Reptile & Amphibian Forums

can anyone post a few pics of their cages with sliding glass doors, im trying to figure how im going to do it. and also would you recommend the glass to be on rollers are would dirt mess them up, blahh, blahh, blahh, anything would help thank.

What species will be housed in the cage? Will the cage house the specimen(s) through adulthood? How large will the door opening of the cage be?

Below is a 49.5" x 30" x 48" cage I built. The door opening is about 48" x 32", making each piece of glass ~ 31" x 51".

With hindsight this is about the largest glass doors I would use with the basic plastic glass track. The stand my friend put this cage on is smaller than the base and this, along with all the weight in the cage, has caused it to bow slightly, making the panels not slide as well as they should. I'm sure it will work fine once he gets it on a larger, flat surface.

What I do like about this cage is the leaf-patterned moulding that runs up and down the front-sides of the cage. It overhangs the 3/4" plywood sides by about an inch.

Normally people run glass track up the sides for the glass to slide into instead of having the moulding. In either case this covers up any imperfections of where the glass meets the cage sides. I'm not sure why, but the glass and cage walls rarely meet perfectly.

But the moulding has an advantage over the glass track. It allows you to stop the plastic track short of the cage sides and have this "gap" hidden by the moulding. For certain species this makes cleaning the track much easier. You simply take a small brush and slide it along the track and the substrate falls out the end.

You can still do this without the moulding but it does not look as nice, IMO.

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1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

a monitor is going to be in there for the rest of it life.the cage will be a lenght of about 7 foot, the sliding glass will start about two feet from the bottom to allow dirt, and stop about a foot from the top, i just aint to sure about the front of the cage? how to incorporate the sliding glass doors ?

>>a monitor is going to be in there for the rest of it life.

Again, the species in question will determine what kind of door is appropriate.

>>the cage will be a lenght of about 7 foot,

It sounds like the total height of the cage will be pretty tall. I know it's off topic, but I'd consider limiting the height of the cage to less than 80". That way, if the width/depth of the cage is not too great you'll be able to move it through doorways. by turning it upright.

>>i just aint to sure about the front of the cage? how to incorporate the sliding glass doors?

I think in this case these questions are better asked on the Monitor Forum. I have not kept monitors in years but still go over there to keep up on some of the cage building topics. There are some very experience cage builders.

My best guess is that you'll need tempered glass that will have a stronger face strength and be shatterproof against tail-slaps (again, this is species specific).

Some sort of roller system will also be nice but I don't know what works well with monitors, especially those that are active diggers.
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1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

>>>>a monitor is going to be in there for the rest of it life.
>>
>>Again, the species in question will determine what kind of door is appropriate.
>>argus cross)
>>>>the cage will be a lenght of about 7 foot,
>>
>>It sounds like the total height of the cage will be pretty tall. I know it's off topic, but I'd consider limiting the height of the cage to less than 80". That way, if the width/depth of the cage is not too great you'll be able to move it through doorways. by turning it upright.
>>im gonna pre fag it and build it inside. probly( 7x3.6x5.6)
>>>>i just aint to sure about the front of the cage? how to incorporate the sliding glass doors?
>>
>>I think in this case these questions are better asked on the Monitor Forum. I have not kept monitors in years but still go over there to keep up on some of the cage building topics. There are some very experience cage builders.
>>they sent me here
>>My best guess is that you'll need tempered glass that will have a stronger face strength and be shatterproof against tail-slaps (again, this is species specific).
>>yes tempered,but do i frame around the opening in the front are something???
>>Some sort of roller system will also be nice but I don't know what works well with monitors, especially those that are active diggers.
>>-----
>>1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)
>>
>>3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)
>>
>>2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

>>>>argus cross

By a cross I assume you mean an Australian Argus crossed with a New Guniea Argus?

Regardless, those are some bigtime diggers and I would think they could jam up sliding door track in no time. I really think you need to check with someone with more specific experience.

Also, dig through recent posts on this forum by Junglehabitats. He built and awesome Argus habitat and he has a lot of experience with various sliding doors.
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1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

thanks anyways you get a,(A for effort)!