Want to make/buy an outdoor enclosure

tryme

New Member
Any ideas? My 24x24x48" is too large to drag around etc and carry out the back door on hot days. Is there any way I can make a cheapish one?
 
This one is very inexpensive to make

I bought a wood "garage" shelf kit from Menards, on sale for about 13$. As you can see by the pic I just assembled it and skipped 2 of the shelves. I also bought a roll of the green coated wire mesh for about 9$. And just wrapped it around the sides, top and bottom. I built a door from some scrap wood and added about 5$ worth of hardware in the form of hasp and the hinges. You can almost see the light fixture I attached on top in case I want to use it indoors. I used my staple gun to attach the mesh to the wood. Obviously it is early here in Minn to have him outside yet, but I have the branches and a pot ready for Nasturum flowers. It is very light weight and very easy to drag out onto my deck. Also extremely easy to build! Let me know if you want more pics or have questions!
 

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it looks quite good to me I may have a go at making something similar. The hardest part for me will be the hinges though:( I'm not to sure I will be able to make a good door. Could you give me some tips?
 
tips!

Do you have a miter saw? that works best....I used "L" shaped angle brackets
to attach the door frame pieces together> Attach the hinges to the door and then duct tape the door to the cage body and then you can screw the hinges to the frame. Does that make sense? If you dont have a miter saw to make the 45 degree cuts you could do "butt" joints and use the same brackets. Good luck!
 
ok I know what a butt joint is now. I will deff give this a go. I don't have a miter saw. I have a few hack saws and hand saws. That's a bout it.
 
I would recommend reptariums for outside, my oustalet enclosure is 30 by 30 by 72, the only thing is since they are light I put in a few cinderblocks in the bottom to weigh it down (they work as great plantstands too). To me thats the easiest cheapest way to go.
 
common guys help me out. Are those measurements ok for him to be in for a few hours a few days a week?
 
I'm in the U.K So those are hard to find but I will try. I would like to make my own though. I just want to know if the one I posted sounded like an OK size.
 
Hey mate, what cham you got? I don't think those shelves from argos will be any good as a conversion base. The depth is pretty small and they're pretty tiny in all directions really. You should pop on down to homebase or somewhere and just pick up the wood you need to build you own! Get on screwfix for the hinges, brackets, screws and stuff and you'll be laughing! It's what I'm in the process of designing right now!

If it's only temporary for outside, just get yourself a nice small tree type plant, build a frame around the tree so the cham cant climb over it (just like a little wall all around the bottom so he can't climb out) and either use bamboo cane and butterfly netting to create a nice netted cover. Weight down the netting and you're golden! This isn't a good permanent thing, but it'll do temporarily in the UK as we don't get that many nice days do we!?
 
Good few points. I'm rubbish with the wood though but deff want to give it a go. I've got a veiled cham, what about you? What size wood would I need to get ?
 
I've got a veiled cham too! Well, how big do you want this cage to be? 24"x24"x48" yeah? If it's just going to be outside, it can be really simple and really easy to make! Get to B&Q, get yourself planed, square edged timber (in fairness, if it's outside, it doesn't need to be planed!) probably the 34mmx34mmx..... to make the frame and doors. Get some brackets to join everything together properly and some hinges! Build a good frame and a door, then just staple whatever screen material you want onto it! That'll just about do it! :D
 
thank you you are great help! how many of those pieces of wood should I buy if I want to build a 24x24x48?
 
Well, If you get the bigger size (2.7m in length compared to 2.1m) then it'd be a lot more cost effective as you wouldn't have to waste so many little bits when cutting to the right size etc. You'd need roughly 13.5m to make the whole frame and a single swing out door (using the measurements 0.6m x 0.6m x 1.2m instead of inches for the cage) so just buy it in the cheapest way possible (think of the pieces you'll cut out and how best to cut those out of the lengths you've got to minimise wastage) but it shouldn't cost any more than £20. Allow £5 for fixings and hinges and stuff and then whatever netting you decide to use. High density butterfly netting should do, but it may not be strong enough if your cham likes to climb on it...
 
it would ok not ideal for long time but thats not what you are doing but if removing the middle shelve is ur plan i think it would be good for an outdoor exposure
 
I think i've got it now. should I go for the 2M width or 4M width netting?

also are these measurements ok for working out how much timber to get?

48x4= 192 (for the sides)
24x8= 192 (for the sides on the top and bottom squares)

=384

82x5=410

410-384=26 (for an supporting bar or brace to go just below the door for extra support)
 
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