Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone ever tried building a double walled cage. The thought crossed my mind that if you were to cover a 1 x 2 frame, inside and out, with quarter inch plywood. The air space would act like a double paned window and retain heat better.
Bill

Alot of people have been doing that for a while. I do it but i use shower surround and not ply wood. works reall well and hold humidity and heat well too. Also easy to clean.

ken
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0.1 Albino Cal. King (Fokker)
1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn (trouble)
0.1 Creamsicle Corn (Spot)
1.1.9 Bearded Dragons (Bob & Margret and there kids)
1.3 Dogs(George, Sandy, Cookie) they are rescues, Lhasa Apso, Mutt, Boxer
1.0 Betta
0.1 Wife
0.1 Kid

Thank you I may well try that. Do you just leave the air space or do you pack it with an insulating material?
Bill

That isn't a bad idea, maybe great stuff expanding foam or styrofaom cooler stuff or if you like being itchy, use fiberglass insulation maybe. Not me though I had enough of that at my old job.

>>Thank you I may well try that. Do you just leave the air space or do you pack it with an insulating material?
>>Bill
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Tim W. My Pictures
0.0.1 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Dumeril Boa

Silkworms are great!
Why doesn't kingsnake have auto login?

I live in Florida so it isnt neccesary but if you are in a colder area and need better temps that could be a possibility.

ken
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0.1 Albino Cal. King (Fokker)
1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn (trouble)
0.1 Creamsicle Corn (Spot)
1.1.9 Bearded Dragons (Bob & Margret and there kids)
1.3 Dogs(George, Sandy, Cookie) they are rescues, Lhasa Apso, Mutt, Boxer
1.0 Betta
0.1 Wife
0.1 Kid

>>Has anyone ever tried building a double walled cage.

Well sort of, but not via the means you mentioned. Instead I've played around with cutting down hollow core doors and then filling the gaps with strips of pine. If you go to the Rio Bravo Reptiles site you can see pictures of a rack built this way.

Believe it or not, this ends up being cheaper than building the frame yourself and applying your own plywood veneer. It also is much more flat and square than what you can do yourself without buying premium stock.

In theory you could do this with insulated (foamed) doors but I think that would end up being expensive.

Lastly, I'd comment that the biggest advantage of a cage like this would be the weight savings, not the savings achieved via the insulative effect.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

Actually I wasn't looking for savings as such. The power goes out around here during the winter sometimes. An insulated cage would be at least a little bit of a safety buffer for the snakes. I suppose it would require less heat to maintain tempertures on a daily basis as well. Thank you for the input, hollow core doors would be a lot easier to work with.
Bill
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1.0 normal burmese
1.1 coastal carpets
0.0.4 ball pythons
1.0 amazon tree boa
8 assorted mammals

>>Actually I wasn't looking for savings as such. The power goes out around here during the winter sometimes. An insulated cage would be at least a little bit of a safety buffer for the snakes.

In that case consider cages with a lot of thermal mass. In other words, things that hold heat. Natural rock, etc. It would also help to insulate the floor.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)