Supplies For Cage ???

[Shadraak]

i've decided i'm gonna make a 3'x18"x18" cage for the BP baby i will be getting, i am doing this for 2 reasons...
1. if i mess up it's not that much material wasted
2. i only have 1ft of 11" flexwatt left so anything bigger i wouldn't get good heat
i would like to buy enough materials to make 2 cages or perhaps a 3' and a 4' cage for later, 4' would be for judas ofcourse, or i may make a 4' and divide it up in half for leo's lol but that's all after i get the hang of building just one, anywho, other than inside, ie.... lights, paint, etc..... i need a list of materials to get
1"x2" = ???
Showersurround = ???
Plexi = ???
Liquid nails = ???
Caulk = ???
anything else you can think i need.....
i guess that's about it lol, wanna make sure i have enough of it here so that i dont have to go back into town to get them lol
i hope i can get the shell built by tomarrow evening, so i can get it all ready for plexi and heating by friday and get everything even and stable by monday so that maybe i can get the BP on monday or thursday......

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

[Adrya]

1"x2" = 10... that's what I would start with. I used 4 for my first 4 footer, but the inside of the cage is 8 inches tall, and since you're making it 18 inches, you'll probably use around 5 of them. There should be enough for a 3 footer by getting 10. I got 12 but I'm building 3 or so cages. lol

Showersurround = 2 sheets.

Plexi = Half sheet of 8'x3' 1/8" inch thick

Liquid nails = I got two tubes of the stuff and I haven't used up the first one yet on the two cages. So I would try just one tube. Just don't go crazy on the gluing. lol

Caulk = I got one tube of white silicone and I haven't used it up completely caulking the two cages I built.

Small Nails/Tacks = Don't know how many come in a package.. I managed to find some here at home. Small 1/2" inch tacks with small heads so that when you hammer them, the heads will bury into the tileboard and be flush with the tileboard... these are good for securing the tileboard in a few places after you liquid nail the tileboard in place. These will save you time if you want to keep building the cage, so you don't have to sit and wait for the glue to dry.

Hinges = Since the doors on my cages are fairly big, I use the 1 1/2" inch non-removable hinges

Bolt screws and Nuts = these are for the other half of the hinge on the plexi that isn't permanently screwed into the wood... these are for the half of the hinge where the ends of the screws will be inside the cage. The screws have a flat end and the nut keeps them pretty blunt so the snakes can't hurt themselves on it. These came in little green plastic bags in the nuts and bolts section of Lowe's... I got the 6-32x3/8". These are what I'm suggesting, unless you find something better.

[Shadraak]

SWEET i was hoping you'd be on tonight before i went to bed , now i gotta figure out the lights should only need one in there huh? and you leave yours on in the daytime, and set your UTH and then turn it off at night and let the natural drop at night cool it down? right?
the bolt screws i know what you're talking about it's like the little nut with a cap that goes over the inside so it keeps it smooth :P is 18" too small? i dont want a huge cage but i guess i could go 3x2x2 but that seems a little odd to me lol what would you suggest? i mean that what i'd like it to be i still dont know what size to cut the pieces LOL wish i could just have them cut it for me and i could assemble when i get home hehe, i think we have a tablesaw at my moms house it's small but hopefully will get the job done....... yours is only 8" tall, why? what are you putting in there? should i do this one 3'x1'x1'? would that look more dimensional?

	Under Tank Heater Under Tank Heater

[Adrya]

Originally Posted by Shadraak

SWEET i was hoping you'd be on tonight before i went to bed , now i gotta figure out the lights should only need one in there huh? and you leave yours on in the daytime, and set your UTH and then turn it off at night and let the natural drop at night cool it down? right?
the bolt screws i know what you're talking about it's like the little nut with a cap that goes over the inside so it keeps it smooth :P is 18" too small? i dont want a huge cage but i guess i could go 3x2x2 but that seems a little odd to me lol what would you suggest? i mean that what i'd like it to be i still dont know what size to cut the pieces LOL wish i could just have them cut it for me and i could assemble when i get home hehe, i think we have a tablesaw at my moms house it's small but hopefully will get the job done....... yours is only 8" tall, why? what are you putting in there? should i do this one 3'x1'x1'? would that look more dimensional?

One light should be good for a small cage like a 3 or 4 footer.

The UTH stays on all the time and the lights go on in the morning and off at night, so the temps drop, yes.

18" isn't too small, that's pretty tall, actually. My big 6 foot cage is 15 inches tall, to kinda give you a reference. If you want to go with 2 feet tall, be my guest. lol I like my cages more slim and low, but still lots of floor space. I can help you with how to cut the pieces once you get the stuff.

My cages are 11 1/2 inches tall total, the inside of the cage is a little over 8 inches tall, 17 inches deep, 4 feet long, the way I planned. They're slim like boaphiles, kinda. My ball pythons will be in there and most of my more ground dwelling snakes. There's more room in there than you think. All of my boas will get 6 foot cages, even the male.

3'x1'x1' isn't deep enough... I'd provide more floor space. 1 foot tall is perfectly fine, but I'd make the depth more around 2 feet... 3' long, 2' deep and 1' high.

Oh and I would also get a small can of Perma-White Mold & Mildew-Proof Interior Paint, by Zinsser. It's self-priming, scrubbable, blister proof, and stain resistant. Make sure it's tintable to all off-whites, pastels and medium colors. This is to paint the brown edges of the tileboard after the cage is all built.

	Under Tank Heater Under Tank Heater

[Shadraak]

COOL well i think i'll stick with the 18" lol seems round about and hopefully it'll come out ok, yeah i want the insides to be 3x18x18 so with 1x2's i'll have a pain in the butt to figure out how much extra to make the lengths on the height on the sides, ugh here i'm thinking again i dont need to :P i just need to build, well where i'll be i wont have the ability to be on here while cutting :P lets say 3'x18"x18" lol what would the 1x2's need to be cut into? or is that too difficult to figure out without actually making it? the shower surround would be easy after i get the frame built lol you just lay it on there trace around and cut with the tablesaw :P not taht difficult hehe hopefully :P ofcourse i'll screw it up somehow and get aggrivated and just say forget it , but i want this BP by next week, and judas' cage is becoming a pain to keep going, so i want both of these cages right next to me or atleast in the closet where i can put the 75 tank in the living room or something hehe it's taking up too much space, wonder what i can put in it once this is done :P, it's waaay too big for like hermit crabs or anything hehe.... and waay too big for leo's too hehe..... unless i had like 8 females hehe....

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

[Adrya]

Originally Posted by Shadraak

COOL well i think i'll stick with the 18" lol seems round about and hopefully it'll come out ok, yeah i want the insides to be 3x18x18 so with 1x2's i'll have a pain in the butt to figure out how much extra to make the lengths on the height on the sides, ugh here i'm thinking again i dont need to :P i just need to build, well where i'll be i wont have the ability to be on here while cutting :P lets say 3'x18"x18" lol what would the 1x2's need to be cut into? or is that too difficult to figure out without actually making it? the shower surround would be easy after i get the frame built lol you just lay it on there trace around and cut with the tablesaw :P not taht difficult hehe hopefully :P ofcourse i'll screw it up somehow and get aggrivated and just say forget it , but i want this BP by next week, and judas' cage is becoming a pain to keep going, so i want both of these cages right next to me or atleast in the closet where i can put the 75 tank in the living room or something hehe it's taking up too much space, wonder what i can put in it once this is done :P, it's waaay too big for like hermit crabs or anything hehe.... and waay too big for leo's too hehe..... unless i had like 8 females hehe....

For my four footers I cut all 1x2's at one time so I wouldn't have to go back and cut stuff...:

4' foot long pieces = 4 ....these make the length of the cage

15 3/4" cage-width pieces = 10.... three of these go inbetween two four foot pieces to make the full 17" width, and another three go inbetween the other two four foot pieces, making the floor and ceiling frames.

8" long pieces = These make the inside-height of the cage. Two 15 3/4" pieces go inbetween two 8" long pieces to make a 8" wall frame. The 8" pieces are on the outside of the 15 3/4" pieces. Then repeat for the other ones.

Does that make sense?

You can see what I mean if you look carefully at this pic.

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

[Shadraak]

yeah but i just got off a 12 hr shif trying to convert for mine so on mine would i use, 3' pices, 18" pieces and like a 16 3/4" pieces? UGH now i'm thinking of doing it 3' x 2'deep x 18" high AHHHH
give me a design so i can stick to it lol, wanna house a baby ball and just about any other snake in it , 3' should be ok for her, if she gets too big i'll make a 4' for her but that wont be for a year or two :P hopefully, now for judas i wanna make a 4' min.....but that's the next cage, then this 3' will go ontop of it hehe and all right over here by my computer desk ontop of my trunk right infront of the window (it's tinted double window's double tint, got blinds, and black curtains so no light goes thru i have a glass 20g here with a thermometer in it and it's been there by the window even with the blinds open and the hottest it's read in 4 days is 80 lol....so i think this is a perfect place for the BP cage :P and i can put the incandescent light on a timer to comeon in the mornings :P and go off at like 7pm hehe
*****EDIT*****
HEY on your 4' pieces the inside of your tank can't be 4' cause the end piece and the side pieces of your tank are inside it, which is making it an extra 4" in, so isn't the inside of your tank only 44" not 48"? because of the 1x2 going width wise one on each end, so if the long pieces are only 4' long then with the 2" on each side taken up from putting the side pieces ontop of the bottom, it'd make it 44" long inside right?