My latest build progress

[Tazjunky]

dont think there is anything in particular that im after really! I think if i make mine il put some flexiglass in the side and back and just mesh the front, its cold up here in newcastle! looking forward to the guide! get cracking. lol.
just out of curiosity, how big/tall are the screens that you have there?

 

[SliK JiM]

dont think there is anything in particular that im after really! I think if i make mine il put some flexiglass in the side and back and just mesh the front, its cold up here in newcastle! looking forward to the guide! get cracking. lol.
just out of curiosity, how big/tall are the screens that you have there?

You're in the UK! Good stuff! I keep my cham in a fairly small room so the temps stay pretty sweet. Plex-glass will be fine, but try to make your room around the enclosure brighter than the enclosure as then your cham wont see any reflections of itself. So put it in quite a well naturally lit room!

Each side is 2' x 5' (well, roughly, as he footprint is 2' x 2' so the sides are a little shorter due to the thickness of the wood).

I was hoping to get it finished today, but my mesh never showed up last week (slightly annoyed by this) so I guess i'll be next week when its all done. I'll get writing the first bit this week though.

What cham do you want to build your enclosure for?

 

[Tazjunky]

2x5, thats pretty tall! then you got the base on the bottom too? massive! lol.

We have a dining room that isnt being used at all so I wanted to get another cham (already have 2 Pygmy set-ups on the go with eggs in incubation as well) that could be shown off in a big set-up. Was thinking of a veiled as I know they need less humidity than panthers, but then i really like panthers! toying with Side Stripes too as then I could have a group in the one set-up.

decisions decisions! lol

 

[SliK JiM]

Yeah, I like giving my chams lots of room. The one i built my veiled is 3' x 4' x 6' not to mention the base adding another 1.5'! Eventually I will put a divider in this to make it into 2 enclosures that I can use for breeding if I ever get round to it, but the 2' x 2' x 5' will be my standard size from now on (works well with the wood I buy meaning I have enough from using only 2 packs - something like £18 for both!). I'm getting a panther soon (hopefully if I can find a blue bar ambilobe!) so dont worry too much about it as you can always buy another!

 

[Tazjunky]

wow cheap wood! where did u get it from?
had a look at the mesh! pricey for the amount needed!

 

[jpm995]

Great work. Would love to watch you useing those 3 drills at once.

 

[SliK JiM]

Great work. Would love to watch you useing those 3 drills at once.

Ha ha ha! It is something quite impressive to behold!

wow cheap wood! where did u get it from?
had a look at the mesh! pricey for the amount needed!

Wickes. I use the 12mm x 32mm x 2.1m lengths. Get 10 in a pack and I needed 2 packs to complete my design (making 2 frames each side!). I'll have some more pictures online soon (they're just uploading!)

 

[SliK JiM]

How much mesh were you after? I got 3m at 1.2m wide for £20 including delivery! That's a great price! www.themeshcompany.com yeah?

 

[SliK JiM]

Right, as promised, here are some more pictures.

This is just the waterproofing of the base.

I laid my polytubing material on top of the bottom:

Then weighed it down with some bricks:

Some nice folding and some stapling later:

Then I added the rim that will attach the top to the bottom and also cover up the staples I just put in to keep the water level below them:

Then I washed my hydroton before I put it into the base:

Then with the top part on (excluding the door as I took that apart to add mesh to but then realised I didnt have enough!

The tube into the hydroton layer is for removing water if it ever gets too full. It shouldn't, but it's better to be safe than sorry! I will put a bung or something into the open end so nothing can get into (to stop any drowning comments!) I'm tempted to plant it today, but that'll make it pretty heavy and hard to move. Still, would be nice to be making some progress while I await my mesh!

 

[Tazjunky]

How much mesh were you after? I got 3m at 1.2m wide for £20 including delivery! That's a great price! www.themeshcompany.com yeah?

how come you only got 3 meters? surely if the panels are 5' high you need 5/6 meters?

 

[SliK JiM]

how come you only got 3 meters? surely if the panels are 5' high you need 5/6 meters?

It works out that each side requires roughly 0.6m x 1.5m with the wood thickness pinching in on wither side! So I will literally split it into 4 pieces and I'm done! I have some spare from my last build to fill the small 0.6m x 0.6m square for the top! I planned the width/height to work this way with the mesh and wood!

 

[Monkeykungphu]

Very nice looking enclosure! Gives me some good ideas for mine. Thanks for posting your pictures!

 

[SliK JiM]

Very nice looking enclosure! Gives me some good ideas for mine. Thanks for posting your pictures!

You're welcome! It's looking better now it has some plants in it (I planted it yesterday - pics will come next weekend). I'm just hoping the mesh gets here this weekend then I can really finish it off!

 

[Sir Spiral Tail]

that is amazing...i will have to find a way to work that out for mine to add some height

 

[SliK JiM]

Thanks! Just make the bottom exactly the same so that the rim of the base will sit inside the bottom of your enclosure! Then you could add a few feet downwards to add more height on top!

 

[Sir Spiral Tail]

for sure...I need to build a new one for my next enclosure

 

[SliK JiM]

Why dont you just build a new one now and move your cham into that one and keep the old one for a new cham?

 

[Sir Spiral Tail]

Well, i get a new baby today, so i do have one that will need it soon. I think i might just do that...

 

[SliK JiM]

Well that's that settled! I better get this finished to give you some ideas!

 

[Sir Spiral Tail]

right on then! I am sure my grandfather has some spare supplies, i am gonna head out there this weekend, and get something together