Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am building a 4' long x 2' wide x 3' tall. I planned the extra height so that I can mount a porcelain socket and strip light inside the cage. I am trying to figure out the best way to enclose the top. I had framed it up to be 2' tall and am building from there, i had thought about doing a hinged lid so that the front ~1/3 of the top flips back and up, and the socket will be mounted on the back 2/3rd's. Does this make any sense @ all? lol This is my first time building anything like this so any input is appreciated. Oh yeah, what if I had a dumb moment and used either aspen or pine for the framing of the enclosure?

Don't know how much of a help this is.. but we build our cages 48" x 24" x 16". We mount a dual strip flourescent strip on the top of the cage suspended by hooks.. one for UVB one for bright white intensity. We mount a porcelain socket in the back left or back right corner of the cage on a mounting bracket for the heat.

Plastic slide tracks are used for a sliding front which makes stacking possible and easy access to the dragons. Cages are made out of melamine to help keep bright light intensity and to make cleaning up easier to wipe out.

We recently switched to building large breeding rack systems, but this is how we used to build individual cages and it worked quite well.

And yes, your post made complete sense to me

brandon
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Dragons by Nature

Hey Brandon I have a couple questions for you sir, first off you said you guys build your cages 48" x 24" x 16", I'm assuming the 16" is the height of the cage? Also you said you guys mount your heat lamp on a mounting bracket, is this a custom made bracket? Or is this something that I could go buy somewhere? And one more thing, where do you purchase your plastic slide tracks from? I looked at Home Depot today and they did not carry them, thank you sir for your time!

Daniel
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Daniel Blough
D&D Dragons
dmblough@comcast.net

Hi Daniel,

Yea, the cages are 48" long, by 24" wide, by 16" high. We build them 16" high because by the time we mount the flourescent strip and susspend it some it's normally about 12" off the ground, then under the rock/branch they can get about 6" to it which makes it good for the UVB. 24" cage don't do much if anything for UVB unless you have a lot of branches/stuff getting close to the UVB. We prefer to keep the cages smaller height wise.

The ceramic fixture is wired to a regular 6' extension cord or so. I strip off the end that you plug something into and wire the wires to the socket. The socket is then attached to a metal "house box" that are used for electrical outlets and such. It's designed specifically for this and keeps the wire/contacts off the wood and safe.

You can buy them at Home Depot. I belive the porcelain socket was about $2 and the case was about the same as well.

We buy the plastic guides from DoItBest.com. Here is the link:

http://doitbest.com/shop/product.asp?mscssid=QE73MG9X70EC8P1WDHT6PAAS37LXDE57&mbrid=6790&dept_id=2102&sku=228658

They work well but are ugly lol. There are other links out there that are different colors but they are more expensive and we just use these because we buy so many. One day once we have a permenant reptile room i'll drop the cash to make it all nice, but right now with the moving and all everything gets banged up.

Hope that helps.

brandon
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Dragons by Nature

Awesome! Thank you so much for the info Brandon! I'm curious, what thickness glass do you use for your doors?
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Daniel Blough
D&D Dragons
dmblough@comcast.net

Sure, no problem. I build a lot of cages hehehe We use 1/4" plexi glass. It's easier to work with but it does get scratched easier. If ya got any more ?'s just ask not a problem.

brandon
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Dragons by Nature

Thanks Brandon! BTW I sent you an email message sir,

Regard's,
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Daniel Blough
D&D Dragons
dmblough@comcast.net

.
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Dragons by Nature

Thank you Brandon! You are the man sir!

Regard's,
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Daniel Blough
D&D Dragons
dmblough@comcast.net

Thanks a bunch for the help, I will take what I can get.

Here is one of mine. It has the same basic idea I believe your trying for. As you can see in the PIC, it has a florescent fixture and a ceramic socket that allows you to set it to a certain direction in the cage. Both items were picked up at a home depot for under $15 total. My cage is a tad bit smaller though. Its 40"x24"x20". The 20" allows enough height for the socket and bulb. I get some really good temps from this set up. My basking spot stays 110-118 and the cage always stays near 80. Hope this helps a little. It sounded like you were talking about my cage so I decided to post.

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2.0.0 Veiled Chameleons (Eros & Himeros)
1.1.0 Senegal Chameleons (Francois & Fifi)
0.0.1 Pigmy leaf Chameleon (Franklin)
1.0.0 Sandfire red/gold Beardie (Whitey Ford)
0.1.0 Brown Basilisk (Leroy, I know shes a girl!)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon (Maggie May)
0.0.1 Marbled Gecko (Chalmers)
1.0.0 15 year old Eastern Box Turtle (Radar)

Coming soon
Female Bearded dragon names Sissy from the Mid Michigan reptile rescue. I pick her up on Saturday the 13th!

I am buildining mine a little taller to give him the option to climb since he seems so enjoy it when he can. My beardies are going to be moved into our garage here before too long, any thought on good ways to keep the temps right. I have a tentative plan to frame them in there own room so it holds the warmth a little better but trying to plan this the best way possible.

Awesome, you bought that socket at Home Depot?
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Daniel Blough
D&D Dragons
dmblough@comcast.net

Where did you buy the little plastic trac's for your sliding glass doors? I can't find them at Home Depot or any other hardware store's here. Thanks in advance!

Daniel
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Daniel Blough
D&D Dragons
dmblough@comcast.net

My guy Oscar likes to climb too. Here's a pic of his new home I completed about 3 weeks ago. He just loves all the extra climbing space.

WOW! That is certainly impressive!
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Daniel Blough
D&D Dragons
dmblough@comcast.net

very very nice!!! did you do the background yourself? if so, you did a very nice job on it

trevor
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Trevor Bennett
E-mail: yruemailinme15@yahoo.com
yahoo SN: yruemailinme15
location: Salem, Oregon

Yup, I did do it myself, thanks alot for the compliment!
biancaaaaaaaa

Did you make the background yourself? If so can you explain how you made it or let us know where you got it? Looks GREAT!!!