BrianDallek
New member
First day on the boards as a member, but I did lurk on here to get some info before diving into the world of bearded dragons. Wanted to give back so here is my cage build. I picked the dimensions of the cage because of the location it was supposed to go in. I'm going to skip some of the things I would assume a person who is taking on this project already knows how to do, like figure out measurements and make cuts. Basically this is my take on the sliding glass cage everyone seems to make...
First I needed a 4x8 sheet of wood. melamine is basically junk in my opinion and super hard to work with. I found this already finished birch plywood at my local big box lumber store.
I cut the plywood to correct dimensions and then used some mahogany 1.5" x 1.5" that I had scrap for the top and bottom rail along the front. Instead of glass sliders I opted for a hinge down Plexiglass door and simple twist locks you can find in the screen window section of your home depot. The Plexiglass door is 36" by 15". It was very easy to cut and just sand the edges. I drilled through for the hinges with a plain drill bit. I used stainless hinges and hardware
I installed a Sunblaster T5 fixture with a Reptisun 10.0 T5 34" bulb
http://amazon.com/gp/product/B005A7XEYW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQU8HKO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I also wired in a regular light fixture for the heat bulb. After installing I bought a bunch of bulbs till I found the one that created the right basking temp and ambient temp.
I ran both cords out through a hole in the top corner.
I cut three 3" holes for vents along the back and installed plastic vents.
http://amazon.com/gp/product/B000KKI8A4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Cost: Wood $45, Plexi $25, Hardware $10, Light fixure's and bulbs $70, Vents $10...Total: $160
Not sure what else to share. If there are any questions I will try to come on and answer. Here are some more pics. Sorry for the lighting. For some reason my iPhone struggles with finding balance with the lights in the room and in the cage.
First I needed a 4x8 sheet of wood. melamine is basically junk in my opinion and super hard to work with. I found this already finished birch plywood at my local big box lumber store.
I cut the plywood to correct dimensions and then used some mahogany 1.5" x 1.5" that I had scrap for the top and bottom rail along the front. Instead of glass sliders I opted for a hinge down Plexiglass door and simple twist locks you can find in the screen window section of your home depot. The Plexiglass door is 36" by 15". It was very easy to cut and just sand the edges. I drilled through for the hinges with a plain drill bit. I used stainless hinges and hardware
I installed a Sunblaster T5 fixture with a Reptisun 10.0 T5 34" bulb
http://amazon.com/gp/product/B005A7XEYW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQU8HKO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I also wired in a regular light fixture for the heat bulb. After installing I bought a bunch of bulbs till I found the one that created the right basking temp and ambient temp.
I ran both cords out through a hole in the top corner.
I cut three 3" holes for vents along the back and installed plastic vents.
http://amazon.com/gp/product/B000KKI8A4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Cost: Wood $45, Plexi $25, Hardware $10, Light fixure's and bulbs $70, Vents $10...Total: $160
Not sure what else to share. If there are any questions I will try to come on and answer. Here are some more pics. Sorry for the lighting. For some reason my iPhone struggles with finding balance with the lights in the room and in the cage.