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I have about a 9' foot burmese and this summer I plan on building him a big cage for the rest of his life that will hold better heat and humidity. Could someone give me info on what dimensions would be good to build the cage and what materials to use and all that? I decided to build my self because i know it has to be a pretty big cage and alot of the cages for sale on the internet and in shops cost alot and i thought building your own would save you money.. So could someone help me out here
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Lee

1.0 Burmese Python (Caesar)
0.1 Ball Python (Kadin)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Zoey)
1.0 Green Iguana (Bart)
0.0.1 Parakeet (Petey)
0.1 German Shepard (Missy)
0.1 Doberman (Tanner)
0.1 Cat (whatever)
1.1 Mice ( )

what is the largest cage you have room for?

you most likely will build it from 3/4" plywood treated with 3-5 coats of oil (preferable) or water based polyurethane stain.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

My image Gallery

size does not matter i have a very large room that the cage is going in . and yes iam using 3/4 inch so could you give me more info on the oil and that and how to build it and what size?
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Lee

1.0 Burmese Python (Caesar)
0.1 Ball Python (Kadin)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Zoey)
1.0 Green Iguana (Bart)
0.0.1 Parakeet (Petey)
0.1 German Shepard (Missy)
0.1 Doberman (Tanner)
0.1 Cat (whatever)
1.1 Mice ( )

Make the cage as Large as possible. Once you give me the maximum dimensions i can help you more about cut sizes and stuff. Since burms are large and take large poops/urates/pee it would be best to use an Oil based polyurethane. You can buy that at most hardware/home improvement stores. After all the pieces of the plywood as been cut coat every side like 3-5 times waiting 2-3 days before applying the next coat. Then you will have to let it cure for either 2 weeks inside or 1 weeks outside in the sun. If you can smell chemcals it needs more curing. I would let it cure for 3 more days after the smell has gone away just to be safe. To assemble it you will need some liquid nails to hold the pieces together while you screw in the screws. Assemble everything but one side then put in the sliding glass door tracks and the glass. Then put in the last side. If your cage will be larger than 8' by 4' (LW) you will need some 2" by 2"s or 2" by 4"s to hold the pieces of wood together. Then after it is done you will need to think about heating a cage that large. I would suggest going to a lumber yard to buy your plywood because if you live in the 'burbs 3/4" plywood could end up costing around $40 pet 8' by 4' sheet.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

My image Gallery

7x3 I'am thinking. Is that all you needed ?

Thanks for helping me out. If you want you can contact me by e-mail at thomas1345@netzero.com if that would be easier.
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Lee

1.0 Burmese Python (Caesar)
0.1 Ball Python (Kadin)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Zoey)
1.0 Green Iguana (Bart)
0.0.1 Parakeet (Petey)
0.1 German Shepard (Missy)
0.1 Doberman (Tanner)
0.1 Cat (whatever)
1.1 Mice ( )

if it is a male that sounds like a nice cage. But, if you have room for an 8' by 4' cage it would be much easier to build. For the 8' by 4' you wouldn't have to make that many cuts. If the cage was 8' by 4' by 4' (LWH) you would only have to make 1 cut out of 4 sheets of plywood.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

My image Gallery

Yes Caesar is a male and I think I will go with 8x4 now. Can you explain more now?

How much do you think the plywood at a lumber yard would cost me? I already checked a store and its $30 for a 3/4" 4'x8' sheet
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Lee

1.0 Burmese Python (Caesar)
0.1 Ball Python (Kadin)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Zoey)
1.0 Green Iguana (Bart)
0.0.1 Parakeet (Petey)
0.1 German Shepard (Missy)
0.1 Doberman (Tanner)
0.1 Cat (whatever)
1.1 Mice ( )

the only other thing im concerned about is getting the cage in and out of the room because the door is only 6'9 high and 30" wide
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Lee

1.0 Burmese Python (Caesar)
0.1 Ball Python (Kadin)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Zoey)
1.0 Green Iguana (Bart)
0.0.1 Parakeet (Petey)
0.1 German Shepard (Missy)
0.1 Doberman (Tanner)
0.1 Cat (whatever)
1.1 Mice ( )

Plywood at a lumber yard varies a lot, but it is usually between 25 and 75% of at the store. You can make it like 30" if you want to build it outside of the room. But if it is possible, and you won't be moving soon you could build it in the room. The 30" cage won't be much harder to make just it will have a few more cuts.

Cut list for 8' by 4' by 4
3-8' by 4' plywood sheets (top, bottom, back)
2-4' by 4' plywood sheets (sides)
4- 2 by 4's that are 46.5" long
glass and glass track to fit in the front

you would mount the 2 by 4's in the corners of the cage. Then attach the top, bottom, back, and sides to them.

The cage if 30" high will instead of the 4' by 4' sheet you have a 4' by 30" sheet. And 2 by 4's that are 28.5"
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

My image Gallery

What other materials would I need?

How much do you think the glass would cost me?

Other thing is I dont understand the mounting the 2x4's in the corners. Im a more visual person so If you could make a simple drawing, that might help
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Lee

1.0 Burmese Python (Caesar)
0.1 Ball Python (Kadin)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Zoey)
1.0 Green Iguana (Bart)
0.0.1 Parakeet (Petey)
0.1 German Shepard (Missy)
0.1 Doberman (Tanner)
0.1 Cat (whatever)
1.1 Mice ( )

not sure about the glass because it varies a lot, you will probably wanna go with a tempered glass though. Other materials, oil or water based polyurethane, screw driver, drill bit, screwws, paint brush, glass tracks, glass, liquid nails or a very good wood glue. I can't draw the diagram, because if i did it would confuse you more. The purose of the 2 by 4's is to make it more stable and to make it so you dont have to do thin cuts. If you didn't use the 2 by 4's you would need to cut everything to fit perfectly, which when cutting off 3/4" can be a pain. Here is a simplified way of how you would set it up:

1-Get all materials
2-Coat wood with 3-5 coats of water or oil based polyurethane
3-place bottom piece (4' by 8') on a flat surface
4-attach 2 by 4's to bottom piece with liquid nails
5-attach side piece (4' by 4' or 4' by 30" with liquid nails to one of the sides on the bottom piece
6-attach back piece (8' by 4' or 8' by 30" to one of the long sides of bottom piece with liquid nails
7-Predrill holes for screws on the side and back, make sure you also predrill holes that will go into the 2 by 4's
8-Screw in screws into predrilled holes
9-Place top on with liquid nails so it attachs to 2 by 4's, bottom, and side piece
10-predrill holes for top, make sure you also predrill holes that will go into the 2 by 4's
11-screw in screws
12-Place in glass tracks
13-put in glass
14-attach last side with liquid nails
15-predrill holes for last side, make sure you also predrill holes that will go into the 2 by 4's
16-screw in screws for last side.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

My image Gallery

Hey the cheapest I found plywood is $25.00 a 3/4" thick 8'x4'

I was wondering how come it has to be 3/4 thick ?
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Lee

1.0 Burmese Python (Caesar)
0.1 Ball Python (Kadin)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Zoey)
1.0 Green Iguana (Bart)
0.0.1 Parakeet (Petey)
0.1 German Shepard (Missy)
0.1 Doberman (Tanner)
0.1 Cat (whatever)
1.1 Mice ( )

the $25 per sheet sounds like a good deal. Plywood has 3 sizes that are most commonly found, 3/4", 1/2", and 1/4". The 1/2 and 1/4" are good for small snakes and lizards. But aren't strong enough to hold in a burm. I can easily bend a piece of 1/4", 1/2" not so easy, but 3/4" no way. The desks at my school have 3/4" tops, and we have a few overweight (300 lbs) kids at our school and the plywood part never breaks.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

My image Gallery