Chandler's Cage 2.0
- Thread starter Jevin
- Start date
Jevin
Chameleon Enthusiast
Also, there is literally blood, sweat and tears in this build lol and this is a side view of the tray and panels for how they fit together.
Built it this way so that any water collecting on the outside of the screen is directed towards the drain.
And the banking on the inside.
Built it this way so that any water collecting on the outside of the screen is directed towards the drain.
And the banking on the inside.
Last edited:
KobaOregonherper
Chameleon Enthusiast
just gotta say I love that your doing all this with sandles lol!
cyberlocc
Chameleon Enthusiast
Not just you.
Cedar and Pine are toxic to small animals including reptiles and especially Cedar.
http://www.anapsid.org/cedar.html
That's more about substrate, it however still applies to raw wood. IE the Boards / Ply sold as dimensional lumber, kiln dried isnt as bad until it gets wet.
Forget wood, you can get PVC 1x2s
, will never rot .
Last edited:
Jevin
Chameleon Enthusiast
@cyberlocc, we have it in Canada, but it's $12 for one piece, I make sure to seal the wood, current cage is wood and just leaks, hasn't rotten at all. If I had the money to afford the pvc lumber, I would. Luckily I can easily rebuild the top if I chose to. But it would definitely work for @Beman .
cyberlocc
Chameleon Enthusiast
It's pretty expensive here too. It's 10 dollars a stick, bit the Stick is 12ft. It's more than wood, pine 12ft for decent stuff (sanded trim) is like 3.68 for 8ft, so it's about double the price of wood.
I still think it's worth it IMO, the price isn't a massive diffrence and lasting forever is worth it IMO.
Not just you.
Cedar and Pine are toxic to small animals including reptiles and especially Cedar.
http://www.anapsid.org/cedar.html
That's more about substrate, it however still applies to raw wood. IE the Boards / Ply sold as dimensional lumber, kiln dried isnt as bad until it gets wet.
Forget wood, you can get PVC 1x2s
Yeah honestly I keep looking at all these build threads... While I would love to do my own huge cage for Beman... I am getting more and more intimidated. I do not have all these different tools and clamps that yall do. I have an electric drill and the ability to smile to get the guys at the lumber yard to cut things to size for me. lol. I do have an excellent mind for what I can see that I want it to be. It would just be how do I actually take that from my head and build it. I would have to build in stages, base first then measure to see what exact lengths I need to get.
Now I am guessing if I got pine and it was all sealed with flex seal on the inside and then paint on the outside then it would be ok. But I am guessing. So I don't know.
cyberlocc
Chameleon Enthusiast
Yeah honestly I keep looking at all these build threads... While I would love to do my own huge cage for Beman... I am getting more and more intimidated. I do not have all these different tools and clamps that yall do. I have an electric drill and the ability to smile to get the guys at the lumber yard to cut things to size for me. lol. I do have an excellent mind for what I can see that I want it to be. It would just be how do I actually take that from my head and build it. I would have to build in stages, base first then measure to see what exact lengths I need to get.
Now I am guessing if I got pine and it was all sealed with flex seal on the inside and then paint on the outside then it would be ok. But I am guessing. So I don't know.
It should be, pine with Flex seal and paint. However, the price of doing all that, after buying decent straight trim boards, puts you over the PVC mark.
The biggest downside of most the pine boards, is they are not flush. They are warped, rippled, knots, ect.
The PVC board, doesn't need painted, its easier to drill through then wood, won't split (though you should still pilot) and it can be cut with a hacksaw/miter box that you can get for a couple of bucks. Best of all it can be painted!
The only reason I would say go with wood, is if you want a stained finished product, instead of a solid color. The wood and the PVC are cheap, especially in a screen build. We're talking 20 dollars instead of 10, and no paint ect needed.
Could a base be flex sealed? Would you mind sending me a link of what the PVC is? I wanted to do a solid back and sides with the entire front and top screen. I am thinking 70 inches wide 24 deep and 48 high. So big. lol
cyberlocc
Chameleon Enthusiast
Well that's very big. So structural, did you mean 70 high by 48wide? Why so wide and not high?
For that, I would use PVC 4x8 sheets, or AC plywood. The price double ramps up there. And your proposed dimensions are good, as it will use almost a full sheet for the back panel, and 1/4 a sheet for the sides. If you flipped it, 70 tall, it would use full sheet back and half sheet sides.
So your looking about 50 a board for AC ply, and 100 for PVC. You would need 2 for the main frame. Then you could strengthen the top with 1x2s, and the bottom with your soil bin (assuming soil bin).
Then your doors made from 1x2s (assuming screen doors) or decorative trim, (alot of those have a good notch for stapling screen down) or you could cut grooves for it and spline into the frame, or just staple it on.
Unless you want solid doors, in which case you could do sliding glass, cut grooves for the glass in, or attach it to the back. You use Plexi, you can screw it in, and likely should as it will get scracthed and need replaced fairly often.
No matter what, Doors on a cage that large are going to be a pain.
That is less like building this threads, and more like building a cabinet.
This vid does it with PVC, wood be the same way though.
Ignore the door parts, that's a dumb way to do a door.
If you do go wood, go with Douglas Fir, it barely cost more than Pine, is much more rigid, and harder, and is not nearly as Poisionous to reptiles. It's still a soft wood, though on the harder side of softwoods. A 4x8 AC grade is like 40-50 for 3/4 inch.
Last edited:
So no I am thinking 70 wide 48 high then 24 deep. It would fit perfectly on a table I have. His cage now is only 30 wide so I would be more then doubling his territory to give him a ton of room to be a cham.
