Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok I have decided to go ahead and try my hand at building a cage. I have never built a darned thing before. Here is the plan:

Cage size is 4'x2'x2' I'd like to do a 4'x30"x2' but I have a few boards cut from a rack already

3/4" Birch

UTH as a sole heating device attached with aquarium sealant to the floor of cage

The entire cage is going to be Birch

Here are my questions:

Can I stain it?
What do I seal the wood with?
What do I seal the cage with?
What is suggested for the door? I'd like to do a framed door that is a hinged door. I don't feel like messing with sliders.

Should I cover the inside of the cage floor with another material? Should the bottom be of a totally different board?

What I did find out (you manly types will love this one) is that it is damned hard to make straight cuts on a board with a circular saw! Hopefully the guys at Home Depot will be kind enough to straighten them out for me. I am chalking this up to the first of many disasters in this project

It is best to use a table saw when cutting wood that needs to be straight.

A hand operated circle saw is really for rough cuts before the table saw.

Home Depot (at least where I live) will cut wood for you, at least if you buy it there, so you can have the large 8x4 pieces cut down to more manageable sizes for a home table saw.

I little bird told me that BSTP might stand for Borneo Short Tailed Python, but I must admit I can't say that is true or not, please share and avoid acronyms.

>>UTH as a sole heating device attached with aquarium sealant to the floor of cage

I would avise against that application, it will waste a lot of energy. I would either go with a RHP installed on the ceiling of the cage, or flexwatt installed under a thin layer of PC or other thin material in the floor as aposed to heating through 3/4" wood.

>>Can I stain it?

Yes

>>What do I seal the wood with?

Polyurathane is probally the easiest to use but the animal is really neede to make the best call on the type or treatment.

>>What do I seal the cage with?

I assume you mean the interior seams, I would use 100% Silicone.

>>What is suggested for the door? I'd like to do a framed door that is a hinged door. I don't feel like messing with sliders.

I use only sliders, sorry.

>>Should I cover the inside of the cage floor with another material?

Lining th inside with vinyl is usually a good idea.

Should the bottom be of a totally different board?

No

>>What I did find out (you manly types will love this one) is that it is damned hard to make straight cuts on a board with a circular saw!

I use a guide that makes it a whole lot easier, HD and Lowes both sell cheap guides that work great just be patience. Either that or finda competent worker and have tehm cut it for you. remember a lot of times cabinent shops will cut wood for you exactly to you measurements for a minimal fee in some cases.

Good Luck
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.11 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
0.0.1 Youth -coming soon-

Yes, Borneo Short Tailed Pythons, sorry about that

Like Jeremy said, ditch the acronyms.

Should I cover the inside of the cage floor with another material? Should the bottom be of a totally different board?

I would definately cover the inside of the floor with some other material. Scrap Sintra or other expanded PVC found at sign shops works very well as does vinyl flooring. Fiberglass reinforced panel (FRP - see, a defined acronym) works well but is a bit harder to find as scrap and a bit harder to cut.

If you must use an under tank heater (UTH) I would not place it inside of the cage. Instead I would cut a rectangle out of the floor of the cage that is 2" longer and wider than the size of the UTH that you plan to use. Make sure that cutout stays away for the walls of the cage so it maintains structural integrity. The flooring material can be installed directly over the entire floor and the UTH can be taped underneath the flooring and inside of the opening. This provides an air spaced and makes the cage safer.

Can I stain it?

You can stain the cage. Understand, however, that staining birch plywood, especially the lower quality stuff from Home Depot (if that's where you got it) does not always yield the best results. Birch in general does not accept stains well and birch plywood is even worse. Compounding this problem is that for a reptile cage you'll probably want to use a waterborne stain which can be very blotchy.

Personally I like the look of birch ply with just a clear coat. If you do stain your cage you might look into an aniline or other type of dye that can be mixed in with a waterborne polyurethane.

What do I seal the wood with?
What do I seal the cage with?

Isn't this the same question since the cage will be made of wood?

Regardless, if you do use a plastic floor then I believe that a waterborne poly is sufficient for the walls of the cage. I would avoid the oil-based polyurethanes. They can offgas solvents for years and are not even supposed to be used in drawers that hold your socks much less a reptile cage.

Of the readily available waterborne polurethanes, I like the Varathane Diamond Poly for a plywood cage, not the Diamond floor or spar finish. If you live near a woodworking speciality store there are some even better WB polys.

What is suggested for the door? I'd like to do a framed door that is a hinged door. I don't feel like messing with sliders.

Sliders are much easier to build and generally considered to be more attractive due to the more open look. I prefer how they function compared to a hinged door but if you prefer hinged then that is what you should build. I think the easiest way to do this is to build a frameless hinged door from acrylic, sort of like what you see with Boaphile and other cages. But this is more expensive.

Lastly, you can cut your ply better than Home Depot can. The blade on their panel saws will chip birch plywood pretty bad. Just invest in a good blade and edge-guide for your saw. A carpenter's square will be useful as well.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

I'll rethink the door options.

The UTH I already had but I do use RHPs in all my other cages so perhaps I need to rethink this as well.

I also like the unstained look as well. I think I will just seal it as you said. It looks so clean that way.

Hehe my first trip round with saw isn't so horrid. I am off about a total of an inch on all my pieces. I am going to get the edge and try to square it all up. I also need to pick up another piece since half of the other sheet went for a rack project that was abandoned.

I do have one questions which may be very stupid but here goes...

I see people build the sides sitting on the floor piece and also sitting outside the floor. Does this make any difference in strength? I plan to stack 3 of these cages and my husband is a little worried about support.

Thanks guys for helping me with this. I am definitely outside of my comfort zone on this one. I can bake biscotti but building isn't as easy.

I was outside of my comfort zone with my first cage project as well. But it came out fine and still functions today and I found I really enjoy designing and building cages. But having square and correctly sized panels will make this project so much easier so I do encourage you to take care of that somehow.

I do have one questions which may be very stupid but here goes... I see people build the sides sitting on the floor piece and also sitting outside the floor. Does this make any difference in strength? I plan to stack 3 of these cages and my husband is a little worried about support.

Actually a very good question. There are two reasons why you'll see the sides on the outside of the cage. The primary reason is due to ease of building as it means less cutting. The only reason I have used it is in order to leave enough room for 4' light fixtures. However, it is not as strong.

The ideal way, assuming you're not going to attempt dado or rabbet joints, is to have the top and bottom panel sit on top of the sides. The back panel should fit between the two sides AND the top and bottom panels. For a cage without dados and rabbets I do like to use a solid back for extra strength. It adds weight but I think it's worthwhile weight. You can cut down on weight by cutting large rectangles out of the floor and covering it with plastic - something that is a good idea anways.

Now the face frame is a different story. Were you planning on real wood face frame our just building substrate dams from leftover plywood?
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

I am undecided on the front. I haven't seen many that weren't hinged. I would like it to be eye pleasing for sure since its going to be some of the only furniture in my room. I was nosing around Home Depot last night and saw the Lexan for sliding doors but I guess they don't sell tracks for it?

Some people have found sliding tracks at Home Depot, albeit without the help of any employee. I always order mine. Outwater is about as cheap as I have found although you have to buy 12'.

Sorry

And I was trying to figure out why you needed a cage for a Bell South Telephone Pole! Go Figure!! LOL