Wayne's reptile room

[kibakiba]

I'd like to think so!

[infernalis]

The reptile room is getting another overhaul, Tonight I am installing the new Savannah monitor cage for Chomper.

This beast of a cage is 8 feet wide, 4 feet tall, 4 feet from front to back.

I am leaving 18-24 inches space behind it so I can work while building, and have procured a pillar jack to put in the basement underneath to keep the floor from sagging or possibly collapsing.

once the bottom is filled with dirt, it will be extremely heavy, heck the cage alone is several hundred pounds. Filled with dirt it will probably weigh in at close to a thousand pounds or more.

Back to work.. Pics to follow soon.

[EasternGirl]

Wayne...I was just looking back through this thread at all of the pics since you started this thread and posted the original pics of the reptile room before I became a member a the forum...I had never seen pics of the room before...it is truly awesome...something I hope to have one day for myself! (If I can just get the family to move out so I can use their bedrooms for reptile rooms ). At least I got my metal shelves tonight...

[infernalis]

Thank you Marnie. Times have really changed since the beginning of this thread.

Anyways, I was in there just now sealing the wood for Chompers cage, It has to be moisture proof so the wood will not rot. Chomper's husbandry requires a very high humidity level, and black mold could form, so I have taken all kinds of measures to ensure that his cage will be safe, and last forever.

Here is one sheet of wood half covered in Vinyl, and then fully covered in vinyl.. I am not concerned with the very edges, They are covered by the treated framing lumber.





The other end, all done.....

[EasternGirl]

Nice...black mold is very nasty stuff...you don't want that getting in there. I think I asked you this before...how big is Chomper now? (And is that a dog in that picture...what kind of dog is that?).

[infernalis]

Nice...black mold is very nasty stuff...you don't want that getting in there. I think I asked you this before...how big is Chomper now? (And is that a dog in that picture...what kind of dog is that?).

Chomper is 39 inches long, 11 pounds of lizard.

That's Max, one of my cockapoos. Cockapoo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[EasternGirl]

Wow! Chomper is almost as long as my son is tall! Yes...I have seen Cockapoos...I couldn't tell what he was from the pic...he's cute!

[infernalis]

I have baseboard radiant heat, does not dry out the air nearly like forced air.

My furnace is a boiler system that pumps hot water under the floors and through radiators along the walls.

[infernalis]

Man, doing labour in that sweltering reptile room has me dripping in sweat!

Here is the bottom, complete and in place, The bottom alone is so heavy it takes 2 people to even move it.

The entire inside where dirt goes is paved in aluminum with vinyl underneath.





I decided to cinch things down even tighter and stronger.. With heavy duty carriage bolts. A carriage bolt (for those who don't know hardware) is a special bolt that cannot be removed or loosened from the front, as there is no head or screwdriver notches. The smooth side faces inside the cage, Chomper cannot work them loose, ever. Not even if he had wrenches and could use them.

Double insurance, Nylock nuts.



The back wall is nearly complete.. The red lines represent the 4 more short boards I need to cut, This will also be bolted together, no nails, no weak decking screw, just big carriage bolts for strength and security. All hardware is galvanized (anti rust) steel. Again, Vinyl will be applied to the exposed wood to keep the humidity and moist dirt from touching anything un-treated.

[EasternGirl]

That's awesome Wayne...I wish I could build stuff like that.