DIY Cabinet—>Cage Build

[Rasta]

Hello all Cham heads,

I am a new veiled owner here but I will just get to the point! I found a used cabinet for cheap and it is the perfect size for my new baby. I have done a lot of DIY research already (I’m sure I’ll have more Qs later) but I am stuck on one thing that’s very specific to this cabinet.

There’s 4 tall 1.5” thick support columns and a 1.5” thick ceiling that I’m planning on hallowing out to put all the lights etc on. I read up on this cabinet and it’s “FSC ®-certified solid teak, teak veneer and engineered wood with a light brown finish and protective lacquer topcoat”. I am not too familiar with wood and I am wondering on what products to use to make the wood Cham safe, heat resistant (mostly for the sealing) and also water resistant for my mistking. But more importantly do I have to sand the “protective lacquer coat” before applying the other wood products? Hoping there are some wood workers in here! Would also love some building advice

Thanks in advanced from Rasta and I

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and welcome! That looks awesome! Let me tag some people with more experience that may be able to help you with your build project

@Beman @crosscutts what feedback do you have for this project?

 

[Beman]

I am not a woodworker like @crosscutts is but I would sand the coating to ensure when you go back and water proof it that it holds and seals to the wood right. Flex seal works well for sealing especially the bottom.

You will want to use aluminum window screen only. Fiber glass blocks quite a bit more UVI from your lighting.

 

[elizaann2]

I am not a woodworker like @crosscutts is but I would sand the coating to ensure when you go back and water proof it that it holds and seals to the wood right. Flex seal works well for sealing especially the bottom.

You will want to use aluminum window screen only. Fiber glass blocks quite a bit more UVI from your lighting.

You know things like what you just said that I don’t know yet

 

[Gloriawood]

I really love that cabinet and I looked it up to see about getting myself one. Idk what you paid for it used, but new…. Holy cow I shall continue my search for something a bit cheaper

 

[Rasta]

I am not a woodworker like @crosscutts is but I would sand the coating to ensure when you go back and water proof it that it holds and seals to the wood right. Flex seal works well for sealing especially the bottom.

You will want to use aluminum window screen only. Fiber glass blocks quite a bit more UVI from your lighting.

Thanks for the information!

 

[Rasta]

I really love that cabinet and I looked it up to see about getting myself one. Idk what you paid for it used, but new…. Holy cow I shall continue my search for something a bit cheaper

Yeah retail price is obnoxious haha I got it from FB market for double digit numbers! Such a good find

 

[Gloriawood]

Yeah retail price is obnoxious haha I got it from FB market for double digit numbers! Such a good find

Lucky duck!

 

[Beman]

@crosscutts

 

[crosscutts]

So you’re gonna definitely have to take off that top layer get down to Bearwood , personally, I found skinning the inside with eighth inch acrylic is the best option basically a reverse aquarium . I’ve had great success with flexseal spray, and pour on. The liquid. I sealed the wood doors. I have not sealed the entire wood enclosure with it but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work as long as it can bond, putting it on in several small layers as opposed to gobbling it on all at once.

 

[Rasta]

So you’re gonna definitely have to take off that top layer get down to Bearwood , personally, I found skinning the inside with eighth inch acrylic is the best option basically a reverse aquarium . I’ve had great success with flexseal spray, and pour on. The liquid. I sealed the wood doors. I have not sealed the entire wood enclosure with it but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work as long as it can bond, putting it on in several small layers as opposed to gobbling it on all at once.

Hey thank you so much for the great info! Excuse my ignorance, but what is skinning mean? And after you skin the inside with acrylic then how many layers of flex seal did you do? I bought water based polyurethane and 100% silicone for everything do you think that is ok?

 

[crosscutts]

Hey thank you so much for the great info! Excuse my ignorance, but what is skinning mean? And after you skin the inside with acrylic then how many layers of flex seal did you do? I bought water based polyurethane and 100% silicone for everything do you think that is ok?

Skinning means overlaying the acrylic on top of the Wood I basically put down a layer of silicone smoothing it out with a putty knife and then sandwich silicone between the plexiglass (acrylic) yes 100% pure silicone is totally fine , the vane will eventually wear off due to the fact that it’s a little bit brittle with the expansion and contraction of the wood . I have done this in the past, but always had to reseal . The liquid rubber. Allows the wood to expand a contract without compromising The integrity of the product . Nobody’s ignorant. We’re all just learning. You’ll only get better at it. Good luck to you.

 

[Beman]

Note with even the water based poly you do not want to do this indoors where your chameleon is. It also needs to gas off a good two weeks before adding plants and branches to it.

 

[MikeyBen]

Hello all Cham heads,

I am a new veiled owner here but I will just get to the point! I found a used cabinet for cheap and it is the perfect size for my new baby. I have done a lot of DIY research already (I’m sure I’ll have more Qs later) but I am stuck on one thing that’s very specific to this cabinet.

There’s 4 tall 1.5” thick support columns and a 1.5” thick ceiling that I’m planning on hallowing out to put all the lights etc on. I read up on this cabinet and it’s “FSC ®-certified solid teak, teak veneer and engineered wood with a light brown finish and protective lacquer topcoat”. I am not too familiar with wood and I am wondering on what products to use to make the wood Cham safe, heat resistant (mostly for the sealing) and also water resistant for my mistking. But more importantly do I have to sand the “protective lacquer coat” before applying the other wood products? Hoping there are some wood workers in here! Would also love some building advice

Thanks in advanced from Rasta and I

Sounds like a job for *cue super hero music here* James @crosscutts
He's the "goat ".

 

[Rasta]

Skinning means overlaying the acrylic on top of the Wood I basically put down a layer of silicone smoothing it out with a putty knife and then sandwich silicone between the plexiglass (acrylic) yes 100% pure silicone is totally fine , the vane will eventually wear off due to the fact that it’s a little bit brittle with the expansion and contraction of the wood . I have done this in the past, but always had to reseal . The liquid rubber. Allows the wood to expand a contract without compromising The integrity of the product . Nobody’s ignorant. We’re all just learning. You’ll only get better at it. Good luck to you.

Yes I only just want to best for little man so thank you so much for your input!

 

[BleuSaphir]

That going to look great! You definitely need to seal the wood to keep it waterproof. If I am more experienced being a welder, I would done DIY cage myself.

 

[Rasta]

Skinning means overlaying the acrylic on top of the Wood I basically put down a layer of silicone smoothing it out with a putty knife and then sandwich silicone between the plexiglass (acrylic) yes 100% pure silicone is totally fine , the vane will eventually wear off due to the fact that it’s a little bit brittle with the expansion and contraction of the wood . I have done this in the past, but always had to reseal . The liquid rubber. Allows the wood to expand a contract without compromising The integrity of the product . Nobody’s ignorant. We’re all just learning. You’ll only get better at it. Good luck to you.

Hey I’m going to really focus on finishing the cage soon but I was wondering for a closed side if I can use hard wood (not pine or eucalyptus or any fragrant wood) and treat it with drylok or flex seal and cover it with cork bark/coconut fiber mats. Is that too much? Or can I just get away with just treating the price of wood then paint it?

 

[Beman]

Hey I’m going to really focus on finishing the cage soon but I was wondering for a closed side if I can use hard wood (not pine or eucalyptus or any fragrant wood) and treat it with drylok or flex seal and cover it with cork bark/coconut fiber mats. Is that too much? Or can I just get away with just treating the price of wood then paint it?

So you can just seal it with a water based polyurethane on the outside. I would flex seal the inside if it were mine just because of the moisture our cages hold. Another option is using PVC sheets for your side walls. Would make it more light weight as well. Then you could just attache those and then use silicone to seal it on the inside around the edges where it meets the wood frame.

 

[crosscutts]

Hey I’m going to really focus on finishing the cage soon but I was wondering for a closed side if I can use hard wood (not pine or eucalyptus or any fragrant wood) and treat it with drylok or flex seal and cover it with cork bark/coconut fiber mats. Is that too much? Or can I just get away with just treating the price of wood then paint it?

I would definitely seal the wood I did recently do a test with PVC. The smart option is to make sure that the wood is a little porous. If you’re going to use flexseal I’ve never used dry lock. It’s a cement product. My concern with that is it will crack overtime. I would prefer to use flexseal but the rest of your idea sounds fine. But you must show us a picture when you’re done.

 

[Raymond1412]

Hello all Cham heads,

I am a new veiled owner here but I will just get to the point! I found a used cabinet for cheap and it is the perfect size for my new baby. I have done a lot of DIY research already (I’m sure I’ll have more Qs later) but I am stuck on one thing that’s very specific to this cabinet.

There’s 4 tall 1.5” thick support columns and a 1.5” thick ceiling that I’m planning on hallowing out to put all the lights etc on. I read up on this cabinet and it’s “FSC ®-certified solid teak, teak veneer and engineered wood with a light brown finish and protective lacquer topcoat”. I am not too familiar with wood and I am wondering on what products to use to make the wood Cham safe, heat resistant (mostly for the sealing) and also water resistant for my mistking. But more importantly do I have to sand the “protective lacquer coat” before applying the other wood products? Hoping there are some wood workers in here! Would also love some building advice

Thanks in advanced from Rasta and I

Wow!! I did something quite similar, actually. I bought a ready-made cage and I closed in 3 of the sides. (excluding the top and front) Then, I made a cabinet that opens and I have my chameleon cage on that. Glad to see someone else DIY their cage!!! I wish you all of my luck and patience!!