finishd enclosure

[slof]

heres some pics i took as i was buildin a home for the newset addition to my collection

i used a cubord/draw/dresser kind of thing as a base and built all the parts seperate then gradualy fixed them all together so it slides in and out i used the shelf that was all ready there as a base for a secon floor level. i glue gunned a mesh roof on it and fixd the uv bulb to the top as ther were fixings for a lite before

this is the base

the sides and back are made from 3 peces of osb tht i stained to make look nicer then glued and scred together useing lenths of batton

the door frame was just screwd on to the side walls

the doors are just lenths of batton screwd in eatch corner with mesh held on by U nails and glue gun

used branches and fake ivey for climing and scred them in to the floor and walls so there stable and then wood chips at the bottem

and thts the finished product coz 35 qwid for all the meteriaals then with the lite and every thing eles came to £80 in the end so all in all i saved my self £300 on wat i was goin to get

 

[SoCaliSon]

Nice... I have been wanting to try a project like this for a while...Never got around to it... Looks awesome!

 

[kenya]

Why is there a leopard gecko in the bottom?

You can't mix species- if you want to put a cham in there, you will need to remove the bark chips on the bottom, set up drainage and put lots more sticks and foliage in- I would suggest a schefflera. So long as that is taken care of and you have your lighting correct and enough airflow, that will be a nice enclosure =)

 

[SoCaliSon]

Lol... Looks like I missed a few thing...Big things!

I didn't notice the gecko..But yeah...whats up with that???

Ditch the wood chips... Very Dangerous risk of ingesting them.

You would want to consider no substrate at the bottom and a way to deal with all the water that should be able to be sprayed on the inside... You may want to refinish the wood, and provide somekind of means of drainage.

 

[slof]

forgot to mention im not pickin my cham up yet but as my dum ass cat decided to nock the geckos tank off and crack it nerly in half i dint rellie have much option to her in there

 

[SoCaliSon]

You are going to want to find a away sterilize that thing after the gecko is out and the cham is going in... I don't how you would do that with wood.

Also I hope you are not considering keeping them both together as an option.

 

[slof]

ok im gunna have to rethink as the wood chips were suggested by the reptile shop any ideas would be grate thanks

 

[slof]

no i may be new to this but i wasent thikin of that its a temp thing untill i get a chance to got and get another tank

 

[SoCaliSon]

I promise you that the wood chips is not the only bit of bad advice they gave you. They will tell you anything to sell you anything... that is the rule about shops. You will recieve good info from experienced keepers here. Maybe look through some pics of other peoples enclosures and get ideas before you move forward.

Things you want to consider...

• Drainage (You will be spraying a lot of water in there.)
• Air Flow
• Lighting(You want it to be outside the cage so it is not accesable to the animal)
• Waterproofing the wood.
  
  I am sure I am forgetting something else...

 

[SoCaliSon]

no i may be new to this but i wasent thikin of that its a temp thing untill i get a chance to got and get another tank

Okay just checking... You would be suprised the things some people will try... No offense ment, Just trying to help you get on the right track.

 

[slof]

ok thanks well i was thikin where the step is if i put the plants on the lower part in like a shallow perspecs or platick tub then mesh or net across then i can slide it in and out to empty/clean and the wood has been treatd so its water proof

 

[slof]

and thanks for the help at least i no now the reason i joind up rellie as im a bit off a noob i dnt want to go making mistakes and end up making him ill or worse kill it

 

[SoCaliSon]

I wish more people would come here to ask questions like you instead of taking everything the pet stores tells them as accurate.

 

[slof]

the wood chippngs have gone just a few qustions about plants wats best to get wat am i looking to pay for one and wat do i need to do to look after it and can i have real and artificchal plants together?

 

[beenpanced]

I wish more people would come here to ask questions like you instead of taking everything the pet stores tells them as accurate.

Unfortunatly when alot of people first come here to ask questions their chams are bad off thanks to good ol' big money petstores.

I have a question about the materials you used for your enclosure. You said you used OSB Plywood. I think this may be a real problem for you. The major disadvantage of OSB is that if it gets exposed to significant amounts of water or moisture, the edges expand by up to 15%. . .especially if they are cut edges. And don't forget that because OSB retains so much water that bacteria and mold growth is unavoidable. I'm in construction, mainly repairs and upgrades, so I see and repair ALOT of bad OSB.

 

[slof]

:S shiz!!!! um any ideas on how i could seal it?

 

[beenpanced]

Hmm....I'm not quite sure how to seal it. I'm sure you could soak it in a water sealant but I 'm not real sure that would be safe for your cham. Let me think about it. I might come up with something. I'm sorry for giving bad news! But your on the right track! I think DIY is so great. Its really shows an effort by owners that they are willing to do anything to make their chams happy.

 

[slof]

its somthing differnet and i enjoyd making it just let me know if u come up with any thing the only other thing i can think of is lingin the inside with perspects or some sort of clear plastick then using aquerium selaer to make it water tite?

 

[beenpanced]

I'm sure plastic sides with sealer would work, the plastic might not be super cheap though . Try to keep in mind that ventalation is important too. I saw that the front was mesh but I've never owned a cage that had most the sides are covered. I've seen a few pics of some on here though and they seemed okay. Maybe someone with such an enclosure will speak up.

 

[bucky]

ok im gunna have to rethink as the wood chips were suggested by the reptile shop any ideas would be grate thanks

Idea:NEVER listen to anyone at a petstore...