Using this for an enclosure

[Tortdad]

So I found the piece of furniture I want to convert into an enclosure. I've got a plan and will take many pic along the way. For now just wanted to give you the sneak peek.

I need to build a shelf about 18" up to be the bottom of the cage. I've got to go look at all your pics and see how to do the drain, that's the only part I'm still unsure about.

I found this on Craigslist for $140. The enclosed part for the cham will measure 4' wide by 4'-6" tall and 18" deep. I'll have lots of real plants in there and I ordered my mist king yesterday

I know my cham will love it and it will look fantastic but I feel kind of bad doing all the mods to this piece of furniture. It turns out that this thing is Mohogany......

 

[JacksJill]

It looks good. It's good that it's solid wood. Particle board doesn't stand up to the moisture as well.

 

[rotadennis]

So we've done pretty much the same thing and it came out REALLY well, but theres some draw backs. One I believe the depth is way to small and you'll eventually regret it because it doesn't leave much room to put to much in there. It's very hard to put nice live plants in there, Drainage is a problem, but we use puppy pads so it isn't such a bad thing, But I believe the depth is the biggest issues and everything is just to crammed up and it costs a lot of money to get the proper sealants, paint, and everything else to refurbish it for a chameleon. You're better off building one from scratch with wood or pvc. I won't lie ours came out looking good, but I regret it. I wish we went the route of building one from scratch with either wood or pvc. although it is aesthetically pleasing I really wish it was wider depth wise so we could fit real live plants in it and our chams would have more room to turn around in. When we move I plan on building a different one for him so it's not so hard to clean, drain, and maintain. I strongly recommend you don't go down this route with a china cabinet. I have also posted my enclosure of the china cabinet on here. It should be in one of my posts if you search my profile. But again I wouldn't go down this route.

 

[Tortdad]

I have all of the water proofing paints and sealants already since converting furniture like this into enclosures is not new for me, I've been doing fit for my tortoises for a while now.

The reason I picked this cabinet over a traditional China hutch is because of the depth of this cabinet. A normal china hutch is only 12" deep and this one is 19-1/2" deep so I'm only losing a couple of inches over the standard 24" depth cage vs losing 1/2 of the recommended depth.

As far as drain goes I think I'll use a shower pan liner on the bottom shelf I add and have it drain into a bucket.

As far as sealing the sides I have a special silicon for joints and cracks, a product called Red Guard that goes on like paint but dries like rubber, then a primer paint over that which has anti microbiology properties to it.

The sealants are very pricy but I have enough of it already to do the job.


What other challenges did you have with your project. I'd love to hear all about it

 

[rotadennis]

All the challenges we faced we're just due to my carpentry skills and having to go but all the tools needed or not having the right tools. Ours still came out really well. Just our big issue was the depth. Ours is 16 inches and we just cant put all the trees we want in because anything like an umbrella or hibiscus winds up being to wide for them so we had to resort to fake plants because the space wouldn't allow the others to grow properly. I think we went through like 5 before we gave up on using live. The only other problem that we really run into is the amount of work it takes to clean it. It's a lot bigger hassle to clean than our other cage. I do suggest rescreening yours though since that diameter looks like it would allow your feeders to get out easily.

 

[Tortdad]

Yeah for sure on the screen... I appreciate your insight on this

 

[etclement]

I'm building a cage from scratch... all I had to do was cover the walls with a material called polywall and nothing else was needed.

 

[Tortdad]

That polywall looks the same SA the Red Guard I'm using. It's just blue instead of red.

I'm only painting the white over it so the inside isn't red and I don't have to worry about the UV rays breaking down the redguard.

 

[RedMountainHome]

I'm mostly posting here so I can subscribe to the thread It's a beautiful find, I'm excited to see what you're going to do with this!

I like the idea of putting in a shower pan false bottom high enough to put a bucket under, that's certainly what I'd try to do for drainage in your shoes.

Are you going to cut out the sides for screen or leave those enclosed to boost humidity?

 

[Tortdad]

I'm mostly posting here so I can subscribe to the thread It's a beautiful find, I'm excited to see what you're going to do with this!

I like the idea of putting in a shower pan false bottom high enough to put a bucket under, that's certainly what I'd try to do for drainage in your shoes.

Are you going to cut out the sides for screen or leave those enclosed to boost humidity?

I thought about cutting in some screen on the side but ultimately decided not too. I'm cutting some holes in the top for lights and I'll use a 3/4" paddle bit to drill vent holes in the lid, then use screen to cover the drilled holes.