Svens Castle!! (LOTS OF PICS!)

Hey everyone-

I know people love pictures, so documented my cage project build, and its time to share em! I started this cage in Jan before moving out to Colorado, as I had access to my old mans workshop. The coolest thing is that he has a sawmill as well, so we built this from a tree, no lumber purchsed- we cut our own. All the driftwood was collected from a river that runs through their land. This cage is not a "standard" size - its a 30x30x45 with a 24inch foot base and a 12 inch top. The only thing I had to purchase was the paint, poly to treat the wood, screening, silicone (black) and the coco fiber bedding for the background. All in all, start to finish, I think i spent about 200 - plants included in that cost.

The cage is 3 peices, the main portion of the cage sits on the base, and does not have any drainage on it, the entire drainage is self contained on the base, so it just fits snugly into place.

I apologize about the quality of pics and inconsistancy in resolution sizes, since I had so many, i tried to keep filesize down, and my batch conversion from the insane resolution got all screwy on me.

Sides



After we had the correct lenghts, we planed em down to a silky smooth finish.



We then cut 45 degree angles on top and bottom of side peices for the sides to lock up and form a perfect right angle connection.




We then dato'd out the insides of each side to recess the screening - the dato cuts were saved for later as they will be placed over the stapeled in sceening




Construction of the sides

We left the bottom and tops NON dato'd as it will form a solid square look once the dato peices are put back into place. At this point we also attached it to the backing.





Contruction of the base. The corners are a larger dato to finish it off with a nice look.




Construction of the top peice- i made this about 2 inches wider than the cage dimensions to create an overhang look at the top.



For drainage, I put little "braces" on the outer sides of the base to create a slope once the sink replacement part "pulls" the material down. I drilled 2 large holes, one in the center for the drainage hole, and one in the back for the misting system pipes to go out of.

I lost alot of pictures (I am disorganized on my 2 computers I have been putting em all on) but here is how i placed the screening into the dato sections. Once they are stapeled into place, I used finishing nails to tack it down, so the screen looks like it comes out of the middle of the wood. This paticular picture was from the door on the cage, however the side datos are treated the same way.



After I collected the driftwood, I soaked it in a 90%/10% ratio of water to bleach for about 2 days, rotating and scrubbing/rinsing every 6 or so hours. After it dried for a few days we baked them in our friends "oven" that was large enough to hold em. I dont reccomend doing this in your own home, it stinks to hell.



Placement of the driftwood on the back - for the larger peices, I used 3.5 inch screws from behind into the wood, for smaller peices, I would countersink into the wood directly, then filled the sink with silicone to elimate water seepage into the screw area. I used waterproofed outdoor screws on the entire project.






Onto the fun part! Arts and crafts time.

I used "great stuff" expanding foam to start filling in inbetween the placed driftwood. I recommend you do this in sections, and plan ahead on where you are going to go. I was healthy on the amount I used, as I shaved off excess with a drill bit used to strip paint.


Here is a picture of the finished foaming. I placed 4 3 inch potter plants, and 4 6 inch for planting, filling in around each during the process.




After sanding it down, I worked in about 1x1 foot segments coating the foam with black silicone, then covering it with the coco fiber bedding.Tip - dont be afraid to put too much silicone on, the more the marrier for the bedding to adhere to. You can find the bedding in any petstore really. This paticular kind was a non-toxic all natural geared specifically to herps. You can see the difference betwee the black and white sanded areas- I sanded the black right after the inital placement to see if it would work out well.

Plants, plants and more plants! Here are all the plants i picked up at home depot. I have 2 larger ones for the inside, and then smaller 3 and 6 inch potted for the backing.

Plants used: 3x Schefflera, 2x Ficus, 1x Croton, 1x Ivy vine.



After re-potting them with an organic soil, I placed them into the cage.




Here is the "ALMOST" final product. I havent finished the doors yet, as my table saw at home has broken. Once I get that fixed, I can finish it entirely.




Here is little man getting use to the new enclosure. I was going to hold off on moving him for another month or so, but I made a nice feeder cup in the corner with a vine passing it. I prefer free range, but with the size of the screening, it is not a possibility with crickets. The screening was a really nice soft plastic with larger gaps to alleviate claw issues with traditional metal/smaller threads.




Aside the fact that he hasnt MOVED yet (will take a few days to get use to the cage) Sven is showing the best coloration to date! With all the planting and coco fiber backing, the humidity has not dropped below 55%. I have two digital gauges to measure basking spot, ambient, and then also the opposite side of the cage. I have drippers on both sides of cage, and next week I will be hopefully ordering a misting system for when I am at work.

Next project: Establish both a dubia and silkworm colony.

Wow! Nice! Very well thought out. I like the screening even though I would be worried about bug escapes its a nice size for the cham to climb on. Wanna make me one?

Omg

That awsome, keep up the good work

Awesome cage but is the screening metal?

Nicodemayo said:

Awesome cage but is the screening metal?

Click to expand...

He said it's a soft plastic.

Nice work on the enclosure!

-Brad

very nice enclosure- Can't let my boy Sambatra see it though or he will want one just like it and I could'nt hammer a nail straight if I tried!!!

One word. Wow. Excellent job!

Brad Ramsey said:

He said it's a soft plastic.

Nice work on the enclosure!

-Brad

Click to expand...

missed that. Cool looks good

Wow, that incorporates every good idea i have seen over the last 2 months or so. great job.
I started a 4 chameleon cage a month ago but every time i see something new i modify it. it may never be done.

i really really love the plant in the background idea, that is an awesome x5 idea

but i'm just concerned that the run off of the water would build up from watering them, did you compensate for that?


also you must have had a sliding glass door or window i'm guessing to get that cage in that room, or at least took the door of the hinges, i know in my house i would have had to actually assemble it inside the room it was going to be.

over all outstanding job

Darn you people with your awesome wood working abilities!!! Looks great.

if you gave me wood, i'd give you fire, i am so terrible at woodshop its pretty embarrassing

Dankmeleon said:

i really really love the plant in the background idea, that is an awesome x5 idea

but i'm just concerned that the run off of the water would build up from watering them, did you compensate for that?


also you must have had a sliding glass door or window i'm guessing to get that cage in that room, or at least took the door of the hinges, i know in my house i would have had to actually assemble it inside the room it was going to be.

over all outstanding job

Click to expand...

Do you mean.. runoff inside the plants that might eventually lead to plant rot (i.e no drainage for each potter?) I kinda have that concern as well.. but if it becomes an issue, its easily solved by drilling a hole in the back and installing a drainage tube that leads to the main bucket (each plant is just about flush with the backing so it would be cake)

No screen doors or anything, but the cage does not fit into my room. I planned on having it in there as my roomate has a dog, and i wanted Sven to have some privacy and stress free envoironment.. but yea - wont fit past doorframes, .25 inches too large >.<

I will probably just sell his dog when hes at work, problem solved!!

muhahaha

Vegas Chad said:

Darn you people with your awesome wood working abilities!!! Looks great.

Click to expand...

Chad, I have never built anything out of wood in my entire life, and my old man helped about 25% of the time. I just did some research, took my time, had some patience, and it wasnt really that hard.

I want to build more stuff now, im hooked on woodworking!

Wow indeed! That is pretty remarkable! Sven is one lucky chameleon... sheesh

That is really really cool, trevor! It was neat to see that all come together in the sequence of pics...

Wow amazing work and amazing cage!

Very nice viv! where did you get the soft screening?