home made enclosure, need expierenced advice please

[ak18402]

these are my basic plans http://crossfireenclosures.webs.com/ ( exo terra rock background) to line the back and side walls. please give me your feedback. would it be better to just buy the Zilla XL critter cage? it's on zilla-rules.com but i cannot find prices.

 

[Izzie]

The way that I built my enclosure was a case of asking myself some questions and then seeing if I could meet the needs of what I had in mind.

1) How big would I like the enclosure.
2) Is it big enough for my best buddy in the world to grow and be happy in.
3) Do I have the space that is needed for the size I want to build it.

Once I had the answers to those questions & I was able to meet those needs then I had to ask how much money I wanted to spend on either buying a pre built enclosure or building one for the funds I had available.

E.g I knew that I wanted to build a 4'x2'x2' and at the point in time I couldn't find a enclosure that was prebuilt in glass so I started to look at ones made from wood with glass and I did find some that I loved the look of but wasn't prepared to pay the prices that some of the companies wanted as I thought they was way to much.

So I then set of to lowes, home depot & local hardware stores to price up the things I wanted or needed to build the enclosure with. (needless to say my wife hates hardware stores now :lol: )

For me I bought 1 15mm 8'x4' ply from lowes in the end I could have probably gotten away with buying a thinner sheet of ply but I wanted a smooth clean look with no timber beams for joins so I had to buy it thick enough so that I could screw into the middle of the boards without them splitting.

If you have access to hand tools / drills, Drill bits, sand paper & wood filler then thats all you really need oh and 2 paint brushes which you can buy a pack for at Dollar tree for staining / sealing the wood. I had to go out and buy my own tools as I didn't have access to anything apart from a 10" table saw and a jigsaw but I hate wavey lines so I did it all on the table saw :lol: .

I had a check on google for the XL Zilla cage price but couldn't find it on there the closest thing I found was the one below it which was about $130.00 I know that with me buying the wood and the screws, wood stain, sealer & a very big bit of plexiglass I only spent about $120.00, The plexiglass was $64.00 on its own if i remember right.

The Zilla cage I 1st bought Izzie was no where near big enough and I know that when I went into petco to see how much a tank/enclosure was for the closest size I could find to 4'x2'x2' it was about $350.00 so that was a no no.

I find Izzie's enclosure easy to clean and Izzie has enough room to run around & jump like a lunatic.

Alot of it comes down to personal preference, money & if you want to spend the time building an enclosure, personally if I had to do it all again I would as I really enjoyed building the enclosure for my little buddy and had a great sense of achivement at the end of it as I am no craftsman.

As for the Exo terra background I personally like the look of them as for how good they are I couldn't say.

Good Luck in your quest and if you want to see how I built Izzie's enclosure then let me know I can post it up for you.

This is Izzies tank with the old Zilla 30"x12"x12" below it.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a364/busbyeie/Izzie/13072010649.jpg

 

[Gail]

The only thing I don't like about the finished crossfire if the lighting. I redid my UVB strip so it hangs down lower and is adjustable so I can redo the furnishings and set the UVB where I need it. I also used a dome fixture for the heat bulb, I really dislike having a bare bulb hanging in the cage plus the dome helps focus the heat downward instead of outward.

If you can possibly make a 4' x 2' x 2' you should do it, they really need a minimum of 6' floor space and the 30 gallon you spoke of will be a tight fit for a adult dragon.

 

[ak18402]

ok, so that plan itself is pretty solid with no major flaws? other than perhaps deciding how to rig the lighting?

 

[Gail]

Yep, its a good plan. My viv is built along the same plans and its a nice sturdy cage.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

I simplified the crossfire even further.
The picture is on my carepage on My site.
The white one is the one I built.