# Perspecs or glass?



## Gizmo101 (Apr 17, 2014)

So I am currently looking into converting an old school wooed bookcase into a multi level/cage enclosure. But I'm stuck on whether to use perspecs or glass for the front.
what works better, is easier to put in etc?And comparisons between the two, other then the obvious price difference.
Thanks


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## AllThingsReptile (Apr 17, 2014)

Perspex is $40-$50 a sheet from bunnings, i find it easier to work with as you can cut it with anything without it shattering


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## andynic07 (Apr 17, 2014)

[h=1]Glass v's Perspex,,,,sliding v's swinging.[/h]


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## andynic07 (Apr 17, 2014)

AllThingsReptile said:


> Perspex is $40-$50 a sheet from bunnings, i find it easier to work with as you can cut it with anything without it shattering


I usually don't work with glass, I just get the glass place to cut it to size and either polish the edges for sliders or just cut for rebated fixed glass. No hassle or working with it at all.


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## AllThingsReptile (Apr 17, 2014)

andynic07 said:


> I usually don't work with glass, I just get the glass place to cut it to size and either policy the edges for sliders or just cut for rebated fixed glass. No hassle or working with it at all.


haha well yeh getting it professionally done is much easier


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## spud_meister (Apr 17, 2014)

How will you have the doors? If you're swinging, I'd go for acrylic to save on weight and for ease of installation. If you're sliding, glass won't flex in the middle, and doesn't have near as much friction on the edges.


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## whiteshadow (Apr 18, 2014)

What will ur enclosure hold?
Snakes perspex will be fine. Lizards go glass.
Lizard nails will scratch the perspex ;-)

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## Lawra (Apr 18, 2014)

I've heard from southern folks that perspex helps hold a better thermal gradient than glass.

I'm up north and use perspex because I can buy whole sheets of it wholesale and cut it myself = much cheaper


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## andynic07 (Apr 18, 2014)

Lawra said:


> I've heard from southern folks that perspex helps hold a better thermal gradient than glass.
> 
> I'm up north and use perspex because I can buy whole sheets of it wholesale and cut it myself = much cheaper


How much is a sheet of perspex and what dimensions is it. I figure it would be fairly cheap but glass for one enclosure cut and polished edges would but about $50 i think. I recently built two enclosures with fixed glass as you know and the glass for that without polished edges was under $30 so in the big scheme of things not expensive although may be more expensive than perspex.


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## Lawra (Apr 18, 2014)

[MENTION=34534]andynic07[/MENTION] from memory it was about $150 for a 4.5mm 2400x1200 sheet. I liked the versatility of it and with me being such a clumsy miss I tend to stay away from glass as much as possible


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## andynic07 (Apr 18, 2014)

That is quite a bit cheaper then. It saves waiting for glass to be cut as well and you can make them whenever you like without the constraints of the shops being open.


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## pinefamily (Apr 18, 2014)

Perspex is generally more expensive than glass, unless you can get trade prices. For the average home DIYer Perspex would be easier to work with, but as Andy has said it's not that expensive to get glass professionally finished to specifications.
Perspex does hold heat better, as Lawra has said, and, as Whiteshadow pointed out, glass is the preferred option with lizards with claws ( especially dragons).


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## Stevo2 (Apr 18, 2014)

I'm the opposite to ^
I have found perspex cut to size works out cheaper than the equivalent glass by a larger factor *shrugs* Not from Bunnings though, they're expensive!

I also think that perspex has a better CRI than glass.


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## Gizmo101 (Apr 18, 2014)

Thanks everyone for the help  
ill be only keeping snakes in there and I want the doors to slide.
I am lucky enough to be able to get materials at trade prices.


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## Jacknife (Apr 18, 2014)

Glass.

When perspex is exposed to UV light it clouds up.
It may be cheaper and easier to work with but in 2 years with a UV/heat light, you wont be able to see you animal.
5mm glass will do just about any job, just shop around your local glaziers for the best price.


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## butters (Apr 18, 2014)

Glass definitely wears better than Perspex. I have experience with both and would pick glass as an option every time if I wanted it to last.


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## Snowman (Apr 18, 2014)

butters said:


> Glass definitely wears better than Perspex. I have experience with both and would pick glass as an option every time if I wanted it to last.


Yap I agree. I used to work at a pharmaceutical lab, all the electrical equipment went into food grade perspex housing. I've built a tone of things with the rotten stuff. It's easy to work with, but it's useless long term like a reptile display. Just wiping it with a cloth scratches it. Glass if far better for cleaning and more resilient. Perspex is prone to a lot of static too.... Fine for a PLC cover, crap for reptiles.


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## Fil_14 (Apr 18, 2014)

I work full time on a laser machine, and I don't have to pay for my acrylic. 
I still choose to pay for glass. It'll never bend or warp and will always stay clear. 


Fil...


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## Rogue5861 (Apr 18, 2014)

Acrylic is rubbish. If you dont want to use glads use polycarbonate sheet, its heaps stronger then acylic or glass and doesnt absorb moisture like acylic or bow or warp.


Rick


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## pinefamily (Apr 19, 2014)

How does polycarb handle claws? I know from experience perspex doesn't go so well with beardies.


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## Baldy (Apr 19, 2014)

Ive found Polycarb to be much easier to work with than Perspex, its more forgiving when drilling or cutting, ive found perspex can snap if drills or jigsaw grabs.
Certainly prices up here are much higher than down south 1m x 1m sheet 6mm is $160.


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## Ramsayi (Apr 19, 2014)

Acrylic is fine if used correctly for enclosures.
I have been using 3mm acrylic in all of my python enclosures for over 10 years.No warping,no scratches and no yellowing.Doors are hinged with timber frames and are rebated to to hold the acrylic in place.Same way glass is fitted to timber window frames.


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## Rlpreston (Apr 20, 2014)

I used Perspex for all of mine because I could cut it myself (far cheeper than any quotes for glass I got) and drill handles into it, there's no chance it's going to spontaneously explode and shower everything in sharp shards (it happened to my shower once :/), the kids can't break it, it doesn't make that horrendous screeching if something gets in the tracks and it's much lighter than glass.

Only downside so far (not long enough to see if it discolours or not) is the sliding locks do this where they touch






There's probably a way to set it up so that doesn't happen but I'm lazy enough to live with the scratches now.


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## JAS101 (Apr 20, 2014)

pinefamily said:


> How does polycarb handle claws? I know from experience perspex doesn't go so well with beardies.


polycarb will scratch with claws or anything remotely sharp , but its very strong [ breaking by accident or using a drill or jig saw] I have noticed my croc has put a couple of scratches in the doors with his teeth lol , but if I had glass there it would have been broken ages ago .


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## butters (Apr 20, 2014)

Used correctly as you mentioned ramsayi Perspex works well with snake enclosures. Snakes don't have claws so any scratches that were present would be from your actions. If you have no scratches it means you treated it well. Few people IME can manage this. You can buff scratches out to an extent from Perspex so that is a plus for it.

Most of my experiences using acrylic has been for display enclosures or in aquarium applications and they almost always end up scratched badly.


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## 86JAP (Apr 22, 2014)

My 2 cents is glass.

I found it very cheap, rang around the local glass suppliers and got quite a large variation in price. I needed a piece 1700mm x 700mm so quite large for my swinging door and ended up getting it for $50 from one of the smaller suppliers because he had an off cut close to what I needed. Shop around for glass and you should be able to find it cheap. Also that was for 6mm laminated glass so even if it does break it doesn't end up in a million sharp pieces everywhere.


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## Gizmo101 (Apr 24, 2014)

Thankyou everyone 


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## Gizmo101 (May 31, 2014)

So I decided on Perspex, but I have a new dilemma, the best way to heat the enclosure I'm building. There will be the enclosures two made out of this desk.
What do the more experienced keepers and successful DIYers think?






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## Virides (Jun 3, 2014)

Whether you use perspex or glass, you can use our finger grips to open you panels easily while keeping your panels clear of finger prints/smudges.

You can see our range at - Shop | Virides

We use PayPal to securely process all our debit/credit card payments.


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## Gizmo101 (Aug 3, 2014)

So months later the enclosure is finished enough to house little Louis and the Perspex doors worked well 


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## MrVic (Aug 3, 2014)

Jacknife said:


> Glass.
> 
> When perspex is exposed to UV light it clouds up.
> It may be cheaper and easier to work with but in 2 years with a UV/heat light, you wont be able to see you animal.
> 5mm glass will do just about any job, just shop around your local glaziers for the best price.



I would have said the same a about the UV turning the perspex to an MX5 rear plastic window 

I just bought an ex-demo frog tank that was missing a small glass door. 
Took what I had to a glass place and he cut and polished the edges for me for $20.

Glass is fairly inexpensive and should slide easier as it doesn't tend to flex like perspex of the same thickness will.


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## MrVic (Aug 3, 2014)

Virides said:


> Whether you use perspex or glass, you can use our finger grips to open you panels easily while keeping your panels clear of finger prints/smudges.
> 
> You can see our range at - Shop | Virides
> 
> We use PayPal to securely process all our debit/credit card payments.



Brilliant. I have to get me some of these.


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## divinescales (Aug 14, 2014)

Iv used both and glass stays clear and wont discolour but perspex does help with gradients. It really comes down to personal preference.I can say though that if you are using sliding sheets its hard to lock and has too much give for larger doors. I have had a child push on a door and the lock popped which wasnt great with a 9 foot diamond integrade and a 3 year old child with no fear.You could try second hand shops for pieces of glass and cut yourself.


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## ddwdave (Aug 20, 2014)

Bunnings sells glass for same price as perspex.. Depending on thickness.but average glass sheet was $30 1200x800mm at maybe 5mm thick..
And $89 for bigger sheet at 10mm thick


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## MrVic (Aug 20, 2014)

MrVic said:


> Brilliant. I have to get me some of these.


And get me some I did 

View attachment 312011


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