Pros/cons of a screen front all wood viv

[lukie0128]

So I plan on building a new viv. I was going to build it like the "crossfire" model, but I was also thinking about making it out of plywood, and not venting the sides or back, and just having a screen front. Anyone with any help, tips, pros/cons would be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Luke, as im not a builder my Buddie has tried this and he could not hold the proper temps in their! Just my 2cents..

 

[illicit636]

you can build it out of ply wood or mdf board just remember you are going to have to seal and paint it, so you going to want to give yourself plenty of time for it to dry. also with out venting the top you have no way for the excess heat to escape. sence heat rises its nice to have the vents to help with that. also its hard enough to get temps stable in such a big tank ( i know i just built the crossfire viv ) with solid doors instead of slidding doors. a screen front would allow way to much cold air from the outside and not "hold" the hot air from your bulbs inside the tank. the only way i think the screen would work is if you had the outside room about 80-85 degrees and had ur basking light inside the tank at 105. then your outside room tempature would be your cool side inside your tank and the hot side would get hot enough from your basking bulb at 105. hope that helps

 

[midwestreptiles]

People come on you need to look at other factors. Yes keeping temps in a cage this size can be difficult. But not every one is just building a viv that sits in they're living room or bedroom where ambient rooms temps may be lower , making a screened door not the best option. On the other hand i build all my vivs this way as my reptile room stay very warm and keeping my cage temps down is my issue vs keeping them up.

Luke there are pros and cons to a screened front. It all depends on your room temps and which method will make keeping temps where you want them easier. I use plywood and screen fronts and have no issues at all keeping the temps i want. Also keep in mind when building the crossfire enclosure it calls for two large vents on each side and mult. vents in the back or how ever you like. I frame the front with 1x4's and then frame each door with 1x4 inside the other frame and then screen it. This make the actual screen opening per door about 14" by 16" or so. Which provides about that same amount of air exchange as using solid front doors and metal vents.

I find the plywood and screen doors way cheaper and just as effective. With out lighting per cage it cost around $35 to construct the cage. Where as with sliding doors and melamine your looking at around $33 for the wood, $20 or so dollars for tracking maybe more maybe less, and about $30 for plexi or glass doors, and then what ever you put in for vents and then door hardware.