Pics of the progress on Bambi’s Enclosure

[chamimom]

I’m so excited about my DIY enclosure I’m putting together! I built a planter box out of a stabilized particle board shelf and scrap wood we had in the garage. It is airing out right now from the pond sealant I painted onto the inside. I added one and a half inch feet to support the bottom and also slightly raise it off the floor for a drainage tray. I’ll cover the rest of the black with more wood panels, but right now I am just focused on functional. I will work on the aesthetics afterwards. I’m thinking of covering the box in bark off our firewood after treating it to make it look tree trunkish .

Anyways, I took a chinchilla cage my chinchilla group outgrew and put up waterproof plastic/stone composite interlocking floor pieces for the sides. I’ll seal up the back corners with fish tank stuff. The middle metal piece at the door will be removed, and there will be a screen door. The top will have aluminum screen. Then the bottom metal parts will be covered with tarp and partially raised up in the planter box so that Bambi can be above head level and feel more secure.

For the planter box, I am sewing my own custom made root bag with the strongest landscaping material we could find. Plan on going bioactive after a while. I wanted to do a digger, but I can’t, because I’m Southern California on the edge of the desert, most months of the year the temps don’t drop low enough in the house at night, so I got a splitter for our Mist King to work for both enclosures side by side.

Returning to the vet’s soon for another deworming for her and that’s when the vet said we could change out the substrate and wash branches and things. I may just need to cut new branches though. We have these weird tree plants that are connected by a huge system of underground roots, and they’re impossible to kill without digging up the entire yard. Their branches are perfect for the cham’s cages!

 

[chamimom]

I’m so excited about my DIY enclosure I’m putting together! I built a planter box out of a stabilized particle board shelf and scrap wood we had in the garage. It is airing out right now from the pond sealant I painted onto the inside. I added one and a half inch feet to support the bottom and also slightly raise it off the floor for a drainage tray. I’ll cover the rest of the black with more wood panels, but right now I am just focused on functional. I will work on the aesthetics afterwards. I’m thinking of covering the box in bark off our firewood after treating it to make it look tree trunkish .

Anyways, I took a chinchilla cage my chinchilla group outgrew and put up waterproof plastic/stone composite interlocking floor pieces for the sides. I’ll seal up the back corners with fish tank stuff. The middle metal piece at the door will be removed, and there will be a screen door. The top will have aluminum screen. Then the bottom metal parts will be covered with tarp and partially raised up in the planter box so that Bambi can be above head level and feel more secure.

For the planter box, I am sewing my own custom made root bag with the strongest landscaping material we could find. Plan on going bioactive after a while. I wanted to do a digger, but I can’t, because I’m Southern California on the edge of the desert, most months of the year the temps don’t drop low enough in the house at night, so I got a splitter for our Mist King to work for both enclosures side by side.

Returning to the vet’s soon for another deworming for her and that’s when the vet said we could change out the substrate and wash branches and things. I may just need to cut new branches though. We have these weird tree plants that are connected by a huge system of underground roots, and they’re impossible to kill without digging up the entire yard. Their branches are perfect for the cham’s cages!

 

[chamimom]

Oh yeah, and I have a large ficus tree I’ll be putting into her enclosure . She loves that tree, lol.

 

[ERKleRose]

Looks great! What are the dimensions?

 

[chamimom]

Thanks! It’s 2 ft wide x 2 deep and 5 feet tall, although about a foot of that will be down in the soil mixture of the planter.

 

[ERKleRose]

Awesome! Keep us updated, your cage is really cool!

 

[chamimom]

Will do! Thanks! Putting the landscaping material into the planter box today. Sewing didn't go so well, lol. I'm good with wood, not so much fabric, so I'm just going to nail it in, lol.

 

[ERKleRose]

Will do! Thanks! Putting the landscaping material into the planter box today. Sewing didn't go so well, lol. I'm good with wood, not so much fabric, so I'm just going to nail it in, lol.

I'd silicone the nail holes if the wood under the landscape fabric isn't sealed so you don't get water damage there

 

[chamimom]

I'd silicone the nail holes if the wood under the landscape fabric isn't sealed so you don't get water damage there

Yep! Did that a few days ago . Thanks for the tip, though! If you think of anything else, please let me know!

 

[ERKleRose]

Yep! Did that a few days ago . Thanks for the tip, though! If you think of anything else, please let me know!

No problem! Hahaha, I'm not sure I'll be much help, but if I remember something, I'll definitely let you know!

 

[chamimom]

Hey, All! So I got my enclosure functional, and Bambi is using it already. The vet did another deworming and cleared her to be transferred to a new enclosure with fresh substrate and said she doesn't need anymore dewormings as long as she is doing okay. All of her branches are new branches, because the ones that were in her previous enclosure were no where near long enough. I have pictures, but they are all on my phone, and I am having difficulty getting them to upload from my iphone to my computer for some annoying reason, and I hate functioning from my phone on things like this. It makes me feel claustrophobic, lol. I'll get them up as soon as I can, though! I am very pleased with it!

 

[ERKleRose]

Yay! Congrats! I cant wait for the pics!

 

[Tkrd69]

Waiting for someone to try and do a 3d printed enclosure. Your is looking great. Waiting to see how it all turns out with pics. Is the planter on wheels?

 

[chamimom]

Waiting for someone to try and do a 3d printed enclosure. Your is looking great. Waiting to see how it all turns out with pics. Is the planter on wheels?

Oh, wow, yeah. I never thought of someone doing a 3d printed. That would be awesome! And thanks for the compliment. The planter is not on wheels. I have it set up on 1 3/4 inch feet supporting the floor board. I don't plan to move it, at least not for a very long time, so I didn't really feel the need for wheels. I could add some eventually if I really wanted them .

 

[Tkrd69]

Ok cool. Yea I think a cylinder shape could be cool looking just incorporate the ledges into the frame itself.

 

[chamimom]

Ok cool. Yea I think a cylinder shape could be cool looking just incorporate the ledges into the frame itself.

We made ledges similar to the ones in the Dragon Strand cages. We used some of that floor board and doubled it up, put the holes through it, and then used cut PVC pipe to attach the ledge to the sides of the cage

 

[Tkrd69]

Yea I used screen frame on the outside, half inch cpvc and quarter inch stainless steel nuts. Anything to transfer weight to frame