building a viv

Ok so i am building a double high viv to house one of my current snakes and one for my future striped( hopefully getting this summer)

The outside dimentions will be 34 long x 17.5 deep x aprox 33 inches high depending on what thickness of wood we go with. We will be useing dovetail joints for all joints. the inside hight of each viv will be at least 15 " high.

We are going to have a 2" strip of wood at top and bottom of each opening and then have the sliding doors strips mounted ontop of these. We are goiing this to have a more finished look. so the viewing area will be about 32-33 inches by 11". These dimentions were chose to fit the stand i will be using for it. I will be using plexi for the sliding doors with widow locks to keep them shut.

I will be using the zoo-med 30-40 gal UTH to heat both tanks with a 12 x 12 inch ceramic tile overtop to evenly distribut the heat. I will also be using a home made reostate to control the heat. And will be looking into some sort of LED lighting to be able to see into the viv abit better. For ventilation we are deciding between a 1/4 inch gap across the opper back of each tank or drilling holes in the back. We can always add more holes either way. We will seal the wood with inside use water based varathane.

So my Question is what thickness of wood wood ppl recomend to use? And is there anything else i am forgetting

thickness depends on the type of wood your going to use?

I would probably go with 3/4". You could probably do 1/2", but the last thing you'd want is to put all this time and money into a cage only to have it begin to sag or warp b/c of too thin of wood. Keep in mind though, that 3/4" will make it heavier...

ya the weight wasn't a big problem more the sturdiness of it. Is there anything else i forgot to take into account

I would also seal the tile around the UTH so that if any water is spilled by the snake, there's no risk of an electrical shock if it comes in contact with the UTH.