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Here's how it is turning out Chris and Mr. Hurt...

The dimensions are not what I had planned at first but I went for the easiest cuts while keep it as big as I could. I still had to fit it in the door. The dimensions to accomplish all of this ended up being 8'6"x4'x 3'3". Tehere is a flase bottom that you can see in the picture of the back to allow for 1 1/2" rigid foiled covered insulation and a 3/4" gap for heat radiation. The middle supports are divided to allow strength for the top piece and to allow me to slide a panel in and out of the cage. The cage will have 2 framed windows and a hinged door covering the slide spot that will be locked. I think it's going well but wanted to update you on this one.

progress...

I can't type

I would put some sort of cross beam on the bottom underneath, from front to back, in the center of the cage, otherwise you're going to get some sag. If I recall correctly, Burms are heavy! Do you know what I mean? I hope I explained that well enough.
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Jason Dowell

Thanks! You can't see under the bottom but there are supports that run front to back that allow for the unsulation and a 3/4" gap for the heat to radiate up from. Tehy weren't fun to put in but they are there

Thanks for watching my back =)

Looks good! Noticed you went with one vs the two cages bolted together what changed your mind, or am I just not recalling correctly.

What type of stain will you use?
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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
0.0.10 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
1.0 Child

Honestly, number of cuts changed my mind hehe. I also didn't like a few pictures I saw of how you bolt them together. I opted for more flat surface. I have a heap of WB Polycrylic. I was going to just go to town with it on the cage. I have one coat on now but it's a major deal painting this thing. I have to climb inside it and all that. I will use that plastic shower liner sheeting for the bottom as I have done in the other cages. Lexan doors framed in plywood and heated with RHP PH23 24"x36" Proproducts.

The only thing I am sitting here pondering now is where to put the vetns. Any suggestions?

>>The only thing I am sitting here pondering now is where to put the vetns. Any suggestions?

If you go with the RHP I would vent the oppisite upper corner with an adjustable vent. This would allow for an appropriate cool end 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
0.0.10 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
1.0 Child

If you do go with a rigid shower liner still go ahead and seal the cage floor first, with at least as many coats as you'll use on the walls.

And I would go ahead a pay a few extra bucks for something that is actually rated for use in a shower. I say that only because a lot of what is called showerboard in herpetoculture is not actually rated for use in a shower. It's not always easy to tell apart.

If you want to save some weight you can even cut some holes in the floor that the shower board will install over.

Otherwise, the cage is looking good. I assume you made sure it will fit into its final resting spot? That's a huge cage.

Don't worry too much about where to put the vents. I do like ventilation lower in a cage, especially one that tall. But you can always add or seal off ventilation so it's not a huge deal either way.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

Chris,

The liner I am using is those 4x8 sheets of flexible plastic. Showerboard in my mind is that hard patterned stuff. This stuff you can roll up. I always seal the entire cage then caulk it then add the liner and caulk it in too.

I never understood those low vents. Why are they so low? Don't you lose heat where you want it like that?

I have a finished basement where all of these cages go. This cage gets an entire wall. I admit it's huge but not as huge as I was going to make it. It fits in the doorway and into the spot with no room to spare. That is why I had to cut down on the original size I planned. I forgot about the doorways lol. That would have been awful to do all this work and then not be able to get it in the house.

Okay, I know the shower liner stuff you are talking about. What does that sell for nowadays?

Low vents in a tall cage allow for heavier-than-air gasses to escape, which can especially be a problem in taller cages for snakes like burmese pythons.

Heat escape is an issue, no doubt, but remember you are heating this cage with a radiant heat source so you won't see the same degree of convective currents that we normally think of with homes.

Besides, with the way you insulated this cage you'll probably find yourself wanting a bit of heat loss just to have a proper thermal gradiant. My bearded dragon cage had a huge amount of ventilation with its false ceiling and even in the winter I had trouble keeping the cool end cool enough.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

Okay, so should the vents be the middle of the sides of the cage cage or a few inches off the bottom? Do I want these vents on the sides of the cage or in the back wall? Do I want one on the hot side of the cage? After all those answers, I'll be ready to cut them. The vents I bought are those 2"x5 or 6" grates. I usually just cover them with foil backed tape when I want to close them off. Thanks for your help again.

Those sheets sell here for about $15 4'x8' sheet at Home Depot. I like them because you can cut them with a blade or scissors to any size you need. I have them in all of my cages. I thought about the rigid liners but his material is so easy to work with that I won't mind replacing it when I need to.

After living in there for two days painting this thing, I am removing my spacer/supports and rebuilding them so I have a front to back support every two feet. It didn't sag as it was but it did have more give in the floor than I would like to see. When I am done with this monster, I want to be just that....Done!

Should the vents be the middle of the sides of the cage cage or a few inches off the bottom? Do I want these vents on the sides of the cage or in the back wall? Do I want one on the hot side of the cage? After all those answers, I'll be ready to cut them.

I guess you'd want them at the end of the cage where the snake is mostly like to deposit deficate and urates. I think close to the ground is perferable, but not so close that it causes cleaning issues.

I don't worry about these issues too much to be honest as I like to have excessive ventilation. I'd rather deal with the issues of heat and humidity loss than deal with the issues of not enough ventilation. If my snakes were kept in a cool basement I might feel differently.

So I guess that's my way of saying I'm not sure.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

Hehehe It's ok. I get it figured out. You know, I would like to build these things all the time. Too bad there is really no way to ship such cages. I don't know how many Burm cages I would like to build though. This is a project and a half.

Thanks for your help once again =)

Nice! I'm jealous.

I've been trying to get two large Burm cages built for the last few months but just haven't had the time, yet.

What is that material?

I like the divider idea. That's something I've been thinking about doing with mine but since I plan on having sliding glass doors I'll have to come up with another way to do it, like maybe making the top a lid.

Lookin' good!

Take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

It's Home Depot Birch Plywood. It's the easiest for me to get and it looks pretty good finished if you take your time and get nice cuts and sand just right. The key we have found is a super sharp blade every time.

Thanks for the nice comment.

You could probably do the same thing with the divider but that would mean two sliding doors instead of one. I didn't do it on the top because I know I'll be stacking something on top of this huge thing.

There's no such thing as "the perfect cage" is there? Being the perfectionist that I am it seems like there's always a trade-off or sacrifice somewhere. At least, in my case. Kind of like wanting a car that's also a boat and an airplane.

I'm not talking about your cage, Melisssss, I think its nice and quite effective. Ya'll should be proud. I wish I could quit trying to perfect everything and then that cage would suit me just fine. It would more than meet my needs.

I thought about double sliding glass doors but don't want to sacrfice the size of the openings. And I have pretty much decided against a lid because since I'll be building 2 cages I'd like to stack them. Stacking would require some possibly unsightly supports. Where does it all end? LOL!!!

These things are too darn expensive and time consuming for trial & error, which is why I'm so grateful for this forum and the people who've helped me so much, already.

Keep up the good work & don't get too high coating that thing.

Take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

Mike,

You can still have a divider with sliding glass doors, although it does make for a bit more work.

The easiest way is to build a two-piece cage, if that appeals to you at all.

For a one-piece cage just cut a slot where the divider will run in the middle front support. The sliding door track then has to be installed on a frame that sits proud of the front of the door opening. The track can either be installed in a continuous run or you can leave a gap just slightly wider than the slot that accepts the divider material. Without getting to verbose, I would recommend having the gap in the track material. This is not a big deal at all.

The biggest issue with this approach is that the glass panels do not over lap. This means the more forward piece of glass will sit quite a bit in front of that central divider, which is not the best looking solution. But for a snake like a burmese it's not a security issue.

One way around this is to provide an area to one side of the front face frame where one panel of glass can slide over just a few extra inches. Have a pin or dowel that slides into the frame that prevents the one glass panel from sliding all the way to one side. When the dividing panel needs to be accessed simply remove that pin and slide the glass over a bit which will allow you to add or remove the dividing panel. If you want a balanced look you can do this to both sides of the front frame.

This allows the front glass to overlap but still allow access to a dividing panel.

As you can see there are a lot of choices.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

I don't want to pollute Melisssss' thread so I'll try to be short & sweet.

Even though I don't actually need a two-part cage it sure would be nice & I'm pretty sure that's what I'll go with. I think by having a raised floor I can keep the floor on the inside unobstructed by joinng the halves under the floor and with the supports on the front, back & top.

Problem I'm having is figuring out how to keep waste minimal for a 10-ft cage since I've been unable to find anything in 5-foot lengths except for 1/4". Make it 12-foot long? How about 16? LOL!!!

I like the dowel or pin idea the best. I don't really need a cage with a divider but there are times when it would/could come in handy. Maybe have it to where the end wall that stops the glass, on one side, could be removed by a removing a few screws to allow the glass to recess far enough.

Thanks Chris!

Melisssss, sorry for tromping around in your thread. I'm through, now. Thanks!

Ya'll take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

Don't worry about this thread deal. I could care less about stuff like that. I like reading where your cage is going. We have a lot in common. I could decide and undecide all day but you get to a point where you just have to go with it.

I am a little obessive (ha! A little) about cage cleaning so the divider was a must have.

As for the fumes, let's just say I have a major headache and my entire upper body hurts from being inside that thing and moving it all day for two days. We are "supposed" to be having 3 warmer days in a row so I am making the most of it until the old body gives out on me. I have fans and heaters running in that cage all day until I go to bed. So far I have been lucky it's working. Tomorrow, if I can still move, I'll be putting the final coats down and Thursday caulking all the seams.

Let me know what you decide to do and send me some pictures.

I think by having a raised floor I can keep the floor on the inside unobstructed by joinng the halves under the floor and with the supports on the front, back & top.

I was going to mention this idea in my previous reply but decided not to. The biggest issue here is having a lower slot for a divider to slide into. If you use some sort of shim for a natural separation between the halves then that can become plugged with substate and/or dried urates or deficate. Not good.

Or you can just have some sort of moulding on each half that acts as a slot.

Problem I'm having is figuring out how to keep waste minimal for a 10-ft cage since I've been unable to find anything in 5-foot lengths except for 1/4". Make it 12-foot long? How about 16? LOL!!!

I also hate creating waste, but if you use Sintra I think you'll find the scrap useful for various things. Maybe build an incubator or small rack that you can sell locally to help defray some of the costs.

Give me a size range of what is acceptable to you for the cage. Something like "no smaller than" 10 x2 x 1.5 and "no bigger than" 12 x 3 x 2.5, or whatever. I might have some ideas.

Obviously you're welcome to take this to email. I think you know where to reach me and I certainly owe you

I like the dowel or pin idea the best. I don't really need a cage with a divider but there are times when it would/could come in handy. Maybe have it to where the end wall that stops the glass, on one side, could be removed by a removing a few screws to allow the glass to recess far enough.

I like dividers but am a firm believer that they need to be easy to use or they won't be used. Well unless you want a cage that can be semi-peranently divided in half, but that does not seem to apply to you. I'm not sure I'm following your idea, but it sounds like a few to many steps to take to allow you to put a divider into a cage of an otherwise tame snake.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

Chris,
Meet me here: forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1200814,1200814
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

is a brace / support in tyhe center of the cage underthe floor . If a burms going in the cage i see a sag issue across the span on the back of cage picture. The space between the floor and the bottom of the cage needs supporting or sooner then later you will have sagging issues with a heavy snake and substarte in it . other then that looks to be a nice setup you made there nice job.
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__The Revolution has begun ... www.junglehabitatsplastics.com_

signature file edited, contact an admin 6/12/06

Yeah, someone else said something about that and I think she's got it covered.

Here's what she said in 2 different posts within this thread:
Thanks! You can't see under the bottom but there are supports that run front to back that allow for the unsulation and a 3/4" gap for the heat to radiate up from. They weren't fun to put in but they are there.

Thanks for watching my back =)

AND

I am removing my spacer/supports and rebuilding them so I have a front to back support every two feet. It didn't sag as it was but it did have more give in the floor than I would like to see.

Have a good one!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.