Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am about to build two new enclosures. One will hous a burm the other a retic. I was planning either 8'x2'x18" or 6'x2'x18". I was thinking 1/2" plywood with silding glass doors. My question is would melamine be a better choice or would plywood work well enough? Which one would hold up better and would be easier to heat. I haven't decided on how to heat yet.

The quick and easy answer is niether. Both Melamine and straight ply will not hold up to the urates of either species, by themselves. However, with an additional protection such as useing a laminate, or perhaps PVCX for a floor and up the walls, and using a protective finish on the ply. You can get the additional protection required. Even vinyl flooring over a painted interior is better than ply or melamine by itself.

So the long answer is you need something else to protect the interior than just melamine or ply alone. Which one, since there are many options is really up to you, and totally based on the material you decide apon. Basically you really need to decide what you want the cage to look like and what materials you have the ability and tools to work with.

As far as your dimensions I think you should re-think them, based on animal size. Basically an 8' cage is a good size but impossible to move around door ways in and out of buildings can be difficult. 8' cages are easy to construct because sheet material comes in 8' lengths. However, it also comes in 5' lengths or 60", not from the big Home Improvement stores, you need to find a cabinent supplier or a wood supplier that sells the shorter stuff.

With the ability to get shorter ply you can economically construct 2 cages both 5' in length. You can still do it with the 8' material but there will be a bit of waste. If you build the 2 5' cages you can bolt them together and have one 10' cage much better than a single 8' cage and far easier to move. You could even latter down the road build a third cage to add to the origional two.

IMO the two cages is a better setup but it is your cage.

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-

I did plan on a floor covering of some typey but hadn't decided on a specific one yet. The enclosure I have now I didn't build but did make changes to. I did put down a vinyl floor in it. Making two five foot cages to bolt together is a good idea though. I might look to do that. Thanks.

If you are interested in the 2 bolted together, I suggest you call lumber suppliers and track down some Baltic Birch ply it often comes in 5'x5' sheets. Depending on your style of fronts, I use solid wood stained, you could make each cage from 2 sheets of the 5'x5'.

I would finish IE stain (outside) and coat the wood (with polyurathane) than on the inside of cage laminate vinyl flooring to the walls and floor. You could just do the first few inchs of the wall but I find it easier to just do the entire wall. If you polyed the wood under the vinyl it would serve as a good second barrier should the vinyl floor ever fail. The vinyl floor is easy to replace down the road should that every happen.

I would recommend useing 3/4" ply its a little heavier but the extra thickness makes up a lot of strength and wouldn't require an interior framework to support it. You could do the same with 1/2" but its a bit more tricky to get the joints right for the novice woodworker.

Good Luck and feel free to post additional questions.

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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 didnt use melmaine for my huge ball python cage....is 5 feet long and guess what...im able to heat it perfectly with one 50 watt black light....if you want it to hold heat and go cheaper put a couple coatings of polyerthyne spray on the inside....works great i got the stuff at lowes...also really helps to keep the humidity in
jake

While I am sure your method worked just fine for your Ball Python, I don't think it will stand up to the urates of a Burm or retic. Speaking from experiance in keeping a large Burm.

Now with that said what was the Product you used? You sprayed it on? Like spray paint? Or did you use an HVLP gun and a traditional poly?

I myself use the varathane products for my poly applications just curious about the product you used.

Thanks
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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-