Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering what thickness would be good for a fold down door? Plus I was wondering what kind of hinges would be good,"offset or flush,paino hinge"? These cages will be holding a green burm and 2 red tail boas. Thanks Steve
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Owner of:
0.1 Red Tail Boa,
1.0 Red Tail Boa,
0.1 Reticulated Python,
0.1 Green Burmese Python,
1.0 Bearded Dragon,
0.1 Leopard Gecko

thickness of glass should'nt really matter if it's set inside a frame i have built cages with doors that swing open from left to right and the plexi was only 1/8 inch thick depends on the the construction of the frame mostly. what size id your burm that you are going to be housing ?the cage si have constructed for my burms are 6by2by2 ft i keep them no wider than 2ft just so i dont have trouble gettin them in different rooms

The reason i asked what thickness is cause I was going to drill through it and use hinges for the door.My burm is about 4`.
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Owner of:
0.1 Red Tail Boa,
1.0 Red Tail Boa,
0.1 Reticulated Python,
0.1 Green Burmese Python,
1.0 Bearded Dragon,
0.1 Leopard Gecko

np

Im still trying to decide if i want to make it 6 or 8ft long and it will be 2`w x 2`h
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Owner of:
0.1 Red Tail Boa,
1.0 Red Tail Boa,
0.1 Reticulated Python,
0.1 Green Burmese Python,
1.0 Bearded Dragon,
0.1 Leopard Gecko

Getting this from the entire thread and not just your first post. Hope I cover all your concerns.

Regarding the length of the cage, consider making the length just shorter than the height of a doorway. That way you know you can move it no matter where you live or what room you keep the cage in. On several occasions I've consulted people on building large cages who never considered whether or not they can get it into their house much less into the room they want it.

I now make sure to point this out, just in case it's relevant.

Regarding the thickness of the acrylic, I strongly recommend 1/4" for several reasons I won't get into. I agree that 1/8" could work, but I'd still avoid it. I say this especially not knowing the characteristics of Acrylite vs. other types of acrylic.

Also, absolutely build a 1/4" frame onto the face of the cage that the acrylic door will rest in. I'll post a picture that will hopefully show this.

Make sure to set the 1/4" frame away from the face frame at least an inch.

This frame will also allow you to use non-offset hinges, meaning you can then use piano hinges or flush hinges.

I recommend acrylic flush hinges. I also recommend solvent-welding them to the acrylic vs. screws and bolts.

Once again, there are several reasons why I recommend this. Once of them is that it allows to to set the 1/4" frame a ways away from the opening of the face frame. If you have screws poking through the other side they'd hit the face frame, causing more problems.

Thanks Chris. Ill post some pics of what I do when I build the tank in acouple weeks,
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Owner of:
0.1 Red Tail Boa,
1.0 Red Tail Boa,
0.1 Reticulated Python,
0.1 Green Burmese Python,
1.0 Bearded Dragon,
0.1 Leopard Gecko