progress pix of my new enclosure..

[jeepsearchrescueguy]

well after getting kioh (yes i named her ) i knew that the setup she was originally in was WAY to small

. so i set it up to build my own enclosure..
she should be ready to move into her new apartment in the next few weeks.. enclosure itself is pretty much done but her furniture and playground is not done yet ) my buddy is gettin my blocks of styrofoam to build her "furniture" tommorow and i can start working on building it.

but heres the start of her apartment ...

all the parts i bought at h.d.
just a note.. i spent about 160 for everythign so its not to bad..
the malaminite is about 40 a sheet and the plexi is about 40 a sheet (for the thick stuff)
everything else is just nickel and dime..

now if your not building a habitat like i am .. you can save about 30 bucks.. as thats what i have in the bags of grout sealant and tile and what not.

but heres the pix of the supplies

start of building.. i hade home depot do my rough cuts for me.. anybody that wants actuall measurements pm or email me and ill give you the direct measurements i used.

cutting 6 2" vents in the back for ventalation along with the 2 5x7 vents on the sides.

vents on rear and sides vents... ill install outer vents also for aspect factor..

here is a view of the inside top .. the hole is for a clamp light to sit into for the basking light.. im not comfortable with her being able to get any close than that to a basking light.. rear strip light is for the uv light
and spot light is depending on season
a low wattage " white light"
or a heat emmiter for winter.. as where shes placed it does get around 50 degrees at night.. its going to be set on a thermostat to turn on and off..

actual " box " put together"

installing the backing for the plexi. also to block the direct light from the uv light and keep the substrate in..

test fitting the lexan.. protective covering has not been removed yet so it will not be that cloudy when done.

building feeding area and "coolzone" now remember i havnt built the habitat yet there will be a loft and such aprox level to the vent.

get more work done when i get the styrofoam from my buddy so i can start getting the habitat setup for her.


obviously i modified the crossfire enclosure link.. this one is a 48x22x22 instead of 48x24x24.. only way i could do it without buying another block of malamanite.

i dont have molding on the front yet still trying to decide what to do... im actully thinking of just pieces of 1x1 with diamond plate on it.

progress to come.

-dave

 

[diamc]

[Moved from Enclosure forum to here as this is the new Do It Yourself forum

Wow, that's gonna be great, can't wait to see it when it's all done. :wink:

 

[danielz]

looks amazing. look at mine. its in this DIY thread. i jus finished it today

 

[Peter Griffin]

Lets get those pics of the finished project. Looks great so far.

 

[jeepsearchrescueguy]

id have to finish it to get those pix.. im waiting on more supplies to finish it.. i dont want to put the lexan in untill i get the habitat done.. or they may be in the way :mrgreen:

dont worry when i have more progress ill post em up

 

[LJean]

Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Looks great so far!

 

[jeepsearchrescueguy]

so i obviously forgot about this..

with all the stuff i do its rare i get on forums soooooo

anyway shes been living in her enclosure for a good month or so but i just finished the rocks a few days ago..
they are styrofoam from a shipping container.. shaped with sawzall, files and razor knifes.
then 5 coats of grout, then 1 coat terra cotta then 3 coats of textured rock paint ( its in the paint section at homedepot) then 7 coats of sealant ( yah i may have gone overboard but safety first..lol)

anyway here ya go.

 

[midnight_962002]

I like it. But, what is the substrate?

 

[jeepsearchrescueguy]

washed sand..

and please dont tell me its not heathy....they come from deserts besides my vet uses the same stuff.. shes not a clumsy eater and never seen any sand or anything get into her bowl....

 

[loza]

wow that enclousure looks amazing!!

 

[jeepsearchrescueguy]

wow that enclousure looks amazing!!

Thank You.. Kioh seems to enjoy it also

 

[midnight_962002]

Nope. I think washed play sand is acceptable. But, I was comparing the sand in the first picture of the thread to the sand in the newer picture. The sand in the newer picture looks much heavier. Which is why I asked.

How does your dragon like the textured rock paint and how bright is it compared to a white cage? I was debating about doing it.

 

[jeepsearchrescueguy]

Nope. I think washed play sand is acceptable. But, I was comparing the sand in the first picture of the thread to the sand in the newer picture. The sand in the newer picture looks much heavier. Which is why I asked.

How does your dragon like the textured rock paint and how bright is it compared to a white cage? I was debating about doing it.

she loves the textured rockpaint.. its plenty bright for her.. easier to clean when its not white.. whats nice about the paint on top of the grout and then being sealed the rocks are extremly easy to clean now.
its a little to warm up top so im gonna have to make some adjustments .. my temp gun was reading top bunk at 111 degrees
second shelf at 103
sand at 99.. and then the "ladder ramp" at about 101

this makes it very difficult to adjust temps..haha

yah the sand from the old cage came with her.. got her out of that crap asap..

 

[Reno]

Super really nice enclosure buddy like wow ! im planing builling my own soon ill already started buying the wood and hardware (screw and thing ect...) if you dont mine i wanna someting like your i like the concept of the feeding area but just curious why did you put ceramic tile only in that section? and does it cames coasty $$ at the end let me now plz but once again super dupper nice !!!!!! nice job !!

Reno ....

 

[jeepsearchrescueguy]

Super really nice enclosure buddy like wow ! im planing builling my own soon ill already started buying the wood and hardware (screw and thing ect...) if you dont mine i wanna someting like your i like the concept of the feeding area but just curious why did you put ceramic tile only in that section? and does it cames coasty $$ at the end let me now plz but once again super dupper nice !!!!!! nice job !!

Reno ....

yes it does get costly.. i have close to 300 in this enclosure.. the plexiglass alone was 90 bucks though. i put ceramic tile over in the feeding area originally as that was the cool side but she kept dragin sand over there and made it impossible to keep sand free so i left it alone and just dumped sand over there.. the tile was only .30 a piece so it wasnt really all of that expensive..
everything just adds up.. now im including the cost of building the rocks too so that adds in some money also..