Reptile & Amphibian Forums

These speaker boxes were recently removed from a local night club and found there way to my garage! They are built from 3/4 inch plywood and are glued as well as screwed together.They have trim already in place on the open front so have a finished look.They are already drilled in the back for power cords.Soooo,I think once I get the speaker mounts out and get them sealed at the joints and painted,all they will need is some tracks and sliding glass in the front and a vent over the hole in the back and a heat source and I have some pretty nice BCI enclosures! They are about 100lbs each so I am gonna stack them and put locking swivel casters on the bottom one.I wanted to hit you guys with a couple of questions and for opinions.Where do I go to buy the kinda trax I need for sliding glass?The paint on the outside is obviously black and kinda gloomy in my garage,it's shiny and looks like some kind of enamel??What would be my options as far as painting over it?I would LIKE to go over it with something lighter,but not if it's gonna take 20 damn coats,if it will, then I'll just repaint the outside black.Thoughts?? Suggestions??I'm open to anything at this point since the only thing I've done so far is put the casters on the bottom one.Oh and BTW their dimensions are 5'Lx3D'x24H so I could stack one more high before I'm outta room.Thanx for reading my novel!
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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'

Nice find. I'd put those to use if I had them, that's for sure.

Where do I go to buy the kinda trax I need for sliding glass?

Outwater is the cheapest price I have seen for orders of at least 12'. Scroll down to the bottom of this page and see the plastic track.

What would be my options as far as painting over it?I would LIKE to go over it with something lighter,but not if it's gonna take 20 damn coats,if it will, then I'll just repaint the outside black.Thoughts??

It looks like you need to remove the mounts so I would just take in a scrap piece of the that to a painting specialty store and tell them you want to paint over this finish. Even if you stick with black you may have limited choices as to what types of paint will go over the existing black. You may need to use some kind of special primer, I'm not sure.

Make sure you go to a painting specialty store instead of just the paint desk at Home Depot.

What are you going to do to seal the insides?
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

I'm using regular silicone caulk to seal the joints, and I used regular latex on my last one to cover the wood and I'm not sure if I like it or not,so this time I think I am gonna try some Minwax Polycrylic(?) nI think it's called.
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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 A-Mel Burmese Python 10.5'
1.0.0 Reticulated Python 7.5'
1.0.0 BCI 7.5'
0.1.0 BCI 5'

Minwax Polycrylic may not adhere over the existing paint and may not even be as durable as the existing paint to begin with.

If you were not happy with the latex paint in your previous cage don't expect the Polycrylic or any one-part waterborne finish offering anymore protection. In particular I would not recommend using it on the floor of a Boa cage.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

Actually, only half of the interior is painted,so I was going to sand off the half that was painted and seal the bare wood.When I made my Burm's cage, I used just latex,not latex paint, it went on well but took many coats.I thought if I were to use it this time,I would paint the interior with some lighter color paint or maybe stain to cover up the wood, then cover it with with the polycrylic.What would you suggest instead?
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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 A-Mel Burmese Python 10.5'
1.0.0 Reticulated Python 7.5'
1.0.0 BCI 7.5'
0.1.0 BCI 5'

Waterborne finishes and paints are fine for the walls of cages for terrestrial snakes, assuming the cages are not sprayed with water on a regular basis.

But the floors and often the first few inches of the cage walls do need more protection. Here it is best to use some sort of plastic or epoxy, in my opinion.

The one latex product that does offer enough protection is Drylok's Masonry Waterproofer. Unfortunately it is a hydraulic cement based paint and has a very textured surface that is not easy to clean.

A friend of mine used it on some wooden cages and then topcoated it with a high gloss bathroom acrylic paint. But for the floor he still put down a layer of vinyl flooring.

He has several identical cages and he says they are holding up great.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

If I had found those boxes I would cut large rectangles out of the what would become the floor of the cage. Not too big so they don't interfere with the structure of the cage or any screws that may be in the way.

I would then cover the floor with a layer of 1/4" Sintra or other expanded PVC product. This would save some weight and make the floor more durable and easy to clean. The cutout area would make a great place for flexwatt or some other type of under-tank heater.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

I like those boxes and think they will make great cages! I also like the idea of at least using a sheet of plastic for the bottom, and maybe a litter dam a couple inches high. Lets see how they're coming along.
Chris you should give me a call.
Nate
ps I'm a big fan of recycling materials for cages, this was made out of a dishwasher.