Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am inheriting an 11' burm off a buddy of mine that is having some issues with taking care of it. I am in the middle of building a cage but ran into a snag. The framing for the cage is made of 3/4 Melanine. I purchased two 13-by-30 sheets of 1/4" plexi to form window/doors out of, but they flex a little more than expected. If I use three hinges accross the bottom instead of two..Do you think it will strengthen it up enough for me? If needed, I can mount the plexi solid and have the entire front fold down but I really wanted to stay away from that if possible.

Also, I am looking for ideas on how I should latch and lock them securely-----I have not started on the front of the cage yet, so I can still go with another method if you feel that my current design will lead to any problems. Looking for any suggestions....Thanks!

For each window, two hinges should be fine. Actually once you cut the plexi down for each window, it should flex even less.
Unless I'm misunderstanding you. And each sheet is one door.
However, 1/4 is fairly strong.
For a locking system, you might want to try a brass barrel bolt or something like that on the corner of each window.Although you will have to drill and bolt through the plexi rather than use screws. I would take a walk through the harware dept at Home Depot, and take a gander at all the different type locks.
A cabinet lock would work ok too.
Another idea...sliding doors. You can find the hardware at Home Depot, or Lowes.
Any other cage questions, post in the Cage Bulding forum.

http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/search_results.cfm?CurrentPage=8&filter=locks

OK...that is a link for cylinder locks which would work perfectly for what you describe.
I did however see your post in Cages...and Chris told you to post here, I told you to post there...lol
And there you have it..another vote for sliding doors.
I'll look up the link for the door tracks

http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/search_results.cfm?filter=sliding door tracks

here ya go..the only way to fly! And they're for 1/4" plexi...so you're all set to go. Much sturdier than just a single pane of glass.

Looks like I'm going with sliding then. Thanks for the good links. That site looks to have almost everything. I called Home Depot also, and it looks like they have some 6 foot plastic sliding glass kits for 1/4" so I'm going to run over tonight and pick them up. Thanks for the advice!
Jeff

>>Looks like I'm going with sliding then. Thanks for the good links. That site looks to have almost everything. I called Home Depot also, and it looks like they have some 6 foot plastic sliding glass kits for 1/4" so I'm going to run over tonight and pick them up. Thanks for the advice!
>>Jeff

If you look through Rocklers site you'll find some really trick stuff. I am using their magnetic locks, super trick and totally hidden. They are also incredibly strong. I broke one of my Dads 3/4 inch cabinet doors because I didn't know he had the lock on there. This is assuming you ever want to go back to the door idea.
http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_details.cfm?&DID=6&offerings_id=1611&catid=81&objectgroup_id=444

This is the link to the lock.
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Chris, my wife Mary
a dog, two cats, two birds, four snakes
oh and three kids