Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First of all, thanks for all the replies to my post below about building materials. It looks like I'm going to splurge and buy some Trex composite lumber. Everything I've read says its ideal (although a bit expensive).

So I still plan on having a screen or hardware cloth (or something similar) below the surface about a foot down. But do you think this will be neccessary? I'm staying completely away from chicken wire (even though its very cheap) simply because I've seen it decay and make a scarey rusty mess that I'd like to have my little girl avoid.

My biggest concern is rodents. I did find a burrow close to the area where the pen in being built, so I'd like to avoid mice and rats from getting in....or am I being too paranoid?

Is there some other screen/mesh/whatever that wont decay very fast and prevent an escape and especially not injure anyone who decides to dig down to it?

Any help would be appreciated...

AS ABOVE: there are other quality wire mesh available that wont' deteriorates as fast if you still fancy them screen covers...

SO BELOW: you can't beat cynderblocks (lay on the side) for foundation...

...is that in my area, we get big frost heaves every winter. So the cinderblock foundation (unless I want to dig down 4 feet or more) will be all warped and messed up by spring.

I'd have to rebuild every year...

if cynder block or bricks won't do for the under layers, your best options would be composite plastics