Reptile & Amphibian Forums

being part of a family owned business that sells toilet partitions as one of our products, i have access to HDPE and was wondering if anyone has seen any enclosures made out of this material or ever heard of anyone trying to use it.

its kinda soft so it definitely wouldnt be good for dragons, tegus, or monitors, but seems like it'd be perfect for any herp that requires alot of humidity. also it tend to sag a little bit with longer spans, but i can think of some ways to reinforce it that way. i'm not sure of the best way to form it or fasten it, i suppose a method similar to the expanded PVC method might work.

any thoughts or ideas?

BKnOscar

look here. www.randysreptiles.com he builds out of hdpe. The link below is to his site..
hdpe enclosure manufacturer

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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com

I believe Vision cages are made from polyethylene. The nice thing about this material is that urates do not stick to it nearly as easy as to other plastics. It also disinfects well.
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Mark G
Collection:
Assorted CA rosies
A few Ariz mtn kings

I assume the partitions are what 1/2" - 5/8 thick or so ?

The best ways to fasten/ build with it are to either use woodworking tools and make rabbit joints on it and then counter sink screwes into it or use a plastic welder ( Randy's Reptiles ) uses 1/4" and welds them and he makes some nice cages . I use to make them in the 1/2" HDPP and machine them and then screw them together with a bead of 100% silicone between the surfaces that join but the cost vs profit just wasnt working out and they are also rather heavy when using 1/2" materials but are solid cages. And it can be used with lizards it is soft but not soft as other plastics. Between the two HDPP is a more rigid material then the HDPE and has a higher tensil strength to it so in a wider spread it wont bow as bad as the 1/2" hdpe does but some simple reinforcing beams on a wide cage will nix that issue .
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Buisnesses come and go everyday, what keeps you here is how you treated the customer the day before....My Boa Can Kick Your Boas _ss!www.cheapcages.com
Visit the new website while the Jungle gets made over.

Sounds like you're pretty familiar with HDPE as you hit on almost all of the points that I would have. We originally started building our racks out of it before moving to the EPVC, here are my thoughts:

- The stuff is indestructible. You can take a full piece or even just a sliver and bang it with a sledgehammer until your hand turns blue. The stuff doesn't break.

- It welds very easily. HDPE welding rods are readily available and are pretty cheap. A welded joint was very strong.

- It is very heavy. Not melamine heavy, but not that far off.

- Because it is soft (which is why it doesn't break), it scratches VERY easily. You can take your fingernail and just lightly knick the plastic and it's a permanent scratch. I also found that the plastic used in Sterilite tubs was harder than the plastic in the rack so it would show wear from pulling tubs in and out.

- You also mentioned the sagging. If I went over 18", it would start to sag. I couldn't even make my 'sideways' rack that holds a 32 quart box sideways because it would start to sag. It got worse over time as well.

- Don't understand the physics of it and it's not a big deal, but it also took a long time to warm up. It held temps fine when it did but the EPVC will warm up in 15 minutes where that stuff took 40 minutes.

Just my 2 cents...good luck,
Jason