Securing the lids is a pain.
I did this big song and dance drilling the lid and box lip with a fine drill bit, lots of holes through the lid that missed that narrow lip entirely. I secured one side of the lid with twisty-ties, and the other half I wanted easier to open and close. I was on a time crunch waiting for the deliveryman to knock on my door with snakes, so I had to improvise (more than usual).
You know those great big laundry pins that look like big, blunt diaper pins for giants? That's what I used. They're too long, of course, so I took wine bottle corks and drilled them lengthwise and slipped the cork over the pin, which keeps the lid from opening. The only problem is that the pin tops stick up over the rim of the lid an inch or so, so you can only use them on the top box from a stack. Of course, the underneath boxes don't need so many twisty ties, due to the weight above them.
I'm experimenting with terminal tackle (fishing) to devise something more satisfactory. I'm playing with a small, double-eyed swivel on a short, wire leader with a little clip on the end that also closes like a safety pin. Sorry, I love to fish, but I don't know all of the right terms for the equipment (I'm learning). This should provide a relatively inexpensive way to secure the lids that is more durable and stronger than twisty-ties, not to mention faster to open and close.
The big underbed boxes allow enough length to establish a heat gradient; how would you do that in a square box? Our climate here in south Florida isn't so far off from that of any of the Indigo's taxonomic cousins, so maybe it might not be such an issue.
I'm not really happy with these containers for long-term housing. The biggest aren't big enough for a big adult. That said, I only want cages that can either be hosed out or submerged for disinfecting. Once you get past the size of a long 30 gal. aquarium, they are just too large and heavy to heave outside and clean out under the hose every week, or twice a week, or every day as a Dry might need.
I dream about a modular cage design that can be easily disassembled. Once again, I find that I lack the terminology to express what I envision. I am going to enlist the help of my brother, who is a machinist, to talk about the feasibility of what I want to do. I see a system of joint pieces that are tracks set at 90-degree angles to each other. Panels of glass, or Lucite or some opaque material could be used in any side or top or bottom. Any of the side panels could be pulled out independently for cleaning, and the whole thing could be pulled apart and shipped flat. Or, you could just buy a track kit and have panels of glass or Lucite, or 22-kt. gold cut to your specifications and plug them in.
I know this is sketchy; I don't understand how to make the track securing the bottom and side panels join with the vertical tracks for the side panels and the top. I'm not particularly mechanically inclined.
I remember reading last year about someone who was using PVC pipe to join separate Sterlite containers. Does anyone remember that? I'd like to hear more about how it worked out. I think that a better heat gradient could be achieved, and traveling between containers would give the animal some stimulation. They give us so much added quality of life just in joy of seeing them; we should provide for them what we can.
