My latest build progress
- Thread starter SliK JiM
- Start date
Tazjunky
Member
This is pretty much the only place that you can get this from!Rather pissed off right now, but I'll make do somehow! I have something I can use temporarily if I dont get the replacement stuff through!
gutted they F***** it up again! wish they would get it right! I cant wait to see what its going to be like! lol
SliK JiM
New Member
Great work! 3 cordless drills?!
Those corner clamps look super useful.
Look forward to seeing the finished product.
Oh yeah! There's no other way to work! One to drill a pilot, one to countersink the wood and then one to drive it in! Makes everything so much quicker!
Yeah, mitre clamps are brilliant! Mine are really cheap (got all 4 for £10 including delivery) but I will buy some better ones eventually!
gutted they F***** it up again! wish they would get it right! I cant wait to see what its going to be like! lol
Tell me about it! I need to get the replacement mesh through by Thursday at the latest to have a realistic chance of getting it ready for Friday evening when I'm getting my new cham! I have a back up in place already, but I still want to get it finished!
JAdams
New Member
Im not sure if this has been mentioned but the angles for the octagon will be 20deg.
The gaps wont matter if you use one solid piece of screen and wrap it around the inside.
My bros cage has an octagonal front. and the back is strait and it looks cool, and wasnt really that hard.
And Silk, i too cant wait to see the finished product..
And i am looking for some safe plant food for a potted plant. After that MG food is absorbed into the plant, then the cham eats a leaf, It wont hurt it? i thaught fertz were poisionous after ingested?
The gaps wont matter if you use one solid piece of screen and wrap it around the inside.
My bros cage has an octagonal front. and the back is strait and it looks cool, and wasnt really that hard.
And Silk, i too cant wait to see the finished product..
And i am looking for some safe plant food for a potted plant. After that MG food is absorbed into the plant, then the cham eats a leaf, It wont hurt it? i thaught fertz were poisionous after ingested?
exotic hippie
New Member
i thought tht too i didnt think miricle grow could go in the dirt. and this looks like its gna b such a cool cage the suspense its killing me
SliK JiM
New Member
I thought about that, but it'd be a pain to get it in place and take it down (should the need ever arise!). Would definitely do the trick though!
With response to the fertiliser, as long as the plant metabolises it first (ie the cham doesn't eat it or the soil directly) then if the cham eats the leaf of said plant, its fine. My soil gets covered in moss (this time I'm actually laying turf down!
) so that he cant directly eat the soil of the fertiliser, so there shouldn't be any issues! Trust me, the suspense (and anger) is almost killing me too! I get my new little critter on Friday and this needs to be ready!
Warrix642
New Member
The angles would be 45 degrees for no gaps with an octagon. 360 deg divided by 8 sides = 45 deg. I have been planning on making a huge octagon cage for a while now. Hopefully I can get it done soon!
SliK JiM
New Member
You are quite correct, 45' is the right angle. I didn't spot that before. Even the angle between the gaps would be 45'.
Got some good news today. They're going to send me a whole new order via special delivery! It should be here tomorrow/wednesday at the latest! Once I get going, it wont take long to build!
Warrix642
New Member
45 degrees is only half of a right angle
At least you will get some free stuff for your trouble! Can't wait to see it finished!
Tputtwhatwhat
New Member
So jealous, nice work. I want to build something similar for my next cham. I wish that screen would just arrive already!! I just used standard screen from the hardware store( same as on a window)..... Is there a reason why I should change it? I'm wondering why you had to order from the site that you did, and if I should consider doing the same?
SliK JiM
New Member
45 degrees is only half of a right angle
Too true!
Indeed! Free stuff is always good! Plus, it can go towards my next project! I'm already planning ahead....Sadly it's not a common thing here in the UK so it's dead expensive for ridiculous small sized pieces unless you can find someone who will sell it by the roll/cut off a roll. You stateside guys are lucky with that kind of stuff!
I think the stuff you're on about is ok, but if you get a choice, go for epoxy coated aluminium stuff as it's a lot better (lasts longer and doesn't break quite as easily). Plus, I've heard 'tale' of crickets being able to chew through "fabric" meshes and escape.
Warrix642
New Member
The outer angles are also 45 deg. on an octagon. If the angle is 22.5 you will end up with a 16 sided enclosure.
Monkeykungphu
New Member
Say Jim, your cages are inspiring! I love the "natural/eco" style base you're utilizing! I'll be getting a panther this summer/fall & I'm seriously thinking of mimicking (dare I say, copying!) your cage design! lol
Wanted to ask about the drainage pipe that you have going to the hydroton. Are you planning on capping this in any way? Was wondering if crickets, bugs, etc. would fall down there it may get kinda nasty after a bit. Was thinking you could just use a typical PVC pipe cap & maybe even attach a "dipstick," if you will, so when you pull it out, you could check your water level. I'm guessing you've already thought about something along these lines if you're bright enough to assemble a fantastic cage like you did.
If you have to drain the tub from this pipe, will you simply do the tube & suck siphon method, or do you have something more clever?
How's the other cage that you did (really big one) been working out as far as maintaining, cleanliness, chameleon happyness, etc.? I'm assuming not so bad if you're doing another one very similar! Any other things you change or do differently in the future besides the drain pipe from your original design?
Thanks again for posting all of this!
- Ben
Wanted to ask about the drainage pipe that you have going to the hydroton. Are you planning on capping this in any way? Was wondering if crickets, bugs, etc. would fall down there it may get kinda nasty after a bit. Was thinking you could just use a typical PVC pipe cap & maybe even attach a "dipstick," if you will, so when you pull it out, you could check your water level. I'm guessing you've already thought about something along these lines if you're bright enough to assemble a fantastic cage like you did.
If you have to drain the tub from this pipe, will you simply do the tube & suck siphon method, or do you have something more clever?
How's the other cage that you did (really big one) been working out as far as maintaining, cleanliness, chameleon happyness, etc.? I'm assuming not so bad if you're doing another one very similar! Any other things you change or do differently in the future besides the drain pipe from your original design?
Thanks again for posting all of this!
- Ben
SliK JiM
New Member
Say Jim, your cages are inspiring! I love the "natural/eco" style base you're utilizing! I'll be getting a panther this summer/fall & I'm seriously thinking of mimicking (dare I say, copying!) your cage design! lol
Wanted to ask about the drainage pipe that you have going to the hydroton. Are you planning on capping this in any way? Was wondering if crickets, bugs, etc. would fall down there it may get kinda nasty after a bit. Was thinking you could just use a typical PVC pipe cap & maybe even attach a "dipstick," if you will, so when you pull it out, you could check your water level. I'm guessing you've already thought about something along these lines if you're bright enough to assemble a fantastic cage like you did.
If you have to drain the tub from this pipe, will you simply do the tube & suck siphon method, or do you have something more clever?
How's the other cage that you did (really big one) been working out as far as maintaining, cleanliness, chameleon happyness, etc.? I'm assuming not so bad if you're doing another one very similar! Any other things you change or do differently in the future besides the drain pipe from your original design?
Thanks again for posting all of this!
- Ben
Why thanks! Feel free to copy it!
Yeah, I've got a cork bung to push into it. This will stop anything getting into it and drowning/decomposing. I thought of a dipstick type thing, but it's be hard to measure water depth this way as nothing would really leave a mark that you could check back to. If you have a little torch or something it's pretty easy to see into the bottom to see how much water there is in there (the water is crystal clear in the bottom!)
For now it's just suck on a tube and siphon. I thought there may be particles/other bits in the water from going through the soil, but as it is clean and really clear, I don't see why I couldn't attach a tiny pump to draw the water out. A small RO booster type pump should work, so I might give it a go, but so far, I've put almost 30L into the base and have only got 2-3cm of water depth at the bottom (about 3-4 litres worth) so the majority is being used by the soil/plants and now that I have turf on it, the amount I put through by misting every day shouldn't really have any impact on the level at all.
Cleanliness is great. His faeces are easy to spot and remove and the leaf litter has decreased a lot now the plants are doing much better. I have worms and other 'cleaning' bugs in there to keep things fresh and everything is working really well. Everything in there is natural, so as long as nothing get out of hand, I don't foresee there being any problems!
Yeah, the drain pipe is one thing. Ditching those useless magnetic catches for a much better latch is another improvement, but other than that, everything is great! I did have some trouble adding some additional misting nozzles after I'd finished it and got it in place (it was hard to reach the back corner of the big one!) but as long as you plan ahead and get things sorted early, it's easy! I've already built in the nozzles to this new one (including the piping) so I just need to connect it all together!
Other than that, it work perfectly which is why I've changed these few things and am doing it again!
Can't wait to get my new fella on Friday!
SliK JiM
New Member
I think he was on about the mitre on each side of the piece. As the 2 pieces when combined with a mitre of 22.5 would give you the 45 that was needed!
The problem with this would be that you'd need a table saw (or something similar), and a really steady hand to put a mitre up the entire height of the side to make it all match! Although, if you did it, it would look amazing! In other news, I spoke to the guy about the mesh yesterday and he has sent me a completely new order via special delivery, so it should be here today/tomorrow at the latest! So, watch this space as it'll be finished shortly!
SliK JiM
New Member
Finally Finished!
Well, can you believe it? It's finished! I got the mesh this afternoon and managed to finish it this evening! Some of the pictures are a bit **** as they were taken in quite a low light and I didn't want to use too much flash as Dante was in the background trying to sleep!
Anyway, here we go!
First, I took the frames apart and fixed the mesh in place before putting them back together!
I'm quite proud of the top, so here's a pic:
This tubing isn't quite flush as the T-junction is one I made out of a push in T-junction and a bulkhead adaptor (mistking dont sell the normal T adaptors in the UK yet!)
Then, I rejoined the sides:
Well, can you believe it? It's finished! I got the mesh this afternoon and managed to finish it this evening! Some of the pictures are a bit **** as they were taken in quite a low light and I didn't want to use too much flash as Dante was in the background trying to sleep!
Anyway, here we go!
First, I took the frames apart and fixed the mesh in place before putting them back together!
I'm quite proud of the top, so here's a pic:
This tubing isn't quite flush as the T-junction is one I made out of a push in T-junction and a bulkhead adaptor (mistking dont sell the normal T adaptors in the UK yet!)
Then, I rejoined the sides:
SliK JiM
New Member
Once the sides were finished, i bought them inside and put them on the base part:
Make sure the sides sit flush with the front:
Screw these in place:
Then fix the back on:
Put the misting nozzle back in place:
Then i squeezed it into place (yes, i did intend for it to be this tight!)
Get the enclosure in place and put the lighting back on and connect the misting tubes:
Make sure the sides sit flush with the front:
Screw these in place:
Then fix the back on:
Put the misting nozzle back in place:
Then i squeezed it into place (yes, i did intend for it to be this tight!)
Get the enclosure in place and put the lighting back on and connect the misting tubes:
SliK JiM
New Member
I'll will post some better pictures of it tomorrow morning when the lights are on and the room is a lot brighter! But what do you all think?!
I'll give anyone 5 points if they can see what's different in the final version of the enclosure now it is complete! Let's call it spot the difference!
I'll give anyone 5 points if they can see what's different in the final version of the enclosure now it is complete! Let's call it spot the difference!
