Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone ever seen, made, or heard of snake cages or racks being made from wooden shipping pallets? We have a quite a few at work, and they end up burning them which seems like a waste to me...

Some are made from lower grade nice wood. Knots, bad edges etc. Yes, you definitely can make a cage from that wood. Of course you will want to watch mixing species, there will be nail holes and knots and other defects to work around but with your labor it can work.

Also, you would have a solid wood cage which is actually less structurally sound that solid frame with ply carcase. Solid is more prone to expansion/contraction.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (05/26/2009):
36.51 BRB
29.42 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Dave,

Thanks for the reply. I'm not very experienced with woodworking, so I have a few more questions:
Would sealing the wood help with expansion problem you were talking about?
In your opinion,do you think it would/could be an attractive cage?
Would it be worth the time to do it, or should I just buy nicer wood and let my boss burn the pallets?

Thanks for your help,

Brandon

A reptile store in our area was selling used tanks. On top of one tank was a small cage (likely about 24w x 11d x 11h) made from solid knotty pine planks. It was stained dark and had antiquish-style hinges. The wood was somewhat distressed besides being knotty. Cool cage IMO. Perhaps more for a curio. Still it is functional.

So yeah, you could make a cage like that. You'd have to heat it from the top because pine will not take a heat pad well. Either a screened circle cutout on top for a dome reflector or, if the cage is big, a radiant heat panel. But forget heat pads on solid plank cages.
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Mark

I'm having a hard time picturing how you would make a cage out of pallets. I have access to some but how would you construct it? Most the pallets i see are not in great shape and the wood is shoddy. Just curious

I don't believe the wood would be very stable. I doubt that it is dried/cured and would require a drying period before use. I could be wrong.

And as mentioned, solid wood is probably best suited for a face frame application at best. The carcass would need to be some kind of sheet good for stability.
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Larry Stroud - Fort Pierce, Florida

Nothing you do can "fix" the expansion problem short of a design that will allow the expansion to take place (like raised panel doors). Wood will expand/contract with humidity. More accross the grain than with the grain. That's where plywood is so great since the layers alternate they hold each other from expanding.

IMO buying wood will get you better quality material and that will last better as long as properly done and sealed.

I've seen it time and time again that saving a little up front can cost you more in the end. Not necessarily, not always but still enough so you should consider it.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (05/26/2009):
36.51 BRB
29.42 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

>>Has anyone ever seen, made, or heard of snake cages or racks being made from wooden shipping pallets? We have a quite a few at work, and they end up burning them which seems like a waste to me...

Everyone on here has thrown in a wealth of info and all are from individuals that have been through the cage building process.

When you said wooden pallets, and seams like a waste. To me that means either you are pinchin' the penny, hate the abusive waste that mankind throws upon the earth, or like the look of knotty planks.

There are solutions to any of the three, but like mentioned before it will tike a fair amount of work because pallets as they are can't be used as is.

First off knowing your material is the best start cheap pallets are made of pine however there are a few companies that have Oak and even Maple pallets. Mind you its not #1 grade lumber but its workable.

The planks alone as mentioned and IMO won't make much of an enclosure. Dimensional solid wood is prone to warping in a reptile enclosure, particualrly due to the high and heat high humidity nature of the beast.

The look however can be achieved. I myself had melamine cage carcases fronted with solid wood. That's an option although the planks will require a lot of work. If they start as 3/4" material after cleaning/removal of foregin material, milling and dimensioning the boards. You will be lucky to have 1/2" material, but that is still workable.

Often times in the forum we see the loan individual keeper that has a single centerpiece enclosure. A centerpiece enclosure is the perfect project for a skinned cage. By that I mean using inert material PVC or even melamine or ply to build the cage carcass. Then fronting all exposed sides with lath or fronts made from the recycled pallet material.

In fact depending on the room decor in which its placed a white melamine cage fronted with panels of pine or white oak (from recycled pallets). Stained with a gray wash and sealed with a WB poly would look pretty good. Think about looking at an old shipping crate from the 30's like those in Indiana Jones. Just with wash for color and a window for viewing the animal.

So there are ways to utilize the material, most require a fair amount of woodworking, but that's fun to learn. Rest assured grabbing a box of nails a hammer and a handsaw won't be the best way to approach a cage with the material suggested.

I myself salvage old pallets for winter storage, or compost pile cribbing. Of course the best use is summer bon fires...

Best of Luck
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
0.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow
1.0 Ghost
0.1 Possible Super Hypo
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0.2 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Anerthrystic
0.0.3 Normal

1.1 Morelia Clastolepis