Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im planning on building a cage for my bearded dragon, i have a basic idea but my wife wants furnature quality and im no cabnet builder. heres my problem the cage needs an attic sort of for wiring of the lights it will be 4 ft by 3ft and 2 or 3 feet tall with 2 or 3 inch attic. i cant come up with how to do the door should i do it up front for easyer entry or build doors into the sides also venting is a question not sure how to do this and it still look good without having crickets getting out all the time. and for the front should i use real glass or plexy glass, i would like it to look good but mostly i need it to work so any ideas, pictures, or even blue prints would be great thanks

>>im planning on building a cage for my bearded dragon, i have a basic idea but my wife wants furnature quality and im no cabnet builder. heres my problem the cage needs an attic sort of for wiring of the lights it will be 4 ft by 3ft and 2 or 3 feet tall with 2 or 3 inch attic. i cant come up with how to do the door should i do it up front for easyer entry or build doors into the sides also venting is a question not sure how to do this and it still look good without having crickets getting out all the time. and for the front should i use real glass or plexy glass, i would like it to look good but mostly i need it to work so any ideas, pictures, or even blue prints would be great thanks

Here is what I use you have to imagine a stained front with sliding glass doors I have no photos at this time. You don't really need an attic cause they don't bother the bulb anyways. The top and bottom lip of the front I use are 5" thick so they don't kick up sand or what ever substrate you choose to use. I will try and get some pictures added to my profile but I am slow. The back is also vented on the cool side. I think the cage looks nice and works really well. Chris Harper has a bearded dragon cage that is rather nice. Mine is built for ease of construction and cost the cage carcass is made of melamine and the fronts are stained wood I used pine but a birch ply would have been better. I have some new cages I am working on but they are more complicated. These I built with a table saw and a brad nailer.

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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Hypomelenistic Red Tailed Boas
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino Red Tailed Boas
0.1 Suriname Red Tailed Boa
0.1 Anerthrystic Red Tailed Boa
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse

that is what i was planning on building mine from. probably with oak trim, but i dont think a slider will work. i have 2 cats and 2 kids. did you put a screen in by the vent or just the vent? tanks

they amke locks for sliding doors. as long as you dont have problems with crickets and the little crack the doors will make in the middle, a lock will deffinately keep kids out and reptiles in. i believe they cost around $10 at a hardware store.

>>that is what i was planning on building mine from. probably with oak trim, but i dont think a slider will work. i have 2 cats and 2 kids. did you put a screen in by the vent or just the vent? tanks

They make display case locks that keep the riff raff out. No I didn't put screen in but I can easily add screen to the back later.
-----
"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Hypomelenistic Red Tailed Boas
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino Red Tailed Boas
0.1 Suriname Red Tailed Boa
0.1 Anerthrystic Red Tailed Boa
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse

Too add about the crack between the glass some double sided tape fills the gap nicely just stick some paper to the outside adge to prevent the glass from sticking to each other.
-----
"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Hypomelenistic Red Tailed Boas
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino Red Tailed Boas
0.1 Suriname Red Tailed Boa
0.1 Anerthrystic Red Tailed Boa
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse

I hope this makes sense. The pictures I'm going to post are not of my bearded dragon cage but of a large cage of the same design.

This cage is about 48" x 30" x 48" - LxWxH.

This is hard to explain, but on the back of the cage the top 8" or so is completely open. So the back panel of the cage is only 40" tall instead of 48". It stops 8" from the top of the cage.

Then I built a frame that runs from the upper lip of the cage to the top of the back panel. Again, this runs about 8" below the very top of the cage. Here is a picture of this frame. It is hard to tell in this picture but it is covered with screen. Keeps the crickets in and allows ventilation.

To access the lights on this cage or my bearded dragon cage I just slide the cage forward and reach into the area.

If you go with this design make sure you build it to house a variety of lights. When I built my Bearded Dragon cage there were MVB bulbs that could be mounted horizontally. I only built this false ceiling area tall enough to hold one of those. They did not work well and I did not leave enough room for vertical MVBs - something I now regret.

Also, leave room for a 48" light fixture, even if you don't think you'll need it. My next BD cage will have enough room for the following:

1) Vertically mounted, high wattage MVB.

2) A four tube 48" T8 fluorescent fixture. This can be tough since most fixtures are a bit longer than the width of standard plywood sheets. But it can be done.

3) Several incandescent fixtures.

Why so many? Simply for versatility and in anticipation of the next new thing in reptile lights.

I hope this helps.

this picture might help show the false celiing better ...

thanks for the help. i think i will use a slider but real glass or plexy and if real how did you do the handles

>>thanks for the help. i think i will use a slider but real glass or plexy and if real how did you do the handles

Most glass places sell handles that are self adhesive they are less than a doller each, ask about those they come in a few different colors.
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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Hypomelenistic Red Tailed Boas
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino Red Tailed Boas
0.1 Suriname Red Tailed Boa
0.1 Anerthrystic Red Tailed Boa
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse