Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anybody have experience builing your own cages?
My dad and I built a drawer style cage unit out of pre-finished plywood(has acrylic coating, hence "pre-finished". It was assembled using nails and Gorilla glue. I also plan to seal the inside seams with silcone.
I know it's a little late since it's almost done, but does anybody have any experiece using any of the materials I listed; whether they are safe and/or how long they should cure before using them?

Silicone takes quite awhile to cure, to get rid of the fumes. Allow it to cure for days. If in doubt, close up the cage for an hour or so and then open it up-if you smell anything-it's not ready. A strategic placed fan can help but can also give "false" curing results-time is the best.

Prefinished plywood? Ok something along the lines of melamine. If it's sealed good, it will wear pretty good. Any leaks where moisture can get to-it will distort and expand. Thankfully, since you're on this forum, you're dealing with a colubrid- not a huge python or boa that relieves themself like a fire truck hose so excess moisture isn't a huge issue.

How are you heating it?

What is the cage going to be for? How big is the cage??

At least 80% of the people on here, including me, when they think of housing a snake they think of a rubbermaid box in a rack-shelving unit. Simply because of the number of snakes we have or will have. Most other times a 20 gallon tank will house most individual kings/milks and a 40 breeder aquarium would almost house the largest species. "Drawer style" of cage, I'm assuming there's a door of some type above the drawer which is the floor to allow for a thick substrate of some type for burrowing. Am I correct in that assumption?? This is another good option or design of caging.

As you're building, mostly the drawer and door, remember these guys are escape-artists.

Post some pictures when you get it finished.

Good Luck and have fun!
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"Conservation Through Captive Propagation"-Robert Applegate

my only concern to bring up is that nails may have been a bad choice. The wood may warp due to heat and humidity, and nails will pull out when this happens. Screws are a better bet, because they really hold things in place.

But, I don't know quite what to tell you about the pre-finished plywood with the acrylic coating. . . I don't know what the coating is. My thought is a melamine-type product, which means that it would be cured already, but I really can't say anything without more information.

Thanks for the info. Hopefully the nails will hold. I think they should as I'm just putting kingsnakes in it and they don't need super high humidity. I gave a pretty detailed description(with some more info about acrylic) in my reply to the other poster and I asked another question so if you want to read it or have any additional info that would be great.

Thanks for the reply. I can let the silicone cure for weeks, no problem. This cage is an upgrade for animals I have already been housing in a typical rack system. As long as it's ok once cured was the main thing I needed to know. As far as the pre-finished plywood. Basicly it's plywood with a clear coating of acrylic that was applied at the factory. It looks like laquered plywood; I don't think it's waterproof but it is very water resistant. If anyone has any specific experience with it I would love to hear it. If not I will give it a try and post the results eventually.

Basicly this cage is a two part unit. The top part is 40" long, 12" high and 14" deep. It has a hinged wood and plexigalss door on the front and a 2.5" litter dam for the substrate. On the floor of the cage are pvc tubes that come up and they have screw on/off caps. There is no lighting or heating in this part of the cage.
The bottom part is like a standard rack system. There is heat tape on the bottom, and it fits five lidless plastic shoeboxes(drawers). The only difference between a standard rack and this one is mine has holes in the top shelf which allign with the pvc tubes in the top part. Also there are pegs which lock the shoeboxes in place so they can't slide open.

A group of up to 5 snakes will share the cage. They can freely move between the heated boxes and the communal top area, giving each one the opportunity to stretch out fully, crawl and use their muscles. At feeding time each snake can be placed in the shoeboxes on the bottom level. The pvc tubes can then be capped and the snakes left overnight to eat without interference from cagemates. Additionally each plastic shoebox can provide a different humidity level and/or act as nesting sites.

I have several species of colubrids which I could try in this cage, mostly small montane tri-colors like mex mex, greeri, knoblochi, pyro pyro and alterna. None of them are really messy species but if the cage warps I guess I will just go back to the racks. This is kind of an experimental design, although it's very similar to the one Bob Applegate uses. One of the main reasons for this cage is that I believe in the wild these species are communal or semi-communal and I hope to be able to observe interactions between them in a group situation.

One other question. I forgot to mention the wooden door on the top part is made of a different kind of wood and isn't coated yet. I will need to coat it with some kind of finish to make it water resistant. I have heard of others using polyurethane coating. I'm not sure what that is, so if you or anybody else knows about it or another product I could use for coating I'd appreciate the info. I will definitly post pics of the cage when it's done.

I just finished making two old pices of my bedroom set into snake cages/Tegu cage. It is made out of Plywood with Oak veneer/ solid Oak fronts. There are Six seperate cages on top and one larger cage on bottom for my Tegu. The lower cage is about 48 inches wide x 22 inches deep x 18 inches high. The upper cages are about 24 wide x22 deep x14 high (Part of the depth and width is angled on the top six cages. I let the silicone and Nails Glue cure for about a week before putting anything in it. I have my Tegu in the bottom cage now and waiting for my Cal Kings to come out of brumation beofre putting them in the top cages. Right now I have 15 Watt lights in place but may try out Ceramic heating coils/bulbs later. So far when my room is about 65 degrees the cages get up to about 85 degrees in the upper cages. I have the lights set on a heavy duty timer to go on at 7:00 AM and off at 7:00 PM right now. I will probably need to connect up a Rheostat so I can control the heating/lighting once it is warmer in the house.Here is a pic of it.

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1.0.0 Banded Coastal Cal King
0.1.0 Striped San Diego Cal King
0.1.0 Aberrant High White Cal King
0.0.2 Canadian Common garter Snake
0.0.1 Columbain Tegu
0.0.1 Savannah Monitor
0.0.1 Paster Leopard Gecko
1.1.0 California Desert Tortoises
0.0.2 Western Fence Lizards
2.1.0 Red Eared Sliders
1.1.0 Ferrets
1.0.0 White faced Cockatiel
0.1.0 Albino Cockatiel
0.2.0 Mini Rex rabbits
0.1.0 cat
1.0.0 cat
0.1.0 American Bulldog

Aaron,
That sounds awesome!! As far as the prefinished wood goes-it would be lacquer. For this application it will be fine, just try to seal it (silicone) the best you can. I know alot of people with "lacquered" wooden cages. Kingsnakes also won't "beat up" as badly as larger pythons or lizards. As far as curing, don't worry too much about the plywood. It's at least 3-6 months since it's been finished. When it doubt, just close it up for a while, then open it and smell. As far as the door, you could use lacquer or spar varnish (an outdoor finish). With the rest being lacquered, the door would be ok as well. Between coats of finish lightly sand the finish with at leat 400 grit snadpaper if not higher. This will knock down any rough or raised wood grain that could allow moisture to penetrate. Just get a good solid "sealing" amount of finish on it. Lacquer will take a while to cure also. If you're able to-do it soon so it can sit and cure while you're sealing the cage.

Applegate's system, at least the pictures I've seen of it, is "finished" wood also. I'm a big fan and believer of Robert's techniques and methods. Let us know what you think of the cage when you're finished. I would love to move my adult animals into one of those style of systems sometime.

Greg H.
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"Conservation Through Captive Propagation"-Robert Applegate

Neat idea!

"One other question. I forgot to mention the wooden door on the top part is made of a different kind of wood and isn't coated yet. I will need to coat it with some kind of finish to make it water resistant. I have heard of others using polyurethane coating. I'm not sure what that is, so if you or anybody else knows about it or another product I could use for coating I'd appreciate the info. I will definitly post pics of the cage when it's done."

I used a water based polyurithane. Expensive but friendly stuff.

Aaron,
Sorry I forgot to mention the Polyurethane. It does a cost a little more than lacquer, but is a better finish. The spar varnish I mentioned earlier is more of an overkill probably for this application. Below is the link to the product page for Polyurethane. In basic terms, it's a polymer-a plastic. Good Durable finish.
http://www.minwax.com/products/protective/fast-poly.cfm

There's also Polyacrylic, a water based polyurethane blend. The link is below. This will be alot less odors since it's a blend. It does "resist" water and mild abrasion, as it says on the website. It's not used for flooring since the polyurethane is alittle more abrasion resistant.
http://www.minwax.com/products/protective/polycrylic.cfm

Here is the break down-all three can be brushed or a spray can is available.
Lacquer is cheaper, fast drying. Used alot for furniture simpy because its fast drying.
Polyurethane, is a little bit more but a better finish.
Polyacrylic, is a little bit more yet, a great finish, and has less odors.

A spray can of lacquer will be $3-$4, Polyurethane $5-$6, and Polyacrylic $6-$7.

I've used all three in my "previous life" as a furniture and cabinetmaker-I'm now a "stay at home dad" with three daughters. As far as using, the polyacrylic will take a little more sanding between coats since it's water-based it will raise the grain more, this isn't a big deal though. The sanding job between coats is a job done in about 30 seconds each side of the door. Some may say you can also use fine steel wool between coats instead of sanding with 400-600 grit sandpaper. You can, I have one issue with that though. Little "strands" of the steel wool break off and wear away. If these get caught in the wood they will "rust" from the humidity or moisture. Nasty little brown spots will appear all over. Polyurethane or lacquer will apply the same, sand about the same-but lacquer will dry quicker. Polyacrylic has less odors.

Hope that helps,
Greg
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"Conservation Through Captive Propagation"-Robert Applegate

You should take this to the cage and habitat forum, there are many experienced in all materials and building techniques there. Just a suggestion, to get better answers. I am interested in the communal aspect, though, and would appreciate follow ups on your snakes' progress.
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Todd Hughes

Hey Arron. All my cages used to be home made and they were great. Their only draw back was that they were HEAVY and that eventually became an issue for me. The material list sounds good but I'd skip the nails and glue and use screws instead. That way if there is ever the need to disasemble you wont have a problem.

This site has some good info like what materials work best for what you want, applying a finish, heating types, ventilation, etc. http://wwwarbreptiles.com/ Best thing to do is have fun and learn. After you're done with yours Aaron, I need about four of them built.

Scott D

Thanks for the info. I will check out that site. PS I sent you an email.

Yea treating the wood with a polyurethane coat (2-3 coats) is a good idea... (waterproof)

using vinyl tile on the cage floor is a good idea as well. makes it way easier to clean.

Nails i don't know about, screws would do you justice. (tighter hold)

to avoid moisture seeping through and expanding the wood you should seal the groves with silicone (allow 24hrs to "cure".)

good luck

post pix when it's done

~ZF

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Floridana Morphs: Resource Site

Nice cage setup there! I would go for countersinking the screws too. Will give a smoother look and tighter fit.

Scott D

That was a good one

for the info. I will post pics very soon.