Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here is a pic of the cage I'm working one, I used melamine laminated particle board from Home Depot, pegboard for the back for ventilation and made the glass tracks out of wood and glued/nailed them on the front. The glass can open up completely, it's nice if you have the room on either side of the tank. I recessed the screws, puttied over them, and spray painted the cage black. Then used FlecStone treatment spray paint to give it the granite like texture and covers most flaws too. All inside corners are silicone sealed and the incandescent light has a dimmer on/off switch to adjust the heat. If I use a 15 watt bulb, you can put your hand on it and it won't burn, so it's not too hot and works pretty well with this size cage. On larger cages, that need higher watts I build a cage over the bulb to prevent direct contact. The cage is 37"L x 17"W x 11"H

Tha is a very nice cage. I like glass, alot of people use plexi and I do not think it looks as nice. What kind of tracks did you use? Plastic or metal? And you do not mind where did you get it from? I am having problems finding tracks in my city.
Joel P

The track is made of four pieces of wood. The first two pieces are about 3/4" x 5/16" x the length of the cage, mounted right on the front of the cage, with brads and wood glue, flush with the top and the bottom of the cage. The second two pieces of wood are about 1/4" x 1" x the length of the cage, and attached to the first piece to form a lip to hold the glass in place. These second two pieces are mounted flush with the top and bottom of the cage too, but since they are wider they form a lip to hold the glass

First two pieces of wood: (3/4"x5/16x length of cage)
3/4" (the width of the material the cage is built with) x 5/16" (just a little wider than the glass)

I usually assemble them and then attach to the cage. The I sand the corners rounded just to make them look more finished, and putty and cracks showing between the tracks and the cage, especially on the top, sand smooth and then paint the cage black and then finish with a stone texture to make it look like granite, the texture covers and imperfections, then clear coat to protect.
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1.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.1 Ball Python
1.1 Corn Snake
0.1 Gray band Kingsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
0.1 Pueblan Milksnake
1.0 Bullsnake

http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_details.cfm?offerings_id=2275
check this out hopefully it helps
I just cut and pasted the above from one of the earlier postings, they were saying you can go to Rockler's website and order the tracks or some just buy them from local glass companies. Those are a little different and are mounted just inside the cage instead of outside on the front, and they use two pieces of glass, you can only open one side at a time. I'm going to try doing it that way too, I can see advantages to both.

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1.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.1 Ball Python
1.1 Corn Snake
0.1 Gray band Kingsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
0.1 Pueblan Milksnake
1.0 Bullsnake

Thats a very nice cage. I also use a 15 watt bulb inside the cage and find inside the cage it heats things up nicely and safe.
Its good in room with a cool temp .
Do you lose a lot of heat with a pegboard background?
I didnt make mine I bought it lol . Due to my limited craftmanship abilities.
What are you going to house in it?

Thanks, I don't have a problem losing heat from the pegboard, the only problem is a very dry enviroment with that much ventilation and the incandescent light. To solve that problem, I've switched to cypress mulch substrate from aspen bedding, and just mist the cages more often. I have two corns that are soon to outgrow their small cages, and a Jungle carpet python that will soon be ready for a slightly larger cage, so I'm just going to move them around. So the JCP will live in this new one for a year or so will I build him a larger cage. Here is a pic of my largest JCP's cage, the new JCP cage will be similar, but slightly smaller and sit right on top of the old one.

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1.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.1 Ball Python
1.1 Corn Snake
0.1 Gray band Kingsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
0.1 Pueblan Milksnake
1.0 Bullsnake

Great looking cages its nice to see snakes in roomy cages.