Hi everyone,
Since I posted some pictures of cages I built in response to the Wallmart rack system thread, several people have e-mailed me wanting help building their own. Rather than answering them individually, I am going to do this here. over the next couple of days I will post instructions on building great looking and fuctioning cage with a simple and inexpesive method. Please feel free to ask questions or add opinions, the goal will be to get as much info out to interested parties as possible. I will try to put up more pictures too as needed.
Some things to consider when you are building cages, other than the needs of the snakes of course, are easy of cleaning and moving the cages. I have learned the hard way that you should build cages that will fit through a door if need be! also, since many of you dont have real carpentry skills this will concentrate on using only simple tools and getting some of the major cutting done at the home improvement store.
The first step is going to be to build a basic box that will be divided into seperate cages or rack systems depending on your needs, this box will measure 6 feet tall, four feet wide and 2 feet deep. This is a size that will fit through doors and is the basis for both sides of the cages in the pictures. Each box requires the following: Materials: 2 4foot x 8 foot sheets of 3/4 inch MDF (medium density fiberboard, if you want to stain instead of painting use plywood) 2 six foot sections of 1x2 (I prefer poplar) 1 box 1 1/2 inch number 6 or 8 deck screws and about 10 2 1/2 inch number 6 or 8 deck screws. Tools: electric drill (corded or cordless) counter sink bit and driver bit to fit deck screws.
When you buy you MDF (or plywood), they will cut it for you at the store (Lowes or Home Depot)this will save you a lot of work and will make it easier to handle too. First have them cut 2 feet off of each sheet leavin you with 2 pieces 4 feet x 6 feet and 2 that are 2 feet x 4 feet. next have them cut 1 of the big pieces in half lengthwise into 2 2 foot x 6 foot sections. now you have 5 pieces of wood 1 is 4x6, 2 are 2x6 and 2 are 2x4, these are the back sides, top and bottom of the cage.
Normally you would have to do some more cutting to make this box but I am going to tell you how to avoid that and make the thing more functional at the same time. First take the 22x4 pieces and attach the to the front of the big piece. To do this clamp them together or have someone hold them, drill counter sunk holes through the back of the big piece and just screw the 2 together and stand it on its side. What you should have at this point. is th cage, laying on its side with the top and bottom attached to the back, it will look a bit like a big letter C. The important thing is that the top and bottom are attached to the front of the back. The next step will be to take one of the sides and lay it on the cage. Line the front edge of this side up with the front edge of the top and bottom. At this point you will notice that the side does not reach all the way to the back. DON'T PANIC!!! this is the way it is supposed to look. What you should have is roughly a 3/4 inch by 3/4 inch gap and you won't be able to screw the side to the back. Just attach the side to the top and bottom by countersinking holes and using deck screws. when both sides are attached, flip the cage over onto the front, with the back up in the air.
Now comes the clever part, if you wanted to avoid the gap you would have had to cut some of the pices of MDF, but the gap is goint to turn into and advantage. Take the two pieces of 1x2, these actually measure 3/4 x1 1/2, because they are 1x2 before they are milled. if you put the 1x2 into the gap it will fit exactly to the edge of the side board and it will stick out about 3/4 of an inch from the back of the cage. This is a good thing because it leaves room in the back to run electric cords and still push the cage flush against the wall. first attacth the 1x2 to the back of the cage by countersinking hole and using deck screws. the attach it to the side of the cage by countersinking holes and using the longer deckscrews.
That is it. Your basic box is built and is ready fo dividing, this whole box should have cost around $30-$35 and taken no more than an hour to assemble. I am tired of typing so the next step will be in posted later. Pleasse ask any questions tou may have now, if you don't understand the first step, you can't get to the second, I hope this is all clear, if not talk to me. I will also repost the pictures of the cages.
