# Building stackable melamine enclosures.



## burningfyra (Sep 13, 2019)

Hey lovely people!

I'm in the planning and research stages of getting my first snake and I'm looking at building my own melamine enclosure, I'm looking at building 1200mm x 600mm x 450mm for a woma but I want to build it with the possibility of stacking other enclosures on top eventually if I decide I want more. Is there anything I need to to be particularly aware of while planning the enclosure to ensure it will be good for stacking? Apart from buying good quality melamine.

Cheers!


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## Melmy (Sep 13, 2019)

Make sure it’s at least 16mm thick and use plenty of screws and should be fine for 2 if you’re confident in your construction  Heaps of YouTube videos to guide you through.
I would brace with something if you had 3 though or use a frame or shelving. Good luck and share pics!


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## burningfyra (Sep 13, 2019)

I'm confident enough haha, I'll make sure to post pictures but I'm still waiting on my edition of Keeping and Breeding Australian Pythons so it's still a fair bit off, I just like having a plan.


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## dragonlover1 (Sep 14, 2019)

If you're using 16mm melamine you can stack them. My son has a 5 stack for his bluies and a 4 stack for his pythons


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## Wokka (Sep 14, 2019)

Make sure any weight is born by the end grain of the sides and screws. Not an issue if cages are as long as the one below but ashorter cage on top of a longer cage will bear upon the shelf instead of the end walls.


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## burningfyra (Sep 16, 2019)

dragonlover1 said:


> If you're using 16mm melamine you can stack them. My son has a 5 stack for his bluies and a 4 stack for his pythons



Good to know so I won't be too worried about stacking 2 or 3 as long as I keep the weight across the enclosure like @Wokka said.


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## dragonlover1 (Sep 16, 2019)

burningfyra said:


> Good to know so I won't be too worried about stacking 2 or 3 as long as I keep the weight across the enclosure like @Wokka said.


I have 3 stacks for my dragons, when you add the weight of each enclosure @15kg plus 20 kg of sand in each plus logs,rocks,bowls and caves there is over 100kg in each stack. As long as all the enclosures in each stack are the same length you shouldn't have a problem


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## Sdaji (Sep 17, 2019)

I used to build all my enclosures out of 16mm melamine, I built my first ones when I was about 15 years old and some of them lasted almost 20 years, I had them stacked floor to ceiling, the only limit was the height of the ceiling or my reach, not the strength of the enclosures. I'm not as big fan of melamine these days but it stacks without drama, although as Wokka says it's important to stack enclosures of the same size so the weight is on the walls of the enclosure below, otherwise the top panel will warp or buckle.


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