I built a 4x2x2 melamine viv exactly like the ones on
www.customcages.com (I didn't want to pay $400 for one)
here's the breakdown:
1 sheet of 3/4" melamine - $35
2 rolls of melamine edge tape - $20
3 vents - $6
1 plastic electrical port - $3
35 fasteners - $15 (holds the whole box together)
plastic sliding door runners - $16
2 24x15 1/4" plate glass with finished edges - $45
24" single bulb flourescent and other miscellaneous electrical parts - $40
8 12" tile - $10 (substrate)
soo the total is around $180 but these prices are not exact.
now ... I have a large table saw and lots of tools which made it easy for me.
Things I bought that I didn't have to make the job easier:
1 fastener jig - $40 (this allow you to drill in the right spot so the fasteners will line up)
1 10" melamine saw blade - $55 (for the table saw)
1 7" melamine saw blade - $25 (for my circular saw)
as you can see, it's still cheaper for me to build one then it would have been to order one from customcages.
Melamine is really nice and durable but it's heavy as hell and a pain in the butt to work with. No matter how hard you try, you still get small chipping when cutting it with a saw on one side.
I still have alteast one more, maybe two cages still to build.
if you're still interested in building these, I can give you a more detailed description and where I got all the parts