it out of pvc because inexperienced me doesn't want to work with wood and all of the sealing and cutting that you have to do

 

[RedMountainHome]

Great idea, using PVC instead of wood! I've been building a wood cage for over a month now, and I'll tell ya it's a lot harder than you'd think (if you don't know what you're doing, like me!).

 

[chlobo]

Great idea, using PVC instead of wood! I've been building a wood cage for over a month now, and I'll tell ya it's a lot harder than you'd think (if you don't know what you're doing, like me!).

thank you! i thought about using wood but i'm trying to get this finished before school starts (ew school ) so i decided pvc was the way to go. i'm sure your cage will turn out awesome though!

 

[Remkon]

I once wondered if a PVC frame would work to help could the enclosure for my Jacksonii if I would run cold water trough it during the night.

Gotta say I'm very curious to how this will look when finished, it's clever way for building an enclosure.

 

[chlobo]

looks like lots of sugar glider parents make cages out of pvc. found this picture of door hinge diagrams and the post in the link explains how they work and how to assemble them. very helpful! http://www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=19209

 

[WAMBO]

I used wire cubes from Kmart to make a stand.

 

[chlobo]

i have a question: should i use a 10.0 uvb bulb for this enclosure since it's so big, or would a 5.0 be ok?

 

[chlobo]

went to home depot today and got some supplies!

two 36 X 72 inch pieces of plastic corrugated sheet/project board (http://www.homedepot.com/p/72-in-x-36-in-x-5-32-in-Twinwall-Plastic-Sheet-COR-3672/202771364)
two rolls of aluminum screen
screws, nuts, and washers for the door hinge and attaching the screen and plastic board to the pvc

with school starting tomorrow i'll unfortunately have to finish this up over labor day weekend

 

[chlobo]

time to get to work! I got some pvc glue and a big roll of fiberglass screen.



step 1 is to get all of that ugly black labeling off of the pipes . I'll update with more pictures soon!

 

[chlobo]

unfortunately my mom and I have given up on the label removing, and have started sealing the pipes. we have finished one side and the bottom.

sealing tips:
- wear gloves
- work on a surface that is protected and flat (I put a big piece of cardboard over a section of our back patio)
- work quickly
- the cement starts drying extremely fast (like within 20-30 seconds), so make sure the joints and pipe pieces are level while the glue is still soft. we have some wonky pieces already
- rub the glue off while it's half dry so it comes off if you want to keep your cage looking clean
- work in sections and then put the sections together
- although the directions say to put glue on both the pipe and the fitting, putting it on only one is enough and keeps glue from dribbling out of the cracks

 

[chlobo]

regarding my comment about working in sections, here's another option if you want to be able to break down the cage to move or clean it easier. assemble and seal the top, front, back, and bottom separately and then leave the rest unsealed so that you can take it apart in sections later

 

[Ilike4hornedchams]

Loving your photos keep up the good work, will love to see the finied work because I am already thinking about making another large enclosure before even finishing my first! Just uplaoded my second video on how I made my enclosure and the one I uploaded yesterday is about the plants and stuff I have gathered for the decor! Check it out!

 

[chlobo]

Loving your photos keep up the good work, will love to see the finied work because I am already thinking about making another large enclosure before even finishing my first! Just uplaoded my second video on how I made my enclosure and the one I uploaded yesterday is about the plants and stuff I have gathered for the decor! Check it out!

thanks! i'm thinking of how to furnish such a big cage and this was helpful.
i love your idea with the garden fence! i might have to incorporate that into my cage

 

[RedMountainHome]

I realized that I've been having so many problems with my cage because my wood frame has warped into all sorts of nasty angles. I'm not even sure it'll be usable. Really sucks cause I've dumped hundreds of $$$ into it but, well, lesson learned. Don't use cheap lumber for your frame.
How's your pvc cage coming along? I've got some questions about your build plan...
What's with the three "handle" looking bits on top?
What's with the square frames in the middle of the bottom / floor?
What's the big sheet of project board for?
How are you going to handle drainage?

 

[chlobo]

I realized that I've been having so many problems with my cage because my wood frame has warped into all sorts of nasty angles. I'm not even sure it'll be usable. Really sucks cause I've dumped hundreds of $$$ into it but, well, lesson learned. Don't use cheap lumber for your frame.
How's your pvc cage coming along? I've got some questions about your build plan...
What's with the three "handle" looking bits on top?
What's with the square frames in the middle of the bottom / floor?
What's the big sheet of project board for?
How are you going to handle drainage?

overall, I've been pretty busy, but i'm slowly making progress. I think it's looking good so far

the three handle things are for securing all of the lights and stuff. there will be pvc bars going along the top so that I can raise the lights up a little if they get too hot. I originally planned to do two layers of screen so that the screen doesn't get too hot to burn my cham, but I realized that heat isn't that big of an issue and it would block a lot of the light and heat, uvb especially.

not exactly sure what you mean on the second question, but the reason that the floor has a bar in the middle is for structural support. I do not like wobbly cages

the project board is for the back, it will protect the wall when I mist his cage and keep some humidity in.

I am going to buy a shower curtain and attach it to the 2nd to bottom bar, let it droop down in the middle, punch a hole in there and let it drain into a bucket

hope I answered all of your questions! if not I will be posting a new update in a few minutes with some pictures

 

[chlobo]

cage update!

we assembled the cage inside and put the screen and plastic board on

for the screen, my mom and I just wrapped one giant piece all around the sides and front of the cage, cut a hole where the door will be, and poked holes with a letter opener to get zip ties through. I know I said we would screw it in but we don't really have strong power tools or experience and I figured it was better to keep the frame as strong as possible.

also, I decided to make the bottom section taller and not use a stand. I need to get more pvc pipes now

as for the door, we are going to come up with a temporary solution for now because we don't have a drill

I am open to any suggestions or advice! thanks!

 

[WAMBO]

You go girl!