Drainage Systems for Cages - get creative!

This is my drainage system that I designed myself. I used shower liner and a wooden frame.

The drain goes into a bucket underneath the enclosure
 

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Here's what I'm doing for my new set up. They are "all purpose trays" from Lowes. Only $5. They can be drilled easily. They won't fit standard sized purchased cages but are ideal for custom set ups. I used MistKing bulkheads and fittings to drain them to a bucket.





 
home depot find.

Not sure if anyone else saw these but when i did i knew i can make this work for my four cages. they need a little modifacation but they will do the job I need and look decent too! they were only 39.99 and will post pics when its done.

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Where did you get these, or what did you make them out of?

I used Coroplast and hot glue. In my experiences i've learned that using the hot glue to hold the pieces and then using 3 hour rain-ready silicone sealer is best to join the pieces. The silicone is more forgiving because it can flex a bit and it will fill in the gaps better than hot glue.

Coroplast has flutes running in one direction that make it super easy to cut, in that direction, but you'll want a large straight edge when cross cutting the flutes. I always cut the longest cut with the flutes and tried to keep short cuts on the cross cut.
 
Not sure if anyone else saw these but when i did i knew i can make this work for my four cages. they need a little modifacation but they will do the job I need and look decent too! they were only 39.99 and will post pics when its done.

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I would love to see this when its done.
 
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I have a spare bathroom that's never used. Considering a set up in the shower for easy drainage.
 
For glass bottom drainage, you normally use clay balls to soak up the water, or you can run a pump out into a bucket for extra drainage. Hope that helps!
 
Finished these guys up yesterday! took about $200 total for all four with supplies including 2 inch hole saw bit. I sealed the mdf with silicone and used it to seal the plastic and acts like a glue. I also went ahead and sealed all around the edges just in case one day it did get to wet but the way I have the misters going they dry up in 30 mins or less. Drainage is with a flush fit 2 inch drain at the bottom. I drilled a hole on each side of the drain and hung 2.5 qt plastic buckets to catch any overflow. These are just in case like I said I shouldnt have any water overflow from the plants ill have at the bottom of the cage. I am extremly happy with how they came out. during the summer i plan on putting casters on the bottom. here are some pics!

first is the plastic top before being siliconed down.
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second is the drain from the inside of the cabinet
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third shows how flush the drain site in the plastic
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Almost finished look
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I purchased a cheap vanity with top at The Home Depot. It was $80. Drilled small holes in the bottom of the Rebtibreeze screen cage and it drips into the sink and then down into a small rubbermaid trashcan I have underneath where I also keep all of my supplies and bugs.
 

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Cage drains into indoor turtle pond

Here's the shelf. Rear legs rest on a window sill. Front is suspended with a hanging kit that came with some leds I ordered for one of my tanks.


The legs...


The hardware...


Houses a premium veiled from fl chams. Newtons bloodline
 
My least costly enclosure

I had a great time looking over many of the enclosure ideas in this forum.
I found "Super girl,s" to be the most practical and least costly for my den/office.
Thanks so much "Super girl".:D Chance Leon is "super" happy now!
So is my wife by the way. I am no longer ruining the wood tabletop the enclosure used to sit on.
I used a shallower Rubbermaid tub to catch the water and the 36"x18"x72" wire shelf unit is still $40 at Target if you order it on line and pick it up. I set mine up almost exactly like hers except the shallower tub allowed for another shelf to be used.
Sorry I could not upload a photo of it right now.
Greg
 
Getting there

Getting the enclosure set up for a chameleon coming from a forum member in a few weeks and thought I would share some pictures of my drainage. I found this cabinet on craigslist and it matched the dimensions of my Reptibreeze perfect so I bought it. It was in pretty rough shape, the corners were bowed out from moisture, It looked like it had been thrown together from scraps laying around someones house. I wanted to make it look nice so I spent the day sanding and squaring the corners up all the way around and prepping it for paint. I found a 2" bath tub drain and drilled a hole through the center of the Reptibreeze bottom and through the top of the cabinet and put the drain through to drain into a small bucket. There is a slight dip in the center of the cage so the water should have no problems making it to the drain without going out onto the carpet. The lip however will cause some water to stay behind. nothing that some paper towels can't handle while cleaning. So far I am pretty happy with it. I have turned it into a nice simple and fairly inexpensive one piece enclosure.

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Custom stand and drainage tray...

I recently worked on the stand and drainage tray for the two screen enclosures I have. I customized an extra metal shelving unit that I wasn't using in the garage. This one I used because it has big casters on it and would make it easy to go in and out of my screened in porch for the cooler months here in FL. I cut the length down to a manageable height with my chop saw and metal cutting blade. I built the drip pan out of 2x4's and 1/4" luan underlayment that was flexed to create a water path the a small bar drain. I caulked the joints let cure, and then sprayed the entire pan and edges w/ the Flex Seal stuff in a can. So far my plan has worked perfectly. Even though the pan slants to the middle in all 4 directions, I cut pieces of PVC pipe the right length for all 4 corners of each cage to make both enclosure level and up off the floor of the drip pan. There is about a 1/2" slant from the outside edge to the middle where the drain is located. Bottoms of both enclosure have 8 or 10 holes drilled in the center.
My dripper is custom home version that I did up off of Psychobunny's DIY rain attachment. Mine is all gravity fed from the reservoir on the top, a valve out of the resvoir, and a valve on each line going to each enclosure.
 

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Getting the enclosure set up for a chameleon coming from a forum member in a few weeks and thought I would share some pictures of my drainage. I found this cabinet on craigslist and it matched the dimensions of my Reptibreeze perfect so I bought it. It was in pretty rough shape, the corners were bowed out from moisture, It looked like it had been thrown together from scraps laying around someones house. I wanted to make it look nice so I spent the day sanding and squaring the corners up all the way around and prepping it for paint. I found a 2" bath tub drain and drilled a hole through the center of the Reptibreeze bottom and through the top of the cabinet and put the drain through to drain into a small bucket. There is a slight dip in the center of the cage so the water should have no problems making it to the drain without going out onto the carpet. The lip however will cause some water to stay behind. nothing that some paper towels can't handle while cleaning. So far I am pretty happy with it. I have turned it into a nice simple and fairly inexpensive one piece enclosure.

IMG_20140727_164136_054.jpg

IMG_20140827_170729_259.jpg
IMG_20140827_170753_313.jpg

IMG_20140827_170917_522.jpg

I'm not sure if you're planning on cup feeding, but if you were to put crickets straight into the enclosure they may escape through the drain. It might be worth it to put some mesh or something over the drain. Awesome setup!
 
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