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*Tons of PICS* The snake cage is finished! Finally...*Many PICS*

MichaelD

MichaelD

Lifer
I know there aren't many Herpers (that's Herpers, not Herpes...) on AT, so I figured the *PICS* would get your attention. 🙂

I do know, that there are a few Carpenters and amateur woodworkers that gave me advice on this project; thank you, gentlemen. Your assistance was vital in the successful completion of The Cage.

A few facts, before the pics:

1. Dimensions (external, in inches): 84w x 30d x 30h

2. Weight (empty): a highly educated guess (I built the damn thing) of 200 pounds, give or take 10 pounds each way

3. Cost (this includes everything you see in the pics, minus the snake, waterbowl, newspaper and the shelf-thing on the left):

Plywood $80
Trim pieces $28
Screen to cover lights: $6
Vents (green, round things): 16
Nails for nailgun: $8
Wood glue: $12
Silicone sealant for seams: $9
Wood conditioner/Varnish/Polyurethane: $50
Paint brushes/sandpaper/tackcloth: $21
Glass and tracks: $226
Heat mat: $89
Thermostat: $30
Digital thermometer: $15
3-light Halogen light set $29
Analog temp/humidity gauges: $12
Catpan: $9
Bigass square rock: $1
Hardware to mount light fixtures: $8
TOTAL $649

4. Time it took me to complete the whole thing, from the first cut of wood to installing the glass: 8 weeks (part time, includes drying time for all the varnish/poly)


I am very proud of this cage. There is no other like it anywhere. Custom dimensions, custom glass, the works. The lights are Halogen "puck lights." I'd be happy to answer any questions! Oh, to buy one similar to this, pre-made is about $1200. Shipping is another $300 (truck, freight) plus tipping the guys for muscling it to it's final resting place.

I hope you like it as much as I do. Thanks for reading and looking. 🙂

Front view
From the right
From the left
That is a standard 12-inch ruler towards the left, for size comparison's sake
Shot of the light fixtures
Closeup of one of the light fixtures
Top of cage showing how the fixtures are mounted (hangar bolts/washers/wingnuts) and wires for lights
Digital temp gauge (higher temp is temp of heat mat/lower temp is ambient temp of cage) (CPU/CASE!😀)
Thermostat that cycles heat mat On/Off
Temp probes (two) Big one is for the thermostat, little one is for the digital temp gauge
Analogue Temp and Humidity gauges on left wall of cage
Andy looking at you. That is a quarter there, for size comparision. She is more than 7ft long and weighs approx 14 pounds
 
that's a really nice case. great job. I think painting the back with a tropical scene would make it even cooler. 😎
 
*Takes a bow* Thanks guys! Hey, CedarTeeth; I am not much of a carpenter either.

What you see there is the result of: a) a lot of practice & b) the right tools.

The wood for the cage was cut on an industrial table saw that will hold a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood. Well, it still takes two people; one to feed the sheet to the blade and the other to hold the side up, but trying to cut these size pieces to size, ACCURATELY, i.e to within 1/8 of an inch, with a circular saw (which I have) would be next to impossible for all but the most experienced of carpenters. I had access to an industrial table saw and other "big tools" that helped me cut and dado the wood.

I used a Compound Radial Miter Saw to cut the four pieces of trim that make up each light fixture (they have alternating 45-degree cuts in order to make "a square") as well as the trim pieces on the outer face of the cage, which are cut at 45-degrees as well.

This all could have been done by hand, with hand power tools but it would have been 5x slower as well as 5x less accurate.

Don't think I didn't screw up, either! 😱 I went thru $40 worth of plywood (two sheets) before I realized that I'd dadoed the groove on the unfinished side. Result? SCRAP! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! :|

Anyway, the best part about this cage is the FRONT ACCESS. Not sure if you can see in the pics, but underneath this big cage, there are two smaller fish-tank-type cages. I have two other snakes as well. These have a removeable top, which is a PITA when it comes time to do anything inside the cage. Sliding glass doors onthe front are MUCH better.
 
It looks pretty cool, but WATCH OUT! There's a snake in there, buddy! And you may have a cat pan, but I think that snake got your cat!
 
Nice, but i was looking at the links at the bottom and on the third last line you have the word "Probes" and on the second last line the word "anal" just before and below it and the first time I looked down I read "anal probes".
 
Nice job and great looking snake.

I hope any women in your life, now or in the future, like snakes because if not you can kiss goodbye any romantic dinners in the dining room. 😉
 
is there anyway you can take pics of your snake eating!! Id love to see that!!!! Also.... thats a freakin nice cage you built!!! It looks better then a professional done one. It REALLY looks good. Pat yourself on the back my friend.
 
Thanks for the kind words, guys and gals! The cage has been done for about a week, and last night was the first opportunity I had to take/post pics. Lord knows I bothered you all enough with all my "carpentry/painting/other" questions. I'm very pleased it turned out as well as it did. It was a big learning curve for me, as I'd never built anything on this scale before.

Mrs. Skoorb, you made me laugh; "I love snake cages! Keeps them in!" Hahahah! 😀 Andy is actually a sweetie...you could practically jump rope with her...I wouldn't suggest trying it, though. Heheheh.

Oh, BTW, I have many, many pics of Andy and my other two snakes eating. It is a fascinating process. You see this huge rat that's about 5x bigger than the snake's head and you think "no freakin' way that thing is going in there!" And then you watch the snake dislocate it jaw and *gulp* YUMMY! All gone! 🙂 It may be gross to some, but in all actuality, a snake eating is a much cleaner process than with a dog/cat/bird. Snakes swallow food whole. No blood, no guts, no dog/cat food/water spilled all over the floor. Quick and neat.

If I can ever get my IP problems straightened out, my FTP will be up and running again (well, it was running for all of 5 hours...so I'm not sure if I can say "again."
rolleye.gif
) and I'll post the eating pics.

Thanks again. I'd be happy to provide more info on the captive keeping of snakes...it's my other big hobby besides PC hardware and gaming. Have a super day.
 
Originally posted by: MichaelD
Thanks for the kind words, guys and gals! The cage has been done for about a week, and last night was the first opportunity I had to take/post pics. Lord knows I bothered you all enough with all my "carpentry/painting/other" questions. I'm very pleased it turned out as well as it did. It was a big learning curve for me, as I'd never built anything on this scale before.

Mrs. Skoorb, you made me laugh; "I love snake cages! Keeps them in!" Hahahah! 😀 Andy is actually a sweetie...you could practically jump rope with her...I wouldn't suggest trying it, though. Heheheh.

Oh, BTW, I have many, many pics of Andy and my other two snakes eating. It is a fascinating process. You see this huge rat that's about 5x bigger than the snake's head and you think "no freakin' way that thing is going in there!" And then you watch the snake dislocate it jaw and *gulp* YUMMY! All gone! 🙂 It may be gross to some, but in all actuality, a snake eating is a much cleaner process than with a dog/cat/bird. Snakes swallow food whole. No blood, no guts, no dog/cat food/water spilled all over the floor. Quick and neat.

If I can ever get my IP problems straightened out, my FTP will be up and running again (well, it was running for all of 5 hours...so I'm not sure if I can say "again."
rolleye.gif
) and I'll post the eating pics.

Thanks again. I'd be happy to provide more info on the captive keeping of snakes...it's my other big hobby besides PC hardware and gaming. Have a super day.
Click to expand...




Id love to see those pics!! Hook us up with your ftp site.. a link would be nice when its fixed 🙂
 
OK, tell you what. When I get home tonight, I'll post pics over at BBZZDD of Andy eating. I'll link 'em in my original post. Cool? Prolly happen around 1900-2000 CST.
 
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