Screen Cage Water Tray - LLLReptile?

[gegeland]

I was wondering if anyone out there had any opinions or experience with the new drain trays that LLLReptile sells for their screen cages. I would be looking at buying the tray for the 24x24x48 cage. I am also unclear on how exactly the tray would be used. I understand that you need to drill holes in the bottom panel that comes with the cage, but then do you need to drill other holes in the drain tray? If anyone has any pictures or anything that would be great. Also any other suggestions or alternatives to the drain tray would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Garett,

I've had my hands on that new drain pan recently and it seems to be mostly what we've been waiting for . It does not come pre-drilled for the final drain line fitting since so many keepers have their own ideas of where they want that drain line to be . What you'll want to do is decide on what surface/location your are going to locate the drain pan. For example, if the drain pan will be sitting on a table where there is no access to the bottom of the drain pan then you'll want to drill your drain line hole on one of the sides of the drain pan. That hole is where you'll connect a drain tube that will go down to your drain bucket. My recommendation is that the hole you drill into the drain pan of the right diameter so that you can screw-in a 1/4 pipe thread fitting. If you are locating the drain fitting on the side of the drain pan, be sure that you place it low enough so that all of the captured water can drain out of the pan rather than having a big puddle left over. Be careful not to go too low on the side of the pan such that you actually end-up with the brass fitting below the bottom of the drain pan itself .

You can always drill and mount the brass fitting on the actual bottom of the drain pan itself so long as you place it where it doesn't interfere with whatever you are resting the drain pan on, such as a desk.

I hope all of this isn't too confusing .


Top view, looking down on the drain pan:

View of a typical brass 1/4 male pipe thread-to-male-barb fitting:

Here is one of my homemade drain pans. Note the brass fitting (tubing attached) located in the bottom corner:

Here's one (~5yrs ago) all set up with bucket too:

 

[ponders]

I just bought 2 of these and they work great. We drilled a hole in the bottom next to the back side and epoxyed in a valve. I attached black tubing running down to a bucket and voila-works great! I did tilt the table up in the front so the water would run towards to back.

 

[gegeland]

Awesome! The tipping the tray slightly so all the water drains at one end is a good idea. Thanks. One more question, are the smaller pieces that are standing up inside the tray frame that I see in both your homemade tray and the other tray for supporting the cage on top of it? Or do they serve another purpose? Thanks again for the extremely helpful posts, I was wondering how I would attach a drain tube. Now I know! Thanks.

 

[Dave Weldon]

...One more question, are the smaller pieces that are standing up inside the tray frame that I see in both your homemade tray and the other tray for supporting the cage on top of it?

Howdy Garett,

Yep, those pieces are to support your screened enclosure away from the bottom of the drain pan. They allow for the proper drainage from the enclosure as well as allow enough air flow underneath, between the enclosure's PVC bottom and the drain pan's PVC bottom so that the drain pan can dry out daily.

 

[HecticZ]

Nice I might be ordering one very soon. It will be so much eaiser to keep the cage clean.

 

[VisionaryTrance]

Would it be ideal to put newspaper on the bottom of the cage for cleanliness or is the bottom that comes with the cage by itself better for drainage? Also do you need to drill holes into the bottom that comes with the cage?