Building cage - Help needed!

[Miss Lily]

I am thinking about building Amy/Amos a new cage. I have a good idea how to make the main structure, but it's the doors that I need help with! The cage will have solid sides and a screen roof for placing of the UV and heat lamps safely on the outside. I also want to make screen doors, but the stumbling block is what do I make the actual door frame out of so I can staple the screen to it? Any idea what screen and where to buy it would be great too! Input from anyone who has made a cage will be greatly appreciated, especially if you are also in the UK.

 

[Fearaffect]

Contact Slik Jim. I've been helping him with building his.

 

[Miss Lily]

Contact Slik Jim. I've been helping him with building his.

Cheers! I'll drop him a PM!

 

[Fearaffect]

NP, yea hes done the research into finding companies that have the material in the UK/Europe.

 

[jojothefirst]

How you geting on??

Iv been looking at buying cages in the Uk and they all are either to exspencive or not the right shape!

and all the ones in the usa are really nice but postage cost a bomb!

So im looking into making 1.

Let me know how you are getting and I will try help you if I can!

 

[Miss Lily]

Not doing very well! Still trying to source and price materials. How far have you got with yours?

 

[SliK JiM]

PM sent!

 

[jukeboxpunk]

what materials

What materials are you using for the construct of your enclosure? Wood? Screen Trim? Plastic? I used the same material you would to make a screen door to allow proper ventilation. If you use too many sides moisture can accumulate which may create fungus/mold/mildew etc...

 

[shaneuk]

PM sent!

Slik Jim, I noticed you was sourcing materials for screen cages, I have been trying to also as I would like to make similar ones to the Terry thatcher mesh cages, found most of what I need but the one that is proving hard to find is the aluminium profiles for the frames, found plenty but those that I have found are far too expensive ... theres got to be a very cheap source somewhere

 

[SliK JiM]

The aluminium profiles have been an absolute nightmare to try and track down, and have always resulted in a massive cost! If you want to go for aluminium, then you may have to import it to get what you're after, as over here you pay a ridiculous premium! In the end, I decided to work with wood as it cut out a lot of hassle and money!

The best aluminium profile I found to use was this stuff: http://www.aluminium-profile.co.uk/
It looks great and would be simple to install, but, as said, the cost starts to sky rocket once you start adding in all the bits and bobs you want. May be worth a look though.

A friend suggested looking to europe for some stuff, but I had sort of given up on the aluminium frame idea by then!

Where are you thinking of getting your mesh from? Are you planning to use a rubber spline to hold it in place? If you are, where have you found it from? I'm currently thinking that I'll staple in in place, then use a putty/silicone sealant to tidy up the edges and hide the staples (gotta test which works better, but the putty will be considerably easier to work with!)

 

[tayray94]

You may have already seen this but this link is great.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/build-sweet-cage-200-a-17028/

May drum up some ideas.

 

[shaneuk]

The aluminium profiles have been an absolute nightmare to try and track down, and have always resulted in a massive cost!

Where are you thinking of getting your mesh from? Are you planning to use a rubber spline to hold it in place? If you are, where have you found it from?

The cheapest place I found the profile is http://www.buypestcontrol.co.uk/acatalog/FLYSCREEN_COMPONENTS.html it is £7 + vat per 2m, only drawback is there is a min order of 10 2m lengths, they also do the spline but again it is by the roll, other places for the spline etc I have found are at http://www.flyscreenqueen.co.uk/Accessories.html and http://www.newblinds.co.uk/content/frame_window_spares the latter being the cheapest

 

[SliK JiM]

You may have already seen this but this link is great.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/build-sweet-cage-200-a-17028/

May drum up some ideas.

Sorry mate. We're in the UK so we don't get Homedepot over here! Wish we did though as it's actually a useful DIY store compared to the **** we get over here!

The cheapest place I found the profile is http://www.buypestcontrol.co.uk/acatalog/FLYSCREEN_COMPONENTS.html it is £7 + vat per 2m, only drawback is there is a min order of 10 2m lengths, they also do the spline but again it is by the roll, other places for the spline etc I have found are at http://www.flyscreenqueen.co.uk/Accessories.html and http://www.newblinds.co.uk/content/frame_window_spares the latter being the cheapest

They're pretty good prices for here mate, but it's annoying when you see the prices in America! I couldn't find the link I was given, but I remember the spline costing $0.45 a meter! So 10m (which I'd need) here would cost £8.64 and over there $4.50! We're getting massively ripped off. Flyscreenqueen always seems like such a rip off to me. Massive costs for tiny little bits of plastic!

One thing I have noticed is that none of these site's sell the 3way corners you'd need to make a frame. You can only build sides, and will have to screw them together or something to make the frame!