Greetings All
So it's about time for us to transfer our now six-month old Sully to a larger indoor enclosure so he can stretch out more, bask more, run around more, hide more, and of course eat more! He's been doing really well in his current enclosure, really large plastic container with custom built hinged lid with built in lights, CHE, UVB and misting units, but I think he will appreciate even more room to explore.
The base of this new enclosure is an old wooden shipping crate that I had from an overseas back to US move. It wasn't deep enough so I've now extended it to a nicer depth of about 20 inches. Width is about 36 inches and length is right about 60 inches. Since this was meant to originally protect an oil painting, I had to reinforce the bottom with a nice medium grade plywood. Today I've gone ahead and fastened the plywood in the base, and applied a silicone seal around the internal joints. Once the seals have dried the plan is to put down a layer of KILZ on all the internal wooden walls. Then I'll put a plastic layer on the floor and about 6 inches up the walls. Havent decided if I'll paint the external structure with Kilz or a more natural wooden stain. Of course a nice proper substrate will go on top of all that, peatmoss, sphagnum, coir, etc. and of course a new
I was trying to think of a good looking yet functional lid that would provide us an easy view of Sully, and would easily open and close to keep the humidity levels high. Luckily, I didnt rush to any solution because I found the perfect old window frame for $20.00 on Craigs List. I need to redo the caulking around all the window panes, repaint, etc. but the frame fit my project without any modifications needed.
So, thats where we are today and I thought I'd share a few photos as the project develops. The last photo shows a dry fit of the pieces and about how it will look before painting or light fixtures.
Updates to follow.
So it's about time for us to transfer our now six-month old Sully to a larger indoor enclosure so he can stretch out more, bask more, run around more, hide more, and of course eat more! He's been doing really well in his current enclosure, really large plastic container with custom built hinged lid with built in lights, CHE, UVB and misting units, but I think he will appreciate even more room to explore.
The base of this new enclosure is an old wooden shipping crate that I had from an overseas back to US move. It wasn't deep enough so I've now extended it to a nicer depth of about 20 inches. Width is about 36 inches and length is right about 60 inches. Since this was meant to originally protect an oil painting, I had to reinforce the bottom with a nice medium grade plywood. Today I've gone ahead and fastened the plywood in the base, and applied a silicone seal around the internal joints. Once the seals have dried the plan is to put down a layer of KILZ on all the internal wooden walls. Then I'll put a plastic layer on the floor and about 6 inches up the walls. Havent decided if I'll paint the external structure with Kilz or a more natural wooden stain. Of course a nice proper substrate will go on top of all that, peatmoss, sphagnum, coir, etc. and of course a new
I was trying to think of a good looking yet functional lid that would provide us an easy view of Sully, and would easily open and close to keep the humidity levels high. Luckily, I didnt rush to any solution because I found the perfect old window frame for $20.00 on Craigs List. I need to redo the caulking around all the window panes, repaint, etc. but the frame fit my project without any modifications needed.
So, thats where we are today and I thought I'd share a few photos as the project develops. The last photo shows a dry fit of the pieces and about how it will look before painting or light fixtures.
Updates to follow.
I can't wait to see when it's finished 
