Yet another enclosure in progress!

[Ivyna J. Spyder]

My red foot is outgrowing her 40 gallon, so after much research I'm making her a 4x4 enclosure to last her a few more years. (It's about 29" tall so it can be turned on its side and fit through doorways.)

It's mostly made of 1/2" radiata plywood and assembled using biscuit joints. Only 2 screws in the whole thing so far! I decided on two sides with sliding plexiglass doors so everything will be more visible, and it'll be easily to get inside the thing for cleaning and such.

All the interior wood will be sealed with 'Bioshield Aqua Resin', and the bottom will have FRP board glued down with silicone on the joints.

Still trying to decide how I'll be doing the lighting, but I do intend on using undersoil heat rope for at least part of the heating.

 

[Tom]

That is awesome. Excellent craftsmanship. Way above my level...

 

[lynnedit]

Ditto that. Very nice.

 

[slowpoke]

That looks great For the lighting you can always use Porcelain Keyless Lamp Holder like this one
http://www.lightingdirect.com/craft...yless-lamp-holder/p1669024?source=gba_1669024
this is what i use, just make sure you have something to gap it about an inch so the wood on top dont get to hot ,it works great...

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

You know, in another forum, I was advised to go with one of these (see attachment image) instead of one of those porcelain sockets. The reason being because the porcelain wouldn't hold up too well with high humidity levels. These are outdoor-rated, and likewise, can withstand whatever elements may be present within your enclosure.

Plus you can angle the bulbs anyway you want, if that's your choosing.

 

[slowpoke]

You know, in another forum, I was advised to go with one of these (see attachment image) instead of one of those porcelain sockets. The reason being because the porcelain wouldn't hold up too well with high humidity levels. These are outdoor-rated, and likewise, can withstand whatever elements may be present within your enclosure.

Plus you can angle the bulbs anyway you want, if that's your choosing.

but those are mostly plastic arent they they wouldnt really hold up to a 125w MBV would they , looks like a good idea if they could hold up to 12 to 14 hours of heat ... have you tried it yet studentofthereptile ?

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Very nice!

 

[nickercrombie]

You know, in another forum, I was advised to go with one of these (see attachment image) instead of one of those porcelain sockets. The reason being because the porcelain wouldn't hold up too well with high humidity levels. These are outdoor-rated, and likewise, can withstand whatever elements may be present within your enclosure.

Plus you can angle the bulbs anyway you want, if that's your choosing.

but those are mostly plastic arent they they wouldnt really hold up to a 125w MBV would they , looks like a good idea if they could hold up to 12 to 14 hours of heat ... have you tried it yet studentofthereptile ?

I do believe they have those as all metal. At least I know a few years ago they did, but who knows now! May want to check home depot then online if home depot doesn't yield a good result!!

Also, looks like a great enclosure! I miss woodworking, wish I could do it more but live in an apartment now. I especially like the cold beer in the background

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Nice!

 

[Ivyna J. Spyder]

Thanks all! and thank you for the input about light fixtures, I've had similar concerns... I'll have to see what the stores around here have in stock. I wanted to use 1 or 2 long fluorescent bulbs for general illumination and low level UVB but most fluorescent fixtures aren't made for humid environments so I'm not sure how well they'd hold up. :T

For heat other than the heat rope I planned to have a heat emitter in 2 corners. I also want to have a fan mounted towards the top back for internal air circulation, hopefully to prevent heat from building up around the fixtures up top. We'll see!

Anyway I haven't been able to do a whole lot, but I got the interior wood sealed and lined the bottom with FRP and silicone. (Yeah got it stained a bit but it'll be hidden under mulch anyway!)

I also found the CUTEST tortoise knobs for the doors

 

[slowpoke]

oh man where did you find those knobs at ?

 

[Ivyna J. Spyder]

Lowe's. Not sure if you can get em online, I could only find em at the actual store and had to special order em.

 

[Jacob]

Looks Fantastic!

 

[Jeansie1988]

Can you post a picture when you are finished? I am interested to see your set up!