Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Was wondering if you could post one picture of each enclosure you have done. I know i'm asking alot. But i'd love to see the all the work you've done. Some of the caging you've come up with is brillant. the storage container screwed & sealed to a face frame is the one i'm really thinking of doing when i have more room to put enclosures.

Israel

Hi,

Thanks for the positive comments. When I came up with the storage tote idea I really wanted to slap myself. I mean I had been keeping species that would have been ideal for this design for years and it (the design) never dawned on me. It's not like I re-invented the wheel or anything so I don't why it took me so long.

At any rate, I actually have very few pictures of the enclosures I've built over the years. I'm something of a designer/tinkerer and whenever I build something I usually come up with a different way of doing things. Then I become obsessed with testing it out so I do the only logical thing - I give my cages away to friends and start over

But I digress... I don't have many pictures. What I do have is listed in my gallery and that's easy to find. I really only take pictures of the cages I build when I feel that something in it will be of help to somebody else. A lot of my more orthodox cages and racks I don't take pictures of.

I'd provide you with a direct link to my gallery but the gallery site is down right now. You won't see much you have not already seen.

Back to the storage tote idea, I've only built two of these and I'm sure you've seen both.

How about you tell me what species you are keeping that you'd like to keep in this design. I can give you tips on the best boxes and suggestions for doors, etc.

Well i've heard that crested geckos do well in storage containers, and at some point in the future I'd like to get a pair.

And at the moment i'm keeping tokays (trying to breed actually)
Thought the storage container enclosures would make a great way to build many enclosures for all the juvies.

I have a soon to be spare room in my house (buddy that is renting from me that's soon to be booted)that i'm going to turn into my reptile room. Just think it'd be great to have a wall that floor to ceiling full of enclosures.

It actually would be my dream come true.

Yes, crested geckos would do great in such a setup. I believe in the plant thread below you keep a tokay? They would also do well in such an enclosure.

Do you want to build just a single enclosure are would you like some sort of free standing cabinet that had several cages? There are so many storage totes in the 20 gallon range (perfect for crested geckos) that you could pick from several.

In general you want something pretty sturdy and with a smooth interior. Sterilites tend to be better in this regard.

However, if you want your cage to be more vertically oriented, it gets a bit more tricky. Many of these totes have handles molded into them and if you installed them upright these handles could make cleaning difficult.

I've worked with a few crested geckos and my inclination would be to have them in more horizontal enclosures. Some of them did climb but no so much that I thought they needed a lot of height. That's up to you and it will affect what boxes will be suitable and what type of doors you can use.

Chris,

I was really thinking of a unit of 2-3 enclosures per cabinet. With the cabinets made so that they could be stacked.

I'd be more inclined to put them vertical, just because almost all the geckos and frogs i'm keeping or plan on getting are abboreal.

Israel

Chris,

What do you keep, I don't think i've seen a list of what you actual keep in these cages you build.

Israel

First off, I'm likely to have a busy couple of days coming up. Please let me know what specific information you might require and I'll try to answer that when I get back.

Right now I'm only keeping Gonyosoma oxycephala and Gonyosoma janseni. They are racer type snakes from SE Asia. They will do well in the 50 gallon storage tote type cage I've posted before.

I've kept a huge variety of herps in my time. I used to work at a zoo and also cared for a large private lizard collection while I finished my degree. Between those two experiences alone I have kept a lot of herps. My personal collection has also been pretty large at times. But right now I'm focused on working with the above two species of Gonyosoma and seeing if I can get the difficulties of breeding them in captivity worked out.

I almost certainly will work with Uroplatus henkeli when I get around to buying a home. Until them my life is in too much of a chronic state of flux to add any more species. Certainly not any that need food other than what I can keep in my freezer

I'll also likely add a frog species or two. There are also a hanful of desert terrestrial geckos I'll probably work with again as a good friend of mine breeds them. Genera such as Agamura, Pristrurus, Teratoscincus, etc. All things I've worked with and enjoyed before.

At any rate, here's a picture of a typical green Gonyosoma oxycephala.

Chris,

Wow, nice snake.

I think I can handle biulding them from the directions that you've given in past posts. If i have any problems I'll ask.

Just have to convince the girlfriend that spending the money is a good idea. could always buy all the wood when i start a little remdelling project in a couple of weeks

just another question for you, you wouldn't happen to be the chris harper that's did an interview with steve erwin, would you?

Israel

Nope, that's another Chris Harper, the same guy who is the webmaster for venomousreptiles.org

Ironic since that I've largely been know as a venomous guy during most of my time in this hobby. In fact the design you're interested in was originally for a group of Wagler's Vipers I was working with.

Also, I no longer work with venomous. Laws changed in my area and I moved on. Plenty of species to keep my interested without having to worry about a $100,000 hospital bill.

Regarding the girlfriend, there are ways to make this less espensive depending on what you want to do.

What part of the country are you located in? I ask because there a friend of mine from another state buys herp supplies from a hydroponic store that, uhmm... fit your description.

I suppose they're everywhere, though.

Chris,

I'm located in Buffalo, NY.
Your most likely right on hydronic stores fitting that description everywhere.

I though i remembered you saying you worked with venomous that asked.

Right now all i'm really looking to do is try my hand at building one and get a feel on how things go together.
I'm very much a hands on person I learn alot better if I do something then have it explained to me. So I'd like to try to build one even if it comes out horrible. I'll have learned something from it and have made my mistake on a that cage I
didn't really need then on one i'm trying to build because there an need for it. hope that makes sense.

What I want out of the enclosure is something that's light enough to be easly moved by one person (which this design looks like it is),and looks good from the front and possibly one side (which it does and can be made to), can be stacked (can be made to).

I know there are ways to make this less expensive. There are always way to make things less expensive. You have to find ways this hobby is costly. Saved some money yesterday by picking a 20 & 10 gal out of the neighbor's trash.

On another note. I was looking at store totes last night when I was at walmart. I can't believe that you can screw thru the small lip that they have with out cracking them. The lips just look too small.

Israel

Many boxes do not have much of a lip. That is one of the characteristics I look for when building a cage with this design.

It's very likely you won't be able to use screws at the "handle end" of the box. As long as most the box has enough room that should be sufficient. That's also why I used a high-quality polyurethane caulk to further hold the box to the frame.

I'm sure you've read this from me before, but I recommend build these from a piece of plywood rather than making your own face frame from clamped pieces of wood.

The hole you cut out does not need to be square. It could be a circle if you wanted it. All that matters is that the two strips of wood that the acrylic door rests between are parallel to each other.

With a frame like the 50 gallon cage I built a greater degree of accuracy is required.

You might be able to get a scrap piece of nice plywood for little $$. Get your confidence up before you start with a full sheet for future projects.

***********
Right now all i'm really looking to do is try my hand at building one and get a feel on how things go together.
I'm very much a hands on person I learn alot better if I do something then have it explained to me. So I'd like to try to build one even if it comes out horrible. I'll have learned something from it and have made my mistake on a that cage I
didn't really need then on one i'm trying to build because there an need for it. hope that makes sense.

What I want out of the enclosure is something that's light enough to be easly moved by one person (which this design looks like it is),and looks good from the front and possibly one side (which it does and can be made to), can be stacked (can be made to).

I know there are ways to make this less expensive. There are always way to make things less expensive. You have to find ways this hobby is costly. Saved some money yesterday by picking a 20 & 10 gal out of the neighbor's trash.

On another note. I was looking at store totes last night when I was at walmart. I can't believe that you can screw thru the small lip that they have with out cracking them. The lips just look too small.