>>Has anyone ever seen, made, or heard of snake cages or racks being made from wooden shipping pallets? We have a quite a few at work, and they end up burning them which seems like a waste to me...



Everyone on here has thrown in a wealth of info and all are from individuals that have been through the cage building process.



When you said wooden pallets, and seams like a waste. To me that means either you are pinchin' the penny, hate the abusive waste that mankind throws upon the earth, or like the look of knotty planks.



There are solutions to any of the three, but like mentioned before it will tike a fair amount of work because pallets as they are can't be used as is.



First off knowing your material is the best start cheap pallets are made of pine however there are a few companies that have Oak and even Maple pallets. Mind you its not #1 grade lumber but its workable.



The planks alone as mentioned and IMO won't make much of an enclosure. Dimensional solid wood is prone to warping in a reptile enclosure, particualrly due to the high and heat high humidity nature of the beast.



The look however can be achieved. I myself had melamine cage carcases fronted with solid wood. That's an option although the planks will require a lot of work. If they start as 3/4" material after cleaning/removal of foregin material, milling and dimensioning the boards. You will be lucky to have 1/2" material, but that is still workable.



Often times in the forum we see the loan individual keeper that has a single centerpiece enclosure. A centerpiece enclosure is the perfect project for a skinned cage. By that I mean using inert material PVC or even melamine or ply to build the cage carcass. Then fronting all exposed sides with lath or fronts made from the recycled pallet material.



In fact depending on the room decor in which its placed a white melamine cage fronted with panels of pine or white oak (from recycled pallets). Stained with a gray wash and sealed with a WB poly would look pretty good. Think about looking at an old shipping crate from the 30's like those in Indiana Jones. Just with wash for color and a window for viewing the animal.



So there are ways to utilize the material, most require a fair amount of woodworking, but that's fun to learn. Rest assured grabbing a box of nails a hammer and a handsaw won't be the best way to approach a cage with the material suggested.



I myself salvage old pallets for winter storage, or compost pile cribbing. Of course the best use is summer bon fires...



Best of Luck
-----
Jeremy Payne

JB Reptile



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