Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am bored at work and decided I would post some pictures of cages and racks that I have been working on this last little while. Hope you like.

This one was actually done before the spring show but I haven't posted a picture till now. It is 4' X 2' X 16" glass terrarium for slamanders. This cage went up to Edmonton, Alberta

This one is 4' X 2' X 3' glass terrarium with a custom rock backgroud for a water dragon. It went up to Westlock, Alberta You can't see the rock background that well in the picture so I have also included a picture of the background

4 - 5' X 2' X 18" Melamine with oak trim stackable cages that went up to Todd in Fort McMurray. 2 cages can be stacked together, and if needed another cage can be added to the middle in the future. It is made to look like 1 large divided cage, but they can be seperated for easier moving.

4' X 2' X 3' Melamine cage with oak trim. This went to Todds frind also in Fort McMurray

This is a custom rack for a leopard gecko breeder in Quebec. It was going to fit 16 1/2" X 24" X 6" Sterilite bins. This rack was being heated by 4" heat tape on the floor of each row and everything was being controlled by a helix DBS 1000.

I have another rack complete with a helix controller as well that I will post in the next few days. I just completed it over the weekend and I haven't taken any pictures of it yet.

Here is what I am working on right now. It is a 4' X 2' x 4' fir enclosure with a 4' X 2' X 2' stand complete with lighting, concrete background, and a misting system. The finishing of the cage hasn't started yet, but here is where I am at right now. The background looks really good if I do say so myself and I can't wait to see it all setup once it is completed. The whole interior is epoxy coated as well, but the pictures were taken before that was done.

Hope you like all of the cages and pictures. I will post more when I have some more pictures taken. Now I just have to get all of the cages done so I can build some stuff for myself.

Greg West
Cornel's World Terrariums
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Greg West
www.cornelsworld.com

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Signature file edited [phw 9/26/04]

I checked out your site. On that rock work with the openings for potted plants, is that lite weight and do you make them for commercial sized enclosures like Visions?

Bob.

They are more for bigger cages and it is not light weight at all. The last cage I posted is going to weight a ton when it is getting shipped. I wanted it to have a real rock look, but she wanted it green so it doesn't look too realistic in a rock like sense but it still looks pretty good in my humble opinion. It is concrete with foam and wire mesh for the forming of it.

Thanks

Greg West
Cornel's World Terrariums

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Greg West
www.cornelsworld.com

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Signature file edited [phw 9/26/04]

DROOL,, wheres my table saw?
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Tom

www.herpzilla.com

Nice work as always. What type of epoxy sealer are you using and how do you apply it?

I am using a floor epoxy sealer that is typically used for dog runs. No harful offgassing while applying it, very little smell during curing, no harmful vocs, and very easy to apply. I applied it with a paint brush, and can either be applied with a paint brush or a roller. It is the first time using it, but it has worked really well. It was $38.00 CDN to cover 100ft2. The area where I covered just the wood floor left a glass like finish that after the first coat seemed to be a great way of permanently sealeing a wood cage. I intend to make a wood box that would have the interior coated in epoxy so I could fill it with water and see how good it actually is. I got it from Industrial Plastics and Paints, and I think it was called EP100, but not sure if that company is in the States.

Does anyone else use an epoxy sealer to protect the interior of cages?

Hope that answers your question Chris
Cornel's World Terrariums

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Greg West
www.cornelsworld.com

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Signature file edited [phw 9/26/04]

>>Does anyone else use an epoxy sealer to protect the interior of cages?

I have used bar top epoxy on cages. It is polymer based and solvent free. No nasty fumes. But it does need to be applied thick which makes it expensive and it does soften when exposed to high heat. I probably would not use it in a monitor cage, for example.

I have also used a lot of pool epoxy paint. Durable but a pain to work with.

I just looked up the epoxy floor covering on their site. They say it's not recommended for wood, but suspect they only say that to cover themselves. Wood expands and contracts quite a bit and some coatings are not able to deal with that. Fortunately, that's not always as big of an issue with reptile enclosures, especially if they are mostly made up of sheet goods instead of solid wood.

Look forward to hearing how it holds up. I did not find a US distributor but suspect there's one out there.

The only area that was covering the wood was the floor and I did not notice any significant swelling at all. Mainly it was to cover the concrete though.
Cornel's World Terrariums

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Greg West
www.cornelsworld.com

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Signature file edited [phw 9/26/04]

I did not mean the wood swelling, I mean when it expands and contracts naturally with climatic changes. Some finishes, including epoxies, just dry too hard to deal with this. They end up cracking.

Again, I don't believe this is an issue in most reptile enclosures, especially since we typically use plywood which is not affected much by changes in temperature and/or humidity.

What would be the difference between this stuff and the stuff that they would use to protect bar tables etc? The finish seems to be the same, but usually over bars it would be over solid wood. I understand what you mean now with the solid woods. I probably never would have thought about that.... Good thing I wasn't planning on using it on the solid woofd trim I have on the outside.

Greg
Cornel's World Terrariums

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Greg West
www.cornelsworld.com

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Signature file edited [phw 9/26/04]

Greg,

I have spoken with paint chemists from a few (probably more) paint companies. They have all said that many of these recommendations are overblown to avoid product liability. They need to cover themselves in case John Doe homeowner uses it improperly and wants his money back.

What would be the difference between this stuff and the stuff that they would use to protect bar tables etc?

The stuff you use is designed to be harder and more abrasion resistant. Probably also more heat resistant. But then it comes at the cost of being more likely to crack.

The bar top epoxy is much more flexible, but also more easily scratched and not as heat resistant. This also means it needs to be applied thicker, which makes it more expensive (more product to cover the same area).

Good thing I wasn't planning on using it on the solid woofd trim I have on the outside.

I still think it would be fine, assuming these reptile cages are in a fairly stable environment, which most are.

I'm copying and pasting a reply from another thread. There is a product available in the US that I think would be ideal for the high end cage builder like yourself. This will save you a ton of time and money and it uses what is probably the environmentally safe finish there is. Here's the post:
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Another option is to look in Nova prefinshed plywood. For about $60 per sheet, depending upon local prices/availability, you can get a very high quality laminated plywood with a epoxy coating baked on with UV light.

This finish is so touch that even acentone won't dissolve it, unlike the catalyzed floor finish I mentioned earlier (which cleans up with acetone).

I know $60 sounds like a lot of money but when you consider how much a sheet of plain laminated plywood costs it's really not that bad. The plywood and the veneer is of much higher quality than the comparable product at Home Depot. Factor in the factory epoxy coating and it's likely worth the extra $20 per sheet.

The big downfall is that it is relatively untested for our application.

Thanks Chris,

I will look into them. I think they do distibute to Ontario, but not to the Western provinces so cost with shipping might be a little out of reach. This is the first time using this stuff, and the first time someone has even requested that I use epoxy to seal the interior, so we will see how much demand there even is for it. Thanks for the information though. I will look it up and see Canadian costs.

Greg
Cornel's World Terrariums

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Greg West
www.cornelsworld.com

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Signature file edited [phw 9/26/04]

Here is the other rack i was talking about. It is outfitted with a Helix DBS 1000 thermostat to control the 2 rows of 11" heat tape. It holds 12 16 1/2" X 23" X 6" rubbermaids. Can't remember the model number. Hope you like. This one is going up to Edmonton.

Greg
Cornel's World Terrariums

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Greg West
www.cornelsworld.com

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Signature file edited [phw 9/26/04]