Sorry I don't have any of my custom enclosures for pics. I'm only recently getting back into reptiles after a long hiatus and need to build new enclosures to replace the ones I sold off.

I prefer plywood for my enclosures. MDF or fiberboard is way too heavy and has other drawbacks, like swelling when it gets wet, doesn't take finishes well and is not pretty. Melamine panels are made of MDF also.

Plywood grades. Plywood comes in several surface grades. A grade being the best, B the next best C grade then X

A grade is exceptional for enclosures, normally this will have and A side and a B side. The B side may have tight knots in it but should have no voids. Sometimes B sides may have little football shaped plugs where there were knots of voids that needed plugging. But this is not usually the case for B grade.

C will have tight knots and plugs and is usually backed with X grade which is just nasty.

Pine, birch, spruce and luan mahogany are your least expensive woods that plywood may be made from. Often you can find spruce and luan underlayment in A-B grade pretty cheap and these actually make fine enclosures. Pine may be a little more expensive then birch.

I prefer to start with 1/2" thickness and put the A side to the inside of the enclosure. Often I will buy 1/4" A-B and skin the outside with that so I have 2 nice surfaces to work with.

Plan your work so you get the most from each sheet of plywood before doing any cutting. I build so that I have the main box shape first and cut the back to overlap all of the sides, top and bottom.

I also make mine with a 4" recess area in the top for putting in heat lamps, fluorescent lights and all the wiring. This will have a separate door on front for changing bulbs etc. and a wire screen mesh so your snake can't get up to the heatlamp and burn himself.

I also will put a 1 x 4 across the front of the enclosure as a litter dam to keep all the bedding inside. I use a lot of sliding glass doors and litter in the tracks is a real pain. You can buy 1/4" aluminum channel at most home improvement centers to use for sliding glass doors. You can then purchase 3/16" or 1/4" plate glass from a glass shop cut to the size you need. For locks on sliding glass doors I cut lengths of 3/16" dowel to fit down into the tracks where the glass isn't. I drill a small hole in one end of each dowel and drive in a bent over 4 penny finishing nail as a little handle to lift the dowel out when I need to get inside. You can also get sliding door display locks. I don't care for these as they detract from the finished piece.

For wiring up the lighting I use the metal electrician's boxes and romex wire. For heat lamps I buy the ceramic light fixtures like you would find in a basement or closet. These will mount right to your boxes. Normally I have a double recepticle box to plug the light fixtures into, the ceramic one could also be wired directly to a box with a switch. With some snakes I will have 2 ceramic fixtures, one for a higher wattage daylight bulb and the other for lower wattage nightlight. All of these including the fluorescent have their own light switch. The ceramics I mount on one end side by side about midway from front to back. This arrangement works out well as you can have necessary lighting but the plywood door on the front hides the fixtures.

You can get fancy and use outside corner moldings to cover all the exposed plywood edges if you really want a nice piece of furniture for your display.

Polyurethane is my finish of choice most of the time.

An alternative treatment for the inside. Most home improvement centers sell 4x8' sheets of just the melamine plastic that is NOT mounted to MDF. This can be cut down and glued to the inside surfaces. Also you can find plastic shower enclosure panels that can be used in the same way.

Hope this helps, if you have questions please ask and I'll try to clarify.
-----
BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

[ Show Entire Thread ]