Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found a book case at a local dollar store here for like $15. It's about a foot deep, 4 feet long, and theres two shelves...each being about 2 feet high. My idea was maybe screwing a sheet of 1/4" acryclic to the back (plexiglass) and maybe some trimwork around hte front to support some plexiglass doors...my question is will the formica harm the snaeks (of course ill wash it off first with a warm vinegar/water solution).

This would be a really cheap way to immedately give them a nice cage while i get the new one built (which is looking like it may be finished by the end of the year lol)
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
1) Female Licorice Stick Black Ratsnake - Lola
2) Neonate Black Ratsnake (Het for Lic Stk's) - Frankie
3 & 4) 2 Bairds Ratsnakes - Rosie and Jose

These can make nice cages provided they meet your species size requirements.

The big problem with a lot of them is that the vinyl coating is not very resistant to even slight moisture. If it's truely formica then you're probably fine provided you seal the corners/edges with silicone.

If it's not or you're not sure it will be a good idea to put something down at least on the floor and first couple of inches or so of the cage walls. Cheapest/easiest choice is rubberized contact paper. I just found a bit left over from my last project and it was Contact Brand. It worked very well.

1/4" acrylic backs and doors seems more expensive than you need for this cage. I would instead nail a piece of showerboard onto the back. You can cover that with the contact paper of your color choice if you want.

For the doors I would have some quality 1x3 or 1x4 stock cut and screw that in as a substrate dam. This will help to keep the opening of the "cage" square. Then put in plastic glass track for 1/8" glass and have double-strength glass doors made for you at a glass shop.

1/8" acrylic is pretty cheap but one needs more skill, IMO, to make a secure door for a ratsnake. For that reason and because I prefer double-sliders is why I recommend glass.

yeah i was planning on getting some 1x4 trim for the substrate dam (even though my substrate is astroturf) and also to mount the doors to. it's 2 feet long, so i'm planning on running another strip down the center and i'm just going to put a couple swinging doors on it, with a clip on the top and bottom, then on on the middle of the bottom. I am trying to construct this under budget, and the sliding doors..yes they are nice but they're also really expensive and I don't have quite that much money to put into it at the time being.

I looked at this one at Home Depot that's 48" tall...it's got a paperboard backing on it, would that be fine to use? Just as long as its nailed on well and has a good seal on it, with contact paper over?

Also...how do I heat something like this? Just get myself some UTH's and a dimmer and put them way down so they only get to like 85 and put them in the tank or what?
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
1) Female Licorice Stick Black Ratsnake - Lola
2) Neonate Black Ratsnake (Het for Lic Stk's) - Frankie
3 & 4) 2 Bairds Ratsnakes - Rosie and Jose

I don't understand how you're saying sliding doors are more expensive than hinged acrylic doors. Unless you're using a really low grade of acrylic... something I don't recommend.

the only tracks I can find are at rockler.com...4 foot and $10/ea. I'd need 6. Just for the tracks. Unless you happen to know a better place to get them...which I would highly appreciate!
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
1) Female Licorice Stick Black Ratsnake - Lola
2) Neonate Black Ratsnake (Het for Lic Stk's) - Frankie
3 & 4) 2 Bairds Ratsnakes - Rosie and Jose

I forgot that the track from Rockler was so expensive. Remember that with sliders you can use cheaper glass so you need to factor in the total cost, not just track vs. hinges. Again, I discourage you from using cheap acrylic available from home improvement centers.

You could try 1/8" acrylic but then you need a pretty sturdy frame either to hold the acrylic, to run a dado into, or for the acrylic to overlap with. Again, this will bring up the total cost, even if you use cheap hinges.

Do you need track for three or six cages? I'm not sure if you realize that you get both the upper and lower track when you order any given length. In other words, when you order 48" glass track you really get 96"... 48" of both upper and lower track. I'm sure you already knew that but I thought I should mention it just in case.

Regarding a cheaper source, see if you have a Do It Best Hardware in your area. I believe they have a corporate policy of not charging shipping for any product listed on their website but not available in the store. That will save money on shipping. On top of that the plastic track they carry is less than $7 for the 4' length.

Hopefully the link below will work. You can probably find a store locator on the same site.

Outwater plastics sells the track in bulk but I don't know if you need enough to justify that.
Do It Best Hardware

well what i'm going to be doing is (3) 6 foot long cages stacked on top of each other, then the top one bisected for my two smaller snakes. so i figure 6 feet long i'll a center brace giving me two doors for each level. My grandfather is helping me build this cage, he's built everything from turning ink pens out of wood on his lathe to literally building his own house and cabinets, etc... so he can give me a lot of help. I decided that since the two year and 6 month black rats are living in 29 gal tanks, that's going to be the same size a book case would be so i'm gonna let them stay there until I get my big cage built.

While i'm at it though....what is the best way to heat these? Just get some UTH's and put them on dimmers and inside the cage under the astroturf (my substrate)? What are some other reccomendations?
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
1) Female Licorice Stick Black Ratsnake - Lola
2) Neonate Black Ratsnake (Het for Lic Stk's) - Frankie
3 & 4) 2 Bairds Ratsnakes - Rosie and Jose