Diving into the world of diy

[shogun607]

Ok so i am looking to start making my own enclosures and i have not made any before so i was wondering what you guys use for materials? Tell me any tips ya got what kinda wood you use screen.glass,paint, sealant the works. Also with the painting and the stuff i been seeing people do to Styrofoam hides what is the safest stuff i can use so i dont hurt my pets in any way.
If anyone can shed some light on this noob it be sweet i am getting more and more reptiles it seems and cages at the pet store are pricey. Thanks :main_thumbsup:

 

[nater]

What will you be putting in there?

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

A bit more info is needed...such as species, quantity, size of enclosure, budget, etc. Its a little hard to give actually useful tips without knowing your goals with the project

 

[shogun607]

A bit more info is needed...such as species, quantity, size of enclosure, budget, etc. Its a little hard to give actually useful tips without knowing your goals with the project

Lol sorry about that was not thinking im probably gonna have a few projects that i would like to get going 1 at a time of course. i would like to make a rack for my geckos. Then i need to make a tank for my bearded dragon his tank now is getting a bit small for him. AN last of what i would like to make would be probably a nice size tank for a few of my female geckos my fav's probably would be 2-3 of them in there and i want to make the tanks inside look cool.
As far as size goes for the gecko tank w/e is good to hold 3 of them and give them enough room to move and be happy. The bearded dragon probably make a good size one 4 x 2 x 2 (if my dimensions are right in my head.) And for a budget as cheap as we can go with out skimping on making it look decent to the eyes. thanks again sorry about the lack of info.

 

[ChristinaJ]

melamine is the easiest material to get as far as rack building goes, and attaching heat tape is super easy, or you can use a router and make groves to fit heat cable into, both work great from my experience, but I prefer heat tape. I personally have many racks made from melamine that I am in the process of replacing with XPVC ones, they are more expensive to make but alot lighter. I'm moving soon which led to me replacing them, because my melamine ones are HEAVY. I need help anytime I need to move them.

 

[GeckoCrossing]

melamine is the easiest material to get as far as rack building goes, and attaching heat tape is super easy, or you can use a router and make groves to fit heat cable into, both work great from my experience, but I prefer heat tape. I personally have many racks made from melamine that I am in the process of replacing with XPVC ones, they are more expensive to make but alot lighter. I'm moving soon which led to me replacing them, because my melamine ones are HEAVY. I need help anytime I need to move them.

Where do you get your XPVC? I've been thinking about making my next rack out of it instead of melamine for the exact same reason.

 

[ChristinaJ]

call sign shops in your area, that's what I had to do. It's about 50$ a sheet but honestly, It's so much nicer, easier to clean, and I am pretty sure it's at least half as heavy as my melamine ones, I am able to move them around myself with no problem. I used 1/2 thick because it was easier to use screws and work with and I used a hot glue gun to make solid seems between the pieces where I joined them together (the glue melts the plastic because of some chemical reaction and bonds it together). Only negative is the price which is why I am doing it pretty gradually, I've manages to replace alittle over half of my racks, but no where near done haha

 

[ChristinaJ]

oh, a sheet of it is 96" X 48" so normal "sheet" size, and you can get any color you want, but I went basic and just used black.

 

[GeckoCrossing]

Thanks for the info Christina. I've been calling sign shops and suppliers for the last two hours and can't find it for anything near $50. The cheapest I've found is $120 a sheet... blah >< Still looking though. So maybe I'll find something =)

 

[ChristinaJ]

you might to try these suppliers, you'd have to pick it up of course and not sure exactly where you are in GA, but both places have locations there. None were with-in 3 hrs of me so I just went the sign shop route. I had to call about 30 places and explain that I needed it for gecko racks...went over real well haha, but I finally did find a place. Sintra and Komatex are the brands you want to look for, they have a good heat rating and are decently priced.

http://www.piedmontplastics.com

http://www.lairdplastics.com