Build this sweet cage for $200 for with everything from home depot.

JoeyTwilight

JoeyTwilight

New Member
I have never built a chameleon cage before but I was astounded at how easy it was and how forgiving this material can be. I am in Canada so I wasnt keen on paying $60 shipping for a $100 cage but I wanted an enclosure like cages.net or the ones on Ebay from Catalina Aquariums. I had made some screen tops out of do it yourself screen kits but never a complete cage. So in one day $200 later and 3 trips to the home depot I had the cage I wanted and instead of 24x24x48 I had one 30x24x60. I could have built it cheaper but a major part of the cost was upgrading to "pet screen" on the sides, back, and half of the front, the rest including the top is aluminum. The pet screen is incredibly strong, easy to work with, and nice and soft on the cham's feet, but the true test will be the cricket chew test(after the great cricket escape of 2008 my wife has her fingers crossed). The whole unit is nice and tightly sealed around the edges and I couldnt be happier with how it turned out. If anyone would like to build one the same I would be more than happy to walk them through it or provide any information I am able to. Here are the pics, happy building.
 
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Wow! Thats one of the best looking cages I have ever seen anyone home build. Nice work! Your Cham surely enjoy it.;)

Jay
 
wow that turned out great, should start building some kits and sell them here, people would definately buy them if they don't want to build, and everyone wants to avoid all the charges that come with ordering from the states

how's the visibility on the front with the pet screen? it looks pretty dense
 
Material and tool list?
Looks like a great melleri or parsonii cage to me.;)
A little too big for anything else....unless it was a colony of monates!:eek:
 
The pet screen visibility isnt the greatest but it is substantially better than the flexarium mesh I am used to, I did one of the two front panels out of alumunium for viewing and I plan to put a nice basking perch on that side. I am almost finished an identical 2nd cage for my other cham and it turns out with the leftover supplies I have only spent about 60$ on the second one. If you decide to go with a 24x24x48 design it will be alot cheaper due to the manufactures lengths and widths of materials, but you can build it to any specs you want. Here is a list of materials and tools for the 5ft by 3ft size in the picture.

-75 ft of aluminum screen frame (you can find this cheaper at totem than HD)
-4 rolls of 48x84 window screen of your choice (if you dont know already dont use fiberglass, it is dangerous)
-75 feet of window screen spleen (screen spine holds the screen in)
- 8 packs of corners
- plastic storm shutter clips
- 1 roll of weather stripping (totally *optional* I only used it on the bottom door)
- 3 hook latches
- 1 box of #10 x 3/4 screws and a 9/64 drill bit for pilot holes
- 1 box of #6 x 3/8 screws and a 3/32 drill bit for pilot holes
- 1 piece of lexan acrylic for the bottom ( *optional*I used aluminum screen on the bottom but cut a piece of plexi that slides nicely in and out that covers it)
- hacksaw
- $5 plastic miter block (*optional but straighter cuts, worth the 5 bucks)
- corded drill or good quality cordless ( I hate cordless personally)
- screwdriver
- plactic screen tool (sometimes free with the screen, I prefer the rocking type vs the pizza wheel type personally easier and less tears)
- exacto knife or boxcutter (be really careful trimming the excess I learned this the hard way)
- measuring tape
- set of small hinges
And that is absolutely everything you need to make this cage ! This cage is exactly like the ones you see on the internet they are made of the exact same screenbuilding materials but many people dont realize this and think they are manufactured specifically. Look closely at the pictures on the net and you will see the plastic screen corners which are a dead giveaway.I can even make them in black I just liked the white OOPS I just let the cat out of the bag, hopefully those companies that sell these dont have me killed now :). The bottom line is you can build this cage very easily and if anyone wants step by step support I am more than happy to help you out. Just get back to me and Ill tell you where to start. Eventually when I have time I will put instructions for everyone on Chameleon forums reference if they like.
 
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Thanks. I may give this a try next cage. I wonder how hard it might be to use wood for the sides and screen just for the door? Im more concerned about visability sideways than I am air flow, so I usually use painted wood peg-board on the sides.

just curious - Where are you in Canada? :)
 
how much time did it take for the build?

the cage is really nice it would be perfect for 10-25 small chameleons:)
 
Cool. Good job! For the crickets, you can do a couple of things to prevent escapes.
-Cup Feed crickets
-Let loose only 2-3 crickets at a time
-Or catch all survivors before the end of the day
 
Sometimes all you can find are warped pieces due to the lengths they sell them in but if you use the screw every 12 inches rule warping isnt going to be any kind of an issue the fact that its flexible allows you to snug it all niceley together even if your measurements were a little off or its not fitting exaclty flush due to warping. You just have to make sure you hold it flush while you are drilling the pilot holes. Personally I put together all the frames without screen in them at first, then because its light material put it all together using electrical or duct tape to hold it in place so I can drill all the holes and put it together with screws. If it looks good I unscrew it all place the screen inside the frames then screw it all back together. If you want straight pieces you can look around and find 4 packs of 5 foot lengths prewrapped in plastic these are perfectly straight and a much stronger and better frame than the stuff home depot sells, I used it for my second cage I just built. You can find that brand at "Totem Hardware" in Canada but Im not sure who would carry it in the states, Its actually the exact same price as the home depot stuff, but just better. As far as I can tell the brand name is "SCREEN" and it comes in Blue packaging. I just got my mist king in the mail so I set up my new cages just this week and am really happy at how well they are working for me. The second cage was just as easy to build and the only changes I made were using some sash latches instead of hook latches. Heres a pic if you want to check them out. sorry about the crappy visibility the camera doesnt do well in the early morning sun in that room and all the humidity makes it a bit hazy.
 
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that first pic looks awsome with the sun and mist really nice job and the white does look much nicer really good work joe those chams are lucky
 
what is this "pet screen" that u speak of? is it just a wire mesh or something? do u have a picture for an example?
 
the screen itself will say pet screen its just tougher that all so yoru dogs or cats dont mess it up as quick , but you living in canada i would of made all the sides screen cause in the winter here it gets very dry and you need to retain moisture in your enclosure , but its made already so just get the masking tape that tape boxes up with the real thick stuff and just do 3 sides of your enclosure with the tape but leave lil gaps so you have adquite air flow for your chameleons and you should be able to hold humidity in your enclosure
 
Reposting pics for reference.

Just reposting some pics of this cage for a few people who asked or anyone building their own cage.


Happy building. . .
 

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sweet thanks alot Joey apprecaite those pics man , its pretty much same concept as the cages sold by lllreptile or bluebeast reptiles and i have been looking at the stuff at home depot and everytime always try to add them all up but you did it for me and its pretty much 200 so thats sick and you made a nice big cage to not to wide either so it looks like its sticking out , to me there perfect size really you can toss a good size plant in there and they would love the extra space to , nice cage man , one thing though did you buy a rivet gun and riveted the peices together or did you do what bluebeats does and screw them together just wanted to know that part other then that i have my cages to go by so i should be laughing thanks again Joey
 
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