New Cage Build

[chinocham]

I am building my chameleon a new cage as the one which the shop sorted me with is a bit small and doesnt have enough ventilation.

Its going to be 48x24x16 made of wbp plywood with open top mesh & front opening will be mesh aswell. The bottom of the enclosure will have plexiglass siliconed to the floor as this will be wettest part but also so a drain running out the bottom. All the wood on the inside will be sealed with a suitable epoxy resin or maybe thinking about covering inside with sheets of white pvcu board but not sure how white looks in a cham cage - if anyone has any pics or advice on the white pvc please let me know.

One of the main aspects of this cage build is to see how cheap i could build a completely waterproof enclosure that would support misting systems, humidity etc. but not compromise quality.

I am a joiner by trade so working with wood is fairly easy for me and whipped this up in around 3 hours with a hand saw and a jig saw. It is by no means meant to be a work of art as i am trying to keep costs down etc. All joints were countersunk, screwed & glued together for the extra rigidity.

so heres the sheet of 8x4 ply i bought for £25 from hardware store and had it cut up into 600mm widths for the back and 2 sides, however after putting them together i didnt like the squareness of a 24x24 so narrowed it down to 24x16 which is alot better for the space i have.

marking out holes & countersunk

now by battery died whilst i was building so i couldnt take any progression pics but heres the carcass ready for the door, sanding, sealing etc.

i will update when make progress on it

scott

 

[hamley88]

i like the look of this. looking forward to the end product. i also like doing this sort of stuff, and have made a enclosure before.
i used varnish on my last cage i built which worked well, and i had water dragons which needed high humidity.
are you going to make a door for the front?
as for pvc, thinking it might be risky with the heat, but not sure? if you was going to go with the pvc idea, could you use clear sheets??
where abouts in th uk are you?

 

[MATT2504]

Looking GOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDD, love d.i.y builds

 

[hamley88]

sorry miss read, you are making a door lol.

 

[chinocham]

Im in cheshire pal. Did the varnish hold well under the humidity?

Scott

 

[Wykd]

"as for pvc, thinking it might be risky with the heat, but not sure?"

What heat are you referring to in a cham enclosure? You do know that in the screen cages that are sold they come with with pvc sheet bottoms.

I would paint it a earth tone color on the inside a tan for example... it will highlight plants and cham you have inside, and tan is a non aggressive color to cham's. White would be a pain to keep clean in a display tank.

 

[hamley88]

"as for pvc, thinking it might be risky with the heat, but not sure?"

What heat are you referring to in a cham enclosure? You do know that in the screen cages that are sold they come with with pvc sheet bottoms.

I would paint it a earth tone color on the inside a tan for example... it will highlight plants and cham you have inside, and tan is a non aggressive color to cham's. White would be a pain to keep clean in a display tank.

i do know that mesh cages have pvc at the bottom. i was thinking about the basking spot.
but saying that, ive got a mesh flexarium cage and the mesh fells like some sort of plastic. ive got the basking light about 6" away. so yeah should be ok with pvc.

 

[hamley88]

yes it was fine with the high humidity. i used varnish with polyurethane in it, which i heard is waterproof. it worked well for me

 

[chinocham]

Update

Got the door made this morning

Door hung

Latch

sanded and ready for woodstain

 

[chinocham]

update 2

inside walnut stained

Inside of door stained

 

[hamley88]

looking very good bud. are you going for the pvc or varnish??

 

[chinocham]

expoxy varnish pal

scott

 

[Thechameleonkeeper]

Try a high quality exterior paint, with a gloss finish, its VERY easy to clean that way

 

[Wykd]

the walnut color looks good not to light or dark.

 

[mrfixit01]

Excellent so far. Love that door latch! Spar Urethane is also very good. It's designed for outdoors, wet, extreme weather conditions. Very thick and builds heavy layers quickly.

 

[maxttu]

that's looking pretty sharp! Way to go!

 

[chinocham]

im using this stuff when it arrives

http://www.resinstore.com/timbersealcv.html

i rang them and they suggested that product

scott

 

[chinocham]

Update

So i have nearly finished. Its been sealed on the inside with epoxy varnish, painted on the outside with chocolate brown and sealed with a polyurathane finish for durabilty.

Scott

 

[shiftyeyes]

good job man cage looks great !!!!

 

[camaleonte82]

love the black.