Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys id like to first of all thank you for all your help on building these melamine cage. thanks for answering my stupid questions haha.

anyways i called to get my glass orderd. order 6 peices for 3 cages. i ordered 3/8 inch temper saftey glass.

15 3/8" x 20" 2 peices
16 3/8" x 20" 2 peices
16 3/16" x 20 2 peices

i am paying $20 and some change for each peices, making it around 125-130 after tax for all 6 peices. does this sound reasonable???

yes my measurements of my cages are a bit off from each other. i had to take an inch off the height on the top cage cause home depot messed up again cutting the side panels. instead of buying another sheet for 2 peices i found 2 that worked out of all the scrap i had left over, but instead of 24 x 24 it was 23 x 24. oh well. and of course the others are off a bit cause im not a proffesional builder haha. i did enjoy building these though, minus the headaches from people at lowes and HD. next time ill just do all the cutting myself.
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Beach Beardies

3.4.11 bearded dragons
1.0.0 Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1.0 Sugar Gliders
0.1.0 Miss Queen Athena (Cat)

I don't trust Lowes or Home Depot with cutting. Too inconsistent.

I have not priced glass in quite a while. With that said, the price you mentioned for 3/8" safety glass seems fine.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

First off I would find a glass place instead of the typical HD or lowes. If you already have found a good glass place thats great but I really only trust my glass to a glass place. For one they are better at making precise cuts and they sand and round corners for you often at no additional cost.

As far as the price that sounds great for what you needed, when I ordered my glass for my 3 stack it was closer to $160 but the glass was a little bigger in dimension not thickness.

Which brings me to my next question, is this tempered or safety glass? I have always been under the interpretation that they were different. Tempered of course is tempered and safety glass is a laminated piece of two thinner pieces. The latter is what I use in 1/4 thickness not 3/8. In reality I really don't know glass all that well but I would perfer the laminated "Safety Glass" to regular Plate or even Tempered. The glass company really helped me out they do know there glass.

yes my measurements of my cages are a bit off from each other.

Thats is just something you have to A. dal with and B. work towards perfecting. I myself take pride in the fact that every time a build a new cage I build it around the dimension of the glass from the previous cage. In fact all my Boa cages use the same size glass and have for about 5 yrs the cage wears out but the glass goes on. My older cages didn't wear out, but because they were my first attempts at caging they had some design problems, which I overcame in my new design.

Until you mentioned the glass sizing I never thought but having different glass in each cage could cause me a nightmare in my room. Granted I don't swap glass to often but the ability to change glass out among other cages is a benefit I never thought of.

did enjoy building these though, minus the headaches from people at lowes and HD. next time ill just do all the cutting myself.

That I am glad we all should enjoy the project we do, otherwise why would you even do them! LOL As far as HD and Lowes, you live, you learn, then you buy your own tools!

Good luck and lets see some pics.

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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
0.2 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
0.0.1 Youth -coming soon-

i did order my glass through a glass shop. the hell if im dealing with HD or lowes anymore. they only carry basic glass anyways.

the people at the glass shop told me when they have orders come in for aqariums and reptile cages for glass everyone uses tempered glass. they said if it shatters its similar to a car window or windshield. the laminate glass works too but they recommended tempered. im not a glass master myself but ill let you know how it is if it every shatters. *hope it doesnt*

yes from now on i will be doing things myself. first of all taking your advice and getting melamine from somewhere else, like a building supplier or lumber yard. second of all doing the cutting myself, that way if its wrong i can kick myself in the ass, not other people.

i never did think of getting all the same size glass and building my cages around that. i guess i could have cut the strips of melamine that my glass will be sitting on in different measurements. ill remember that for the future. oh well i have been kinda in a hurry with these, the next project wont be so rushed.

anyways thanks for all of your help.
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Beach Beardies

3.4.11 bearded dragons
1.0.0 Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1.0 Sugar Gliders
0.1.0 Miss Queen Athena (Cat)

the people at the glass shop told me when they have orders come in for aqariums and reptile cages for glass everyone uses tempered glass. they said if it shatters its similar to a car window or windshield. the laminate glass works too but they recommended tempered. im not a glass master myself but ill let you know how it is if it every shatters. *hope it doesnt*

That interesting because by Law, Automobiles can't use tempered Glass in the windshield, they are required to use laminated glass (what is commanly refered to as Safety Glass).

Here is some of what I know about the two types:

Laminated glass consists of two pieces of glass bonded together with a plastic interlayer, typically consisting of polyvinyl butyral ("PVB". The glass will fracture but the PVB interlayer holds the fragments together and in place in the window opening.

Tempered glass, in contrast, consists of a single layer of heat treated glass. When tempered glass breaks, the entire piece of glass shatters and flies about.

Plate Glass or annealed glass is the cheapest of the three and is the most dangerous in breaks. Often breaking into large strands vs the tiny bits like in tempered glass.

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
0.2 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
0.0.1 Youth -coming soon-

ya i figured they would have recommended laminated glass myself, so if it does shatter it holds together well and not shatter, keeping the peices from harming the animal as much as possible. at first i did want laminated glass but the lady over the phone strongly urged me for tempered. and when i called back the next day and pricing out some other places, i ordered through a different person and she also said tempered was better for reptile cages and aquariums.

if i ever have it shatter ill post how it does
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Beach Beardies

3.4.11 bearded dragons
1.0.0 Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1.0 Sugar Gliders
0.1.0 Miss Queen Athena (Cat)

I would think laminated glass would be better for sliding door tracks as the edges can still be polished and beveled, which helps with sliding. It can be done with tempered but is much more difficult.

Tempered would probably be better if the glass were mounted in a wooden frame.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

yea laminated is probably better, only cause they told me to get tempered, haha. oh well its already on order, ill just get laminated in the future. good for others who plan on building to read tho
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Beach Beardies

3.4.11 bearded dragons
1.0.0 Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1.0 Sugar Gliders
0.1.0 Miss Queen Athena (Cat)

Just so ya know I use Tempered glass for my 3 bearded dragon cages not to much fear of them breaking the glass. My Boa cages however use Safety Glass do to the occasional strike.

I like the edges on the safety glass a lot better than what they can do on the tempered glass. I will probally never buy tempered again not worth it IMO.
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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
0.2 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
0.0.1 Youth -coming soon-