Alrighty, it's getting colder and my herp room is not insulated at all or even temperature controlled so the rubbermaid container is just not cutting it with cooler temps. I've brought him inside because the other night the best I could do with the CHE I have is 75. Typically it will hover around 90 in the hottest spot and Cooper usually stays right around that area so I know that 75 wasn't comfortable for him/her.
Sooo anyways today warmed up and Cooper caught some rays and I decided to go to Home Depot and pick up some building supplies. I purchased the following:
2 - 1/2" CD grade plywood (CD reffers to the finish, CD is relatively poor quality, they also have BC, which I probably should of gotten, and also AC which is more of a cabinet grade, had I been building this as a display cage that would be in my house I probabl would have sprung for this but im a cheap *** and CD was the best deal going)
6 - 2"X2"X8' I'm using these as sort of a skeleton for the entire structure, it will add rigidity to the relatively thin plywood. You could buy 3/4" plywood BUT it's heavy as hell if you need to move it by yourself.
1 - 1"X6"X6' This will serve as the substrate barrier along the front of the enclosure, I plan on having roughly 5" of substrate for digging, plants, and also to help keep humidity up.
1 - 1"X4"X8' This will also be on the front but to 1) make a nice finished look to the fron the enclosure and 2) give me some surface area to screw hinges and latches.
I already have a ton of screws, wood glue and all the tools. The only thing I need is some paint, silicone, and misc timers and thermostats and maybe a few other odds and ends but i'll gather those as I get near completion because for now I have plenty to do.
Before anyone reads any further I don't have any pics, hell I haven't even started yet, I will tomorrow though and pics will follow.
The plan...i'm building a 4'wideX4'deepX2'tall enclosure that will be completely sealed up except for maybe some side vents as I see fit once I run it and see where the temps settle. I'll more than likely run a single T8 for the main light and CHE's for heat, that might change though, we'll see.
I bought a humidifier I plan on plumbing into this as well to maintain a very high humidity.
Even thought the little pecker doesn't eat them i'm gonna have a variety of seeds planted (got them from sulcatafood.com in case anyone is wondering, probably over payed but oh well, too late now) and some weeds i've been gathering from the backyard). Even though he doesn't eat them I keep them in there because he seems to enjoy laying in/on them and it looks nice, so that's a plus. I do occassionally snip off some pieces and mix it with Mazuri...i'm getting off track...anyways, that's the plan soo far, we'll see how it goes.
The only thing I don't have figured out is what to seal it with. I'm down to two choices: 1) latex paint or 2) fiberglass resin. I'm used the latter in the past for non-pet projects with great results but it's kinda expensive and i'm not too sure that even if it has cured, it would be the safest route. Any suggestions?
EDIT: $62 bucks spent today, just in case anyone wanted to know.
Sooo anyways today warmed up and Cooper caught some rays and I decided to go to Home Depot and pick up some building supplies. I purchased the following:
2 - 1/2" CD grade plywood (CD reffers to the finish, CD is relatively poor quality, they also have BC, which I probably should of gotten, and also AC which is more of a cabinet grade, had I been building this as a display cage that would be in my house I probabl would have sprung for this but im a cheap *** and CD was the best deal going)
6 - 2"X2"X8' I'm using these as sort of a skeleton for the entire structure, it will add rigidity to the relatively thin plywood. You could buy 3/4" plywood BUT it's heavy as hell if you need to move it by yourself.
1 - 1"X6"X6' This will serve as the substrate barrier along the front of the enclosure, I plan on having roughly 5" of substrate for digging, plants, and also to help keep humidity up.
1 - 1"X4"X8' This will also be on the front but to 1) make a nice finished look to the fron the enclosure and 2) give me some surface area to screw hinges and latches.
I already have a ton of screws, wood glue and all the tools. The only thing I need is some paint, silicone, and misc timers and thermostats and maybe a few other odds and ends but i'll gather those as I get near completion because for now I have plenty to do.
Before anyone reads any further I don't have any pics, hell I haven't even started yet, I will tomorrow though and pics will follow.
The plan...i'm building a 4'wideX4'deepX2'tall enclosure that will be completely sealed up except for maybe some side vents as I see fit once I run it and see where the temps settle. I'll more than likely run a single T8 for the main light and CHE's for heat, that might change though, we'll see.
I bought a humidifier I plan on plumbing into this as well to maintain a very high humidity.
Even thought the little pecker doesn't eat them i'm gonna have a variety of seeds planted (got them from sulcatafood.com in case anyone is wondering, probably over payed but oh well, too late now) and some weeds i've been gathering from the backyard). Even though he doesn't eat them I keep them in there because he seems to enjoy laying in/on them and it looks nice, so that's a plus. I do occassionally snip off some pieces and mix it with Mazuri...i'm getting off track...anyways, that's the plan soo far, we'll see how it goes.
The only thing I don't have figured out is what to seal it with. I'm down to two choices: 1) latex paint or 2) fiberglass resin. I'm used the latter in the past for non-pet projects with great results but it's kinda expensive and i'm not too sure that even if it has cured, it would be the safest route. Any suggestions?
EDIT: $62 bucks spent today, just in case anyone wanted to know.
making it clear about the cig box gave me a chuckle! 
