$150 for three 4 ft x 2 ft x 16 in high enclosures in one piece.

Okay... These may not be totally perfect, but I believe they will work with minor tweaking at most. I have not accounted for heat and light yet, or screws and caulk. But I think this is going to work out well. Any critique, criticism, ideas are more than welcome. Oh, feel free to use these, build it before I do, and tell me how to improve on the plans .

I went to Home Depot for materials list, measurements, and pricing. Pricing may be a bit off, but it is a pretty good rough estimate. Home Depot carries pre-cut 4 ft x 2 ft pieces of plywood - 2 pieces will be used for the back of the box.

The enclosure is 4 ft x 4 ft x 2 ft. It contains 3 levels of living space, each at 4 x 2 ft x 16" high. There is No Cutting of Plywood - which is a good thing. The only things you have to cut is the 2x2 frame, the 1x2 plexi frame, and the plexi glass.

Hopefully you can understand the drawings and the pictures are clear enough. Feel free to ask any questions. I will be building 2 of these in the near future.

Frame:

EDIT: The 4 ft cross sections will actually need to be trimmed a bit to fit inside the 2 ft sections.



Plywood:


Doors:

Looks good so far!! Cant wait to see the finished product.

__________________
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!

THe man's got a plan! Choose your 2 x 2 's carefully for dry stock. Anything that's too fresh could warp unexpectedly. Also watch the splitting of the ends when screwing them together. You're best to predrill a hole first to eliminate the splitting. Have fun.

__________________
Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Have you considered the option of creating each unit separate instead of the rack? If you purchased one extra piece of stock (to make up for the ceiling that the last 2 units would lose), you could build 3 individual enclosures that are stackable. That would make moving them around even easier.

Are you going to toss casters on the botom to move the unit around and to keep it off the floor?

__________________
.:: Rich ::.

+ Spread The Info

I would love to have seperate, stackables, but I don't have a table saw to accurately cut plywood. I suppose I could use a clamped piece of 2x4 as a guide and use my circular saw, though.

Rich, I am definitely going to give that some intense consideration. I was just trying to get away with not having to cut the plywood.

Casters are an excellent idea, and better than my original idea of building an extra box to set them on to raise them. I will have to make sure they don't put permanent indentions in the carpet, but if I move them a few inches every week or so that won't be a problem.


Thank you for the suggestions! I welcome more. Maybe by the time this project is complete we can all take credit for creating simple to construct enclosures.

The casters are an excellent idea just make sure you check out their weight capabilities. The cheaper ones usually are in two halves and come apart under too much weight.

__________________
Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Hello,

You can use any straight edge as a guide. That's one way. You can also have the people at Home Depot cut it for you. They charge a few bucks, but the wood would be pre-cut for you and the edges accurate. They would use a fence to ensure the wood were cut perfectly.

__________________
.:: Rich ::.

+ Spread The Info

I have seen signs that say "No Precision Cuts", so I am not sure how acurate they would be. However, if they are within 1/2 inch, that would probably be alright since it is being screwed to a frame.

That would be my preference, to have them seperate and stackable. Stay tuned for the drama unfolding before us LOL...

As far as showing off the snakes, lighting, making the furniture look good, etc... What would you choose for color? I am going to go Black on the outside.

Black inside?
White inside?

White will definitely reflect more light, but would black look "cleaner", in a purely visual sense?

This white does look pretty good, almost clinical...



BUT... Green plants look great against Black. I may have to make some black and some white to see which I like best.



So many decisions, so much fun...

I find any solid colour has that clinical look to it. If you're going to put plants in it maybe you should make a background or use the background wall paper.

__________________
Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa