MedicMan1
Established Member
Hey all! I started building a drainage pan for my new chameleons enclosure today, and figured I’d share the info for anyone who wants to attempt to build their own.
My biggest complaint with previous drip trays I’ve had is the accumulation of water, eventually turning into a bacterial soup if you forget to shop vac it out. Not to mention the risk of overflow, etcetera etcetera. With my last enclosure, I plumbed the dragon strand drip tray with a drain, having it drain into a bucket, and it kind of worked. Water still sat in there and got gross.
So, I made a new one today with some wood I had laying around, and a jar of flex seal.
I didn’t pioneer this idea, I saw someone on YouTube do it and it looked like it would work like a charm. I did add a little of my own style though.
I forgot to take pictures at the beginning, but here’s the rub:
It’s a 24x24x48 enclosure, so that’s the diameter of the inside. I ripped a 2x6 on the table saw down to 1”x3”. 3 of the sides are 3” tall, the front where the service door is is 1” tall.
I cut two of the 3” boards to 24”, and one (the back) to 26”. The front is just a 1”x1” to allow the service door to open.
I nailed all of those boards to a 26”x26” piece of 1/2” plywood I had, then added 1”x1” risers around the inside perimeter to support the cage. These bear weight and allow the cage to sit down into the drip tray by 2”.
Then, I added some supports for heavy things to sit on the floor, like potted plants and a dig box (since my new Cham is a little lady). I stuck these down with a crown stapler. I set the drain in roughly where I wanted it and measured a bunch until I found where I wanted the drain to go.
I found the spot where I wanted the drain, centered and marked it, and knocked it out with a hole saw. I drilled from both sides to prevent a blowout.
I grabbed my router, and recessed the edges of the hole so the drain would sit just below flush of the plywood surface. I realized here that I needed to cut out a section of the back support so my router would fit. Would have been easier to do this before adding the support lip, whoops. Oh well. Easy fix.
The drain sits nice and flush, so I replaced the back piece and added a couple of small supports close to the drain.
Then, I took my orbital sander and took off some material in the center, and progressively less toward the edges of the tray (with the most taken off being around the drain) with the hop that it would create a low spot and send the water straight down the drain and into the bucket. We shall see how well it worked in the coming days.
With that done, I sealed all of the cracks and gaps and seams with hot glue. I don’t have time to wait for caulk to dry. Bam. Instant caulk! I then applied a coat of flex seal, making sure to work it into all of the corners, seams, cracks, and cover all of the visible wood. I taped it off before I did this, as I want to stain/seal the outside perimeter to match the “rustic” wood tones ever present in our house.
I’ll add a couple more coats of flex seal over the next few days to make sure it’s nice and thick and totally waterproof, and then the project will be complete! Total cost was about $50 and I bet it will outperform most plastic drip trays available for more.
Cheers everyone! I’ll give updates as they develop!
-Chaz
My biggest complaint with previous drip trays I’ve had is the accumulation of water, eventually turning into a bacterial soup if you forget to shop vac it out. Not to mention the risk of overflow, etcetera etcetera. With my last enclosure, I plumbed the dragon strand drip tray with a drain, having it drain into a bucket, and it kind of worked. Water still sat in there and got gross.
So, I made a new one today with some wood I had laying around, and a jar of flex seal.
I didn’t pioneer this idea, I saw someone on YouTube do it and it looked like it would work like a charm. I did add a little of my own style though.
I forgot to take pictures at the beginning, but here’s the rub:
It’s a 24x24x48 enclosure, so that’s the diameter of the inside. I ripped a 2x6 on the table saw down to 1”x3”. 3 of the sides are 3” tall, the front where the service door is is 1” tall.
I cut two of the 3” boards to 24”, and one (the back) to 26”. The front is just a 1”x1” to allow the service door to open.
I nailed all of those boards to a 26”x26” piece of 1/2” plywood I had, then added 1”x1” risers around the inside perimeter to support the cage. These bear weight and allow the cage to sit down into the drip tray by 2”.
Then, I added some supports for heavy things to sit on the floor, like potted plants and a dig box (since my new Cham is a little lady). I stuck these down with a crown stapler. I set the drain in roughly where I wanted it and measured a bunch until I found where I wanted the drain to go.
I found the spot where I wanted the drain, centered and marked it, and knocked it out with a hole saw. I drilled from both sides to prevent a blowout.
I grabbed my router, and recessed the edges of the hole so the drain would sit just below flush of the plywood surface. I realized here that I needed to cut out a section of the back support so my router would fit. Would have been easier to do this before adding the support lip, whoops. Oh well. Easy fix.
The drain sits nice and flush, so I replaced the back piece and added a couple of small supports close to the drain.
Then, I took my orbital sander and took off some material in the center, and progressively less toward the edges of the tray (with the most taken off being around the drain) with the hop that it would create a low spot and send the water straight down the drain and into the bucket. We shall see how well it worked in the coming days.
With that done, I sealed all of the cracks and gaps and seams with hot glue. I don’t have time to wait for caulk to dry. Bam. Instant caulk! I then applied a coat of flex seal, making sure to work it into all of the corners, seams, cracks, and cover all of the visible wood. I taped it off before I did this, as I want to stain/seal the outside perimeter to match the “rustic” wood tones ever present in our house.
I’ll add a couple more coats of flex seal over the next few days to make sure it’s nice and thick and totally waterproof, and then the project will be complete! Total cost was about $50 and I bet it will outperform most plastic drip trays available for more.
Cheers everyone! I’ll give updates as they develop!
-Chaz
