Hi Scott,



In both of the cages pictured I used prefabricated plastic glass track. In the bearded dragon cage I used the "tan" glass track made by Knap and Vogt (spelling??). As you can see in the picture the track is more of any orange. I was not happy with the color but used it anyways.



I originally used a sand substrate in that cage and the floor was 6.25" below the track. With about 1" of sand the dragon was easily able to fill the track with sand (by digging) and the doors did not slide well. He was having impaction problems so we switched him to a bran substrate and then raised the floor area 2" on the cool end and 3" on the warm end.



The track was a bit beat up from the sand so I buffed it with a dremel and the appropriate attachment. I then rubbed in a silicone lubricant and it now works wonderfully. The bran does not cause the doors to sieze like the sand did.



In the large oak cage we used the brown plastic glass track from Rockler. It looks great on that cage and it's what I'd use in the future. I'm not sure what the practical size limit is for glass doors and plastic track, but I can assure you these doors slide well. For reference, the doors in that cage are about 31" tall and 26" wide. We used the silicone lubricant with these doors from the start.



Even with doors this big you can nudge them with your finger and they slide open.



When building your own cages sliding doors are a great option. You can control how high or low the lips are which can help keep substrate out of the track(s). Also, these tracks are beveled on the bottom to funnel debris away from the sliding glass. Lastly, when you order the glass you can have the edges buffed appropriately for plastic track. Same would hold true for acylic or lexan doors, I suspect.



With the sliding glass doors on many pre-fabricated cages you do not always get these features. Often the tracks are flat (i.e. not beveled) and of low quality. Also, in some cases they seal the ends of the glass doors with plastic U channel, making for poor sliding.



Regarding the hardwood glass tracks, I understand there are very few woods that are appropriate for this. They do make hardwood tracks if you really want to use them.



If you route your own make sure you 1) use the appropriate wood, and 2) have the wood clamped perfectly straight and parallel with the fence on your router table or parallel with whatever guide you use with your router.



For larger doors the aluminum tracks with wheels and/or guides would probably be better. I've never used these and don't know how they work with substrate build up, etc. Junglehabitats would be the person to ask.

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