# My first DIY enclosure uber pic heavy, prices included!



## Chondrobsessed (Apr 27, 2013)

After picking up my first little GTP (on to my second now thanks Bryce) I wanted an enclosure that would really make her stand out. I had spent a lot of time day dreaming about the design and sketched many different combinations. I came up with a three in one 2 foot cubes. They would act as an intermittent enclosure between the hatchy/yearling and adult enclosure. Here is the design I came up with: 





enclosure by zeawyatt, on Flickr


I tried to get someone to build it for me, but some snake enclosure businesses didn't reply. The quote I got was quite expensive, black melamine is like double the cost of white. Upon winging on this site some of you convinced me to build it my self!
So the call around for quotes begun!
I got seven quotes between $335 and $775 from cabinet makers.
I ordered from Allboards with exposed edges edged. They cut pretty well, I got me partners dad to pick the melamine up. I didn't realise that we would receive the off cuts too, one of which was much larger that the largest cut I needed!
I started just making a box 



Enclosure1 by zeawyatt, on Flickr
with the help of my buddy



photo(8) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
Then measured up the dividers.



photo(9) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
Screwed in the cupboard dividers



photo(10) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
I used the white plastic glass runners from Cowdroy ($19), I also included a 5cm strip of melamine for the upper and lower edges of the enclosure to keep substrate in and hide heat/light elements. The track just needed nailing and silicone to attach to the melamine.



photo(12) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
I then screwed in the middle divider and the two enclosure dividers and one of the glass tracks



photo(13) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
At this stage I tried out the cupboard doors and the didn't fit! I didn't take into account space between the cupboards for swing and also the edging takes up 2mm. I had also jig sawed out some vent holes, I also added a cord space so I could use the vents as an area I can pass electric cords through (idea from APS user! thank you!). I also siliconned all edges inside the enclosure and the vent holes.






photo(14) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
photo(7) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



photo(15) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



photo(17) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
And after an unsuccessful attempt with the circular saw I chopped the size of the cupboards right down and just made shelves in the middle! Also put in some of the black spray painted vents. (vents x 6 =$31)



photo(18) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
And fatty helping



photo(4) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
Next up I started on the ledges, I wanted the two outer enclosures to have heat cord heated ledges. I used a circular saw to create the grooves. Brackets under ledge $8.



photo(16) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



photo(5) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



photo(11) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



photo(4) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



imagve(4) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



imacge(2) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
Here is a pic at this stage with the ledges in. I have also put in hinges for the cupboard $20 for four.



imcage(3) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
I then put 6 casters on (6 for $12)



image(1) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
I had bought a whole bunch of fake plants from the $2 shop but wanted to anchor them so they could be free standing, I had bought some grout for later ($6.50) so just used that with some colourful pebbles on top



imagev by zeawyatt, on Flickr



imavge(1) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



imagbe(5) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



image by zeawyatt, on Flickr
Then came the fun bit! decorating! So I visited eBay
one of these for day light, they are waterproof, perfect for the GTP enclosure ($22.50).



photo(5) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



CT-35WP-600-White-4 by zeawyatt, on Flickr
Red LED for night time ($27), these two LED strips needed liquid nails to stay on, the sticky back on the LED strips didn't work very well and I didn't want them to stick on my little reptile buddies.



31AU by zeawyatt, on Flickr
I got one of these for each of the three enclosures for hot spot and humidity ($6.50).



difdp_6 by zeawyatt, on Flickr
And one of these for the cold end ($3).



ViewImage.aspx by zeawyatt, on Flickr
One of these each for the outer enclosures ($11)



ViewPicture.aspx by zeawyatt, on Flickr
And this amazing day/night thermostat ($75) This is for the GTP enclosure and to control the white LED. The red LED are on all the time and during the day you cant even see the red.



dimmer_thermo_tc100_plugtop_6 by zeawyatt, on Flickr
And Two 28watt heat panels for the outer enclosures ($109) and one 40watt ($119) for the middle enclosure, next day delivery, thanks proherp!



28watt by zeawyatt, on Flickr
One 7.5m heat cord for the heated ledges ($35), the one cord was long enough to wind around one ledge and and travel across to the other and wind around that one. I didn't use a thermostat for the heat ledges, one tiles and grouted and waterproofed they gave temps from 28-36 Celsius. 



$T2eC16JHJF0E9nmFQguLBQGggrb9Q!~~60_1 by zeawyatt, on Flickr
The glass I needed was three planes with polished edges and rounded corners, 5mm thick float with finger grooves, I got them for $108. The local place I used was crap, they took my order on Monday said it would be ready Thursday, I had to prompt them to take my phone number, Thursday came I received a call telling me they don't stock 5mm float and will either refund or order it. I got them to order it in, when I went to collect it a week later I was greeted as the "trouble customer" and they didn't even round the corners.
I wanted my Jag to have a dessert themed enclosure so I used shaved aspen ($15) because of the light colour (would have loved to used sand), I grouted the walls lol and used a 2ft square exo terra background from amazing amazon $30, I also picked up this awesome mangrove/root thing $24 and it jams in so nicely that it doesn't even touch the ground!



image(2) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
I also bought some dessert exo terra plants ($11-15 each). The Jag loves the ledge, its connected to a timer, on between 11am and 3pm.



image(6) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
I wanted the green trees's enclosure to be Japanese themed so I bought some real bamboo (at the back of the enclosure $4 each bunnings) and a big fakey and the back $2 cheap as chips, the two front plants are kmart $15 oh and the big bamgoo perches are removable, they are held in place by chair leg ends (bunnings) and wedged in tight.



image(3) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
Pic of the heat panel



image(7) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
Pic of the LEDs



image(8) by zeawyatt, on Flickr
The last enclosure is rainforest themed and if for my jungle girl, but she is a bit big for it so, is in the ugly green 4fter old thing sitting on top that I will get rid of after my next build!



image(5) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



photo(6) by zeawyatt, on Flickr



DSCN0010 by zeawyatt, on Flickr
The woven bird house was an idea of a fellow APS user! I put the Jag in the enclosure to try it out and it was a hit, she looks a bit too fat for it though!



photo(6) by zeawyatt, on Flickr

You guys on APS gave me so many ideas for this build! And my next build has already made use of the search function! So hopefully I am giving back a little with this post!
Let me know what you think, any improvements? Any questions?
Thanks all!


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## Damiieen (Apr 27, 2013)

That's incredible! Well done


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## montysrainbow (Apr 27, 2013)

Amazing job! looks beautiful


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## porkosta (Apr 27, 2013)

That is an awesome build. Very impressive and I love how you have a different theme for each section - great work.


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## bohdi13 (Apr 27, 2013)

Awesome job mate, making an enclosure at the moment and your are absolutely correct about APS giving ideas.


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## Bart70 (Apr 27, 2013)

Well Done! Having just recently done a TV cabinet convert I know how much work goes into these projects....and you have handled it well and done a fantastic job!

You should be very proud of your work.


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## reptalica (Apr 27, 2013)

Great stuff chondro and thanks for sharing your projects with us. 

Very inspiring.


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## burkey (Apr 27, 2013)

Bravo! This is simply brilliant!!


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## RedFox (Apr 28, 2013)

Wow. You did a great job. Black does look really good. 

After growing up in far north Queensland just a word of caution, bamboo can expand quite a bit in humidity and can be prone to cracking. Maybe just keep an eye on it, I would hate to see your little one pinch his skin on it.


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## Chondrobsessed (May 12, 2013)

Thanks everyone for the kind words, I've never built anything before and I might have made a few mistakes but I've learnt from them 
Thanks for the tip about the bamboo, ill keep an eye out for cracks.
I've ordered wood for the next build which will go on top (there will eventually be two of them), a replacement for the green thing, it will be a 3x3x2 black enclosure with a (my first) DIY fake rock background and pivot hinged glass doors.
Stay tuned


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## thesilverbeast (May 14, 2013)

That is amazing! It's inspired me to do the same with a different configuration! Probably three high, 4x2x2 with the bottom being divided in two for two stimsoni. 

I have two questions though... 

How much did the melamine cost you in total? Also what are the specifications of it (MDF or particle board, thickness etc.) 

How are the LED strips powered? Can you PM me any links to particular products you got that aren't listed  


Thanks!


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## Trent005722 (May 14, 2013)

mint


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## Chondrobsessed (May 14, 2013)

thanks  
melamine was $335
The strips, you have to buy 12v adapters with at least 2amps (oops forgot to add these to the list). They are from ebay for about $12



Untitled by zeawyatt, on Flickr


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## thesilverbeast (May 14, 2013)

Thanks heaps  

Did you just work out the measurements of the pieces that you needed or did they help you with it?


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## Chondrobsessed (May 15, 2013)

yeh I worked it out my self, oh and it was 16mm MDF


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## thesilverbeast (May 15, 2013)

Thanks for the help  You've inspired me to make one! I've already started buying things for it online!


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## thesilverbeast (May 16, 2013)

Forgive my perhaps obvious question... How do you get them to cut the wood so that you don't end up getting exposed cut wood on the edges?


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## B_STATS (May 16, 2013)

Hey with TV cabinets do you have to paint a waterproof coat over the laminate or leave it as it is?


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## Chondrobsessed (May 16, 2013)

I get the cabinet makers to edge the edges that are exposed, this is figured out at the design stage using the image in the first post, you can see which edges will show.
I did try to water proof the MDF but the pond sealer just balled up, and couldn't coat the wood, proving the water resistant properties of the melamine. So I didn't seal the melamine, I did use silicone on corners, and sealer in the grouted tiles.


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## thesilverbeast (May 16, 2013)

Thanks heaps  Sorry for all the questions!


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## thesilverbeast (Jun 9, 2013)

So I ended up going through with this but I've hit a snag looking for black vents... did you just paint white ones?


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## Chondrobsessed (Jun 10, 2013)

Yep, spray paint


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## rustys.reptiles (Jun 11, 2013)

great work mate, might go about making one myself soon when i get the money and time for it


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## MR_BALMAIN69 (Jun 19, 2013)

It feels so good when your pets are using your hides and hanging off your rock walls , I was happy with my first effort but I am humbled. Excellent outcome , mistakes ? Heck imagine what your next one will be like !!


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## Xeaal (Jun 19, 2013)

Ok.. you are seriously gifted lol! That enclosure is so beautiful and you have done a wonderful job!


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## Chondrobsessed (Jun 20, 2013)

Thanks guys! I have started the next one but ran into a life hiccup and have lost motivation for the mean time  but I have many ideas for it!


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## jazii (Aug 10, 2013)

just wondering where you got the vent, sorry if already listed, did read but couldn't see it


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## Chondrobsessed (Aug 10, 2013)

Bunnings


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