Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 20 long aquarium that HAD a great, flush-fitting screen top with spring-loaded cams on each corner. You could push the cams down, then turn each a quarter-turn to unlock the top. It was escape-proof and an elegant design. I bought that cage around 1995-1996 and haven't seen similar tops since.

My daughter's rosy boa resides (for now, at least) in a 10-gallon aquarium. I had one of the "standard" screen tops with the sliding plastic door in the middle, but the little guy kept wedging himself up in the gap between the aquarium's frame and the lid, so I put duct tape around the outside of the top to keep him from escaping. Not only was it not aesthetically appealing, I was worried he might be able to wedge himself through the gap and get stuck on the tape.

My solution was to make my own top with cams to hold it in place. Since the frame of the aquarium has a small plastic lip around the top to accommodate a glass top, I carefully measured that and cut a piece of pegboard I had left over from a previous project to fit over the aquarium, resting on that lip.

I put clear packing tape around the edges to seal the edges and to block off the holes around the perimeter of the pegboard so the snake wouldn't attempt to force his way into them (he's clever).

In the pics, you can see how the completed setup looks from top (white) and bottom (unfinished). In the next post I'll detail the cams themselves.

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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

Maybe "cam" isn't the most technically correct term, but I can't think of what else to call them.

The first view is of the underside of the top. The cams consist of a wing bolt (for ease of opening by hand) with a large washer and nut. The washer was cut away to allow for "unlocking" of the top by turning. I used a Dremel to cut the washers, leaving about 25% as well as the ring around the bolt to help hold it in place. The bolts were pushed through the peg board (holes drilled to suit), then the washer was slid onto the bolt and the nut was threaded on.

I epoxied the washer and nut to the bolt, with a temporary spacer in place to provide a gap between the pegboard and the washer. This was to allow the washer to be able to rotate into place under the plastic lip of the aquarium, holding it in place. The gap can be seen in the second picture.

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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

Here are pics of the completed top in use. It's not the MOST aesthetically pleasing, but it's a whole lot better than a jury-rigged, duct-taped commercial top, and it functions exactly as I had hoped.

The first pic shows how the whole enclosure looks with the top in place. The second pic is looking up at the engaged cam so you can see visually how the design works, rather than suffer through even more words trying to explain it.

Hopefully this post has been useful to someone, if nothing else than to inspire similar ingenuity.

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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

awesome! Ive had similar frustrations in the past with lids. Thanx for the ideas.

Chris,
Thank you for that. I like the cams alot.

I made a lid for a 5 1/2 gal tank similar to yours. For cams, I used two mailbox locks - essentially a cam like you did that has a keylock. What a pain (and costly) when done.

I like your idea with the washer. Inexpensive, available, effective. And securing four corners is better than two sides.

BTW, I bought a screen lid for the tank, cut out the screen and siliconed a cover of expanded PVC onto the metal frame. Then I cut a 6" hole for a dome lamp and used the screen to well, screen it. Drilled some air holes too. Now all I have to do is make cams like you did. Again, thanks for the cam idea.
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Mark