Well I can't seem to stop building: I think we've found a really good material and system for terrarium building. (Time will tell!)
Materials used:
Multi-wall polycarbonate sheets (very heat resistant and waterproof: insulate well)
Aluminum profiles (for the corners: corner profiles and for the edging of the door U profiles.)

Advantages:
Extremely lightweight, water resistant. (Of course all the inner walls need to be sealed with silicone, but the polycarbonate is heat resistant and insulates well.) Cleans easily. This could be a dream come true for future terrarium-building projects!!
I'll post more pics as it comes together. (Hopefully this one will house Talyn's future mate.) We're planning to build 2 double terrariums out of the same materials for future green tree pythons.
This one measures 150cm x 70cm x 65cm (59"x 27.6" x 25.5")
Pics:
Here I haven't taken off the protective plastic covering -- just seeing how it fits together

Here is the corner aluminum profile. I cut it at a 45 degree angle for the frame.

Here's an idea of what it will look like eventually. As this is planned as a tropical terrarium, we've only put 3 ventilation holes in the right front bottom and top left side. This should get good air circulation without drying out the terrarium too much or losing too much heat. These will be covered with plastic vents.


PS -- Should I have posted this on Herp Habitats?

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Andrea

That looks really great, and sounds great too, I cant wait to see the finished product!

looks great cant wait to see it finished

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***mike***

so misrible, god help me

here leezerd leezerd leezerd

Wow, that looks great. Where did you get that channel stuff at?

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looks good. sounds like a good idea too.

how much were the sheets of stuff?

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Andrea its fine posted here but you might go ahead and post it on HH as well. There are a few folks there that haven't shown up here as yet and I am sure they will be interested in your project.
I know I am!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Awesome Andrea...I'm sure it will be as beautiful as the others.

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

That looks pretty good even at this early stage. I have a million questions =)
#1 How thick is the MWPS you're using? I'm using a 6mm one as top cover of my Bearded Dragons enclosure and I wouldn't trust it to restrain a strong animal.

#2 At this stage, how much money did you spend in that neat aluminum profile and in the MWPS?

#3 Did you cut the holes and sheets yourself?

#4 Did you reinforce the bottom? I don't know how much thick that MWPS is and the weight it can handle but unless I had a very deep aluminum profile, I would be afraid that it might bend outwards with the weight of animal+decoration+etc.

#5 Are you considering closing the MWPS holes (to the inner sheet spaces) with silicone? At least the circular ones where the ventilation would be?

Yes! =)

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Wish list: Blue Tongue Skinks and Uruplatus =)

that looks awesome! definitely keep us posted as it goes along.

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yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear

Thanks for all the interest.
Ricardo I hope I can answer all your questions:
1 - I'm using 16mm thick sheets. They are strong enough to walk on if you make a greenhouse roof out of them.

2 - Just the construction material has cost about $410 for this one terrarium.
It breaks down to: 60Euro ($71.55) per sheet. Sheet size: 200cm x 98cm x 1.6cm (I used 4 sheets)
Corner aluminum profile 16mm: $15.00 for a 2m piece. (I needed 6 of those.)
U profiles 16mm: $11 for a 2m piece: I needed 2 of those.
And special silicone for polycarbonate: $10 per tube.
(I didn't say it was cheap!!)

3 - We cut everything ourselves. You can use a normal jigsaw or circular saw (blades for metal) and normal drill to cut. It was surprisingly easy.

4 - I did not reinforce the bottom as it is going to lie flat. And the material is very strong. Also the aluminum profile is 18mm deep so the sheets lock in really well.

5 - The holes will be closed by a plastic vent on the inside and outside, that I will seal with silicone.

I got the sheets and silicone from a German supplier www.stegplatten.com You can look up multi-wall polycarbonate in Google to see who else supplies it or where you can buy it.

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Andrea