Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here’s the latest project/experiment. Further description of how the door works in my post on advice on cutting acrylic below. This cage is 2’ x 2’ by 4’ long. The floor is 2 x 4 foot plywood, the framing is 1.5 x .75 furring strip. The top, sides and back are three sixteenths pegboard. Every seam is glued or liquid nailed, the whole thing was shot together with an air powered nail gun. It took about three hours to do it all. I bought enough stuff to build two, for about two hundred dollars. The gallon of Dryloc was about $21.00, the acrylic was almost $40.00 each. It was very easy to assemble, the Drylock fumes were pretty bad painting the inside. That stuff is very gritty, I would rather find an epoxy paint that was smooth, but it will work, I guess. The cage is pretty huge compared to a sweater box!

The front door is completely removable. No hinges, no swinging around, just take it completely out and set aside. It is a bit wobbly when taken out because it is pretty big with no frame of any kind, just two knobs to grab it and move it. We’ll see how this works out when I put something in it on Monday, after a good drying time. I am going to install a thumb screw thingy on each side in the center so the snake can’t flex the acrylic, just in case. I’ll post a pic with a happy snake in it all set up in a few days.

front door on unpainted

Another view
This is a close up of the bottom groove that the acrylic sets into. It shows the gritty texture of the Dryloc paint, the stick on tile floor.
Door shown out, leaning against cage
Here it is, basically completed. Door set in place.
It is quite easy to get in and out.
Thanks to all for your ideas and sharing.
Good weekend for building something!

Drylock fumes were pretty bad painting the inside. That stuff is very gritty, I would rather find an epoxy paint that was smooth, but it will work, I guess.

Interesting. I don't think I could find a straight furing strip in my area if I drove to every lumber yard in town!

A couple of comments on the paint. Did you get the latex based drylok? I have done a couple of small areas to test the product and have not noticed a smell, although in an enclosed cabinet it might make it worse. If you did happen to use the oil-based drylok you should really give the cage a while to offgas as it's pretty nasty stuff.

Epoxy paints are nice but VERY expensive. Instead of the drylok I would probably use a one-part concrete floor paint, although I think for this design it would not be flexible enough for the pegboard.
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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 did pick the water based type, I was brushing it on very sloppily and heavy right from the can, so it was pretty strong. Especially with my head in the cage innards reaching the back. That stuff actually sealed some holes in the pegboard! It did off-gas but was basically dry pretty fast. I think a lot faster than the label says when using on concrete.
The furring strips I buy in a bundle that is still strapped together, I think there is six or eight? Short term memory loss- I’ll blame it on the fumes... If you get them loose, they are all warped pretty bad. They are the cheap ones, though.
Another tip I might contribute, use some kind of adhesive for the stick on tiles that will fill the small gap created by the Dryloc grit, and then do another layer of the stick on tiles. I “flipped” the order so none of the seams line up between the two layers. The top stuck real good to the bottom layer. I picked the .39 cent tiles, so no big expense there. I feel taking an extra step for the floor is well worth keeping foul moisture from seeping to the wood, even if it is protected.
Thanks again!

Thats funny I painted nealy my entire basement in the WB version and noticed no smell either. My day to day job might effect my senses though. LOL
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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
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.9 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
1.0 Child

wow. you got a nice looking cage there. what reptile is going in it?
good job
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1.2 leopard geckos1.0 jungle carpet python
1.1 columbian BCI

You obviously have not read the post I wrote complimenting your own cage build! You inspired this project with your boa palace. Just don’t tell me you didn’t notice any smell when you were painting the inside with Dryloc! I’m going to build two of these, one for cribo with lots of hide box tunnels and one for spilote with some sort of dowel perches and a normal hide box. I admire your handy work, I have a sixteen year old that is still in bed at noon...

Our local Lowes sells a plastic/vinyl peg board, this would clean easy and you would not have to use this paint. I think with most reptiles just having the top vented is probably enough, so curious as to what you are keeping in it, as it might prove difficult to regulate heat with all those holes!!

I wish my Lowes had that plastic peg board. I saw it there a long time ago and they don’t have it any more. I asked. I would have used that for sure. I would still seal all wood real good, but I would not use the gritty stuff. These cages are going into a fairly warm warehouse in south Florida where we have trouble keeping the heat down. I would also use better hardwood for any display type cage. Then again, I’d probably break down and buy a nice one already built... These will serve my purpose very nicely, I hope. Actually, who am I kidding. I’d never break down and buy one already built.

I saw the plastic pegboard at the local Lowes. It was hard to find, but it was near the other pegboard. The lowes I saw it at was on Woolbright and i-95.

How are you gonna keep the animal from getting out ? What kind of lock are you gonna put on the door ?