Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well with lots of help from a friend who can actually read a tape,I finished my 1st home built enclosure for my 12ft Burmese girl.She was long overdue but she is now happy and warm with plenty room to stretch out.I still have a few loose ends to clean up but overall I am very happy with the outcome.I am already finding things that I want to improve upon for my next one(s).One thing I wanted to ask is,does anyone here have experience with flexwatt and know if it will work for heating through 1/2" plywood? I would like to use it during night hours so I can keep up with her day/night cycles without her getting cold.Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

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0.1.0 Burmese Python 12'
1.0.0 A-Mel Burmese Python 5.5'
1.0.0 A-Mel Granite Burmese Python 5.5'
1.0.0 Reticulated Python 7.5'
1.0.0 BCI 7.5'
0.1.0 BCI 5'

Lookin' good there, NC! Congratulations! This isn't a pot-shot, but I really like the "simple" aspect of it. Man, I wish sometimes that I could stick to the K.I.S.S. rule (Keep It Simple Stupid). I have a tendency to try to get too fancy, which takes more time and usually causes more aggravation. Ha!

About your question on flexwatt - I don't have any personal experience with it but I've read a lot about how people use it and etc. You'll lose too much heat trying to heat through 1/2" plywood. Most applications I've seen involved routing an area (aprox. 3/8" deep) out of the plywood cage bottom to place the Flexwatt within. A 1/4" sheet of expanded pvc, sintra (material used to make signs), or something similar & fairly heat-conductive is then placed over the whole floor.

If you're not stuck on using belly heat another option could be to install a fluorescent light inside the cage and replace the lights in the domes with ceramic heat emitters.

There are a few things I'd like to mention but I don't want you to think I'm nitpickin' your new cage. I don't wanna burst your bubble, by any means, as you should be proud of what you've accomplished. I like it.

With the lights spread so far apart, evenly on both ends of the cage, are you still able to get a good thermal gradient (hot side, cool side)? Using different size (wattage) lights or CHEs might work.

I can't tell for sure from the pics but have you sealed the wood to protect from humidity & absorbing feces, making the cage last longer & easier to clean?

One thing's for sure, you couldn't buy a cage that size for the money you've got in that one.

Good job, and congrats, again!

Take care!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

The side of the cage near where the windows are is cooler than the side with the lights by about 6 or 7 degrees.It's been staying about 80-81 on the cool side and 86-88 on warm side,where she spends most of her time so far.As far as price goes I have just about $200 in it total give or take $5.The only place I was able to save was I didn't have to buy glass.I have so many unused glass tanks sitting around here,that I decided after I priced tempered glass in the size I wanted,I would make use of one of them.I am going to replace the large board on top that I am using for a door this weekend.Besides the fact that I cut it crooked and the piece I bought was warped,I'm going with a bit heavier material.I don't know if you can tell from the pics because I don't have them latched,but there are hooks on both ends at the corners to hold it down.I bought a x-large stainless dog dish to put in the corner for water,it seems anytime I give her anything any bigger she just dumps it all over the place anyway.I didn't have much advice to work with so,I painted the interior with 4 or 5 coats of clear latex.It seems to be holding up pretty well and as far as I can tell there are no fumes from it,although next time I will probably go with polyurethane.I will check into your idea about the flexwatt,what I'm looking to do is do away with the small panel on top and get rid of the light housings all together,so on the next build I can start stacking.I am fast running out of floor space with 8x4x2 enclosures,and I have at least three more to build.Obviously once they are stacked,due to the light set up,this one will have to be modified with some kind of opening at one end.I think it was about 5 minutes after finishing that I found the 1st thing I would have done different,but cars are my thing I could disassemble one blindfolded but a carpenter I am NOT,LOL.Any ideas or suggestions for my next round will be taken into consideration and much appreciated!
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0.1.0 Burmese Python 12'
1.0.0 A-Mel Burmese Python 5.5'
1.0.0 A-Mel Granite Burmese Python 5.5'
1.0.0 Reticulated Python 7.5'
1.0.0 BCI 7.5'
0.1.0 BCI 5'

When thinking of the future and stackability, you might want to look into radiant heat panels (RHP's). I'm using them with my Burm and boa and I'm really pleased with them so far.

I was considering that as well,what size would you recommend for an enclosure of this size?Would you use one large one or seperate smaller ones?Do they have some kind protection so the snake can't touch it?I will do some shopping around before the next project gets underway.Thanx for the tip!
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0.1.0 Burmese Python 12'
1.0.0 A-Mel Burmese Python 5.5'
1.0.0 A-Mel Granite Burmese Python 5.5'
1.0.0 Reticulated Python 7.5'
1.0.0 BCI 7.5'
0.1.0 BCI 5'

The cage looks good. I'm curious how the latex will hold up, I never tried it. If you use polyurathan make sure use read the directions on full cure time. Most that I have seen takes 30 days to cure, same with silicon. They may be dry to the touch, but still give off fumes and in an enclosure that could be deadly.

You don't need tempered glass, I understand you got it for free and in that case I would use it, but for the next cages you can use 1/8in or 1/4in plexiglas. We use 1/8in on ours but it's only about 10in high and 3ft wide, any more than that and I would use 1/4in.

It looks like the door is on top and windows on the front. If you are going to stack them you will need to put the doors on front. Burms feel more comfortable not having anything reach in from the top anyway.

Mike touched on how we heat our cages, we make ours out of 3/4in melamine. I use a router to remove 3/8in of material from the outside bottom of the cage and staple the flexwatt to the underside. We put the thermostat probe between the flexwatt and the bottom of the cage, then cover all of it with reflectix. You can get it at Home Depot, it's located with the insulation products. It works pretty good at forcing the heat up into the cage. Our big cages are 7 x 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 feet. We use 4 11 x 12 flexwatt panels, 2 rows of 2.

I'm not blasting on your design, just making suggestions.

Here is a picture of some of our cages.

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Randy and Michelle
Art In Scales
(719) 439-4199
info@artinscales.com

Hey!
I'm in a hurry & I'm sure I'm gonna overlook something, I'll come back later & double-check.

First off, I think you've got a great attitude about accepting tips, etc.. Kudos. Something to keep in mind, you don't/won't see many of these types of posts where everyone likes the work you've done and offers improvement tips. So, pat yourself on the back, fella! Hahaha!

Radiant heat panels that Laura mentioned is a great idea. Here's a link to more info on one brand of them: www.pro-products.com/proheat.html I've heard a lot of good things about the guy that owns that company in the link. Everyone says he's real helpful in taking a cage's dimensions and animal size and determining the size panel you need. I'm considering them in future cages about the same size as yours and with a "stackable" design in mind. I need 5 cages right now but I can't get Randy (ArtInScales) to come to NC to build 'em for me for free. And I thought we were friends. Ha! Ha!

I'm not real familiar with the clear latex sealer but if it's what I'm thinking it is, it will eventually wear off from cleaning, especially if it's water soluble. As for poly, over in the Cage & Habitat forum here at Kingsnake.com a few guys have done a lot of research with trial & error and suggest using a water-based poly instead of oil-based. Faster curing time, for one thing, less toxic, another.

As for moving the door from top to front, some people like sliding glass doors and some like doors that either drop down or lift upward.

To keep things simple, if you wanted to keep the same basic style but still be stackable you could build a box to house the domes in and have it accessible from the back or ends for changing bulbs. For the cages that are to be stacked on top of the one you've got done you can just notch out the bottom of the cages using the same dimensions of the dome housing box so that they sit flush, kind of like a stair step in the back/bottom of the cages. I'm not saying this is the best way, just trying to give you some ideas in case you wanted to keep it simple without having to modify the one you've already made.

Catch ya later!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

n/p
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
1.0 Amel Retic
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa

Thanx man!
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0.1.0 Burmese Python 12'
1.0.0 A-Mel Burmese Python 5.5'
1.0.0 A-Mel Granite Burmese Python 5.5'
1.0.0 Reticulated Python 7.5'
1.0.0 BCI 7.5'
0.1.0 BCI 5'