ok so a few weeks ago i got to thinking that it might be a good thing to give my leopard gecko a larger cage. currently he is in a 20L aquarium and i know that this should be plenty large enough for him to live in for the rest of his live but we had some stuff laying around in my basement and i decided that i could make one. after thinking about it i found out that i could make a 50"x 26" terrarium. so i went and got the wood and layed it all out. all the materials i used were 4 2x4x6s(WxDxL) 2 76"x24" sheets of plywood and 4 36"x24" sheets of plywood. also in the picture is the circular and jigsaws i used, power drill, framing nails and screws, and finishing nails. oh and in the very back right is my arizona green tea that i left on accident while i took the picture. my first step was to cut the 2x4s into the appropriate lengths. first i cut all the way down all 4 of them and then i cut them into 6 48 1/2" 2x4s, 4 26" 2x4s and 4 12" 2x4s. then i assembled them into the frame. i put 4 of the 48 1/2" 2x4s down and put two of the 26"s at the end to make the bottom. then i nailed the 4 12" ones to their respective corners. i finished of the main part of the frame by putting the two 26"s on top of the 12's and then the 48 1/2s between the 26s. i then took the left over scrap and put them on all 4 corners of the bottom part of the frame but ONLY on the LONG sides so that i can later go back and put in a 2nd layer. keep reading to the next post\/
then after i assembled the frame i cut the two longest pieces of plywood into the 2 48 1/2 inX15in. then cut the rest of the plywood into the 2 part top, 2 part bottom and the 2 sides. sorry i dont have any pictures of the plywood not on the frame but i got a little bit rushed to finish before it started raining. then to add the final touches(except the stain and the interior) i added two antique looking hinges and a door handle to match. here are some pictures of the almost finished terrarium. and here are some reference pictures to help people to better understand the size of the terrarium. and yes that is a little baby boy standin at the end of it, hes my 2 year old little brother. that little speck that is about midway through the back is my leopard gecko. i also did some calculations to find out the exact ground area the cage offers and it has a whopping 1262sq.in of floor space. i hope everyone enjoys this josh
interesting concept with it flipping open like that, its always very self satisfying building your own enclosure, but i do have one concern, that you can fix relatively easy .. and that is ventilation, i dont see any vents for air circulation, you can easily cut out the space and plop those in though. one more thing, when its closed you have no visibility into the cage? i would suggest cutting out a large square in the top lid and putting some plexiglass in its place. once you fine tune the outside build, then the fun begins with interior decorating, my advice is do not rush it
Thanks for doing the construction diary for us! It is looking good though the two points that SL raised also came into my mind: ventilation and visibility. You'll need something to see into as much for the leo's sense of day and night as for yourself. Look forward to seeing it finished off
thank you SL and Jill for bringing those two points up. and i feel kinda stupid now because i forgot to mention both above. as for the ventilation i drilled two holes into the side of the tank(post pictures) and im going to be cutting a square into the top of the terr where it is permenatly closed and putting screen over it to help with both ventilation and lighting. and also ive been pricing some of the cheap flourescent tube lights to put in for lighting to help him with the day/night problem. i just got done staining it so i might be able to get pictures of it up later on but im not sure yet. also what is everyones thoughts about the flouresent lighting? i thinking of the type of thing that is in a fish tank, of course not that exact thing but the same kind of concept. and one last thing, i am totally open to all sugestions on interior decorations because im kinda lost. i was going to do tile for the most of the bottom and where the floor ends and there is a little drop to the 2x4s i am planning on putting this Alabama Sunset rock(ill post pics later) so as to keep Nanzia from slippin out. so it would be like a border between the wall and tile. but other than that i really have no other plans yet. and again thank you SL and Jill for reminding me about lighting and ventilation. josh
lol i check this post almost everyday to see what youv done but no pics it should turn out really good looks nice a square. you could do the dome lights the domes are very thin metal and you can drill screws right into them its what i did with my cages just cut wholes in the top.
i actually just thought of those dome lights and im goin to be pickin a few up pretty soon. and im sorry i havent put pictures up. my cameras batteries dies and i cant find more to save my life. but im goin to try and get some more up tonite. josh
After a lot of debates on forums and trial and error..ive learned lights aren't really necessary and can be a bother to leos. if your getting it for heating i'd get ceramic heat bulbs. Not saying dont use any...but consider your leos when picked a light instead of considering looks to the terrarium.
ok here is the outside with everything except for the corner boards on the side Outside and this pics shows the color of the stain more truely True stain color these two holes on the top are kindof for ventilation and the bottom one is for when i have to run the heat pad cords out, and no those two holes arnt the only ventilation that will be in the setup theres goin to be a larger open space some where on the top...eventually Side holes The Lid i hope these pics satisfy some people the next set should have it with the vent/veiwing hole cut out(maybe not finished) and i will have pics of the types of rocks i am using on the bottom and maybe a pic of the tile to im not sure on the last one though oh an TNguy08, when i put in the lights for viewing they are just going to be really low wattage, non uvb and probably the ones that put out the least amount of heat possible. but i am most definetly thinking of my leo. but thank you for commenting on that josh
oh and sorry about having to put links up instead of the actual pictures this time. for some reason photo bucket isnt letting me just copy the img code. josh
right now its just a box...but im getting ready to cut out the viewing part from the lid(somehow i forgot to add that before when i was cutting all of the wood) but i am deffinetly going to have a space to view as well as for ventilation. josh
well looks like your either using a jigsaw or a router to cut a hole in that lol have fun with that lots of noise and dust.
ya my plan is t drill a hole in the top, use that a starting spot, the cut out the rest with my jigsaw. and the thing that stinks the most is that its goin to be really hard to get all of the dust out because my dad wont let me use his shop vac... josh
sweep as much out as you can then get a damp rag to get the fine stuff and do the damp rage 2 or 3 times thats what i do with mine cuz the shop vac wont always get all the dust.
