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caging idea...not the norm

N

NYCrestie

New member
would there be any problem turning a 20gal long or 29 gal tank on its front? so the front is now the bottom, and the top is now the front?

i am a big fan of front opening cages. it makes it very easy for cleaning. i also feel it makes herps less scared as you are no longer coming at them from above, so i am not seen as a predator.
while i dont own corns, i own a few crested geckos and all of their vivs are front opening.

so my idea was to take a 20L or 29 turn it on its front and using plexi, maybe glass but dont think im that adverturous, and a setup identical to a screen door, convert it to a front opening

what i would do is cut a 5" high or so piece of plexi and run it down the entire bottom of the enclosure, siliconing it in place. and make either a split door, or a single piece door that will open downward.
making life maybe a little easier, but also a little more expensive, i may use a premade split screen door ive seen online, made by either esu or kritterz, and just adding the plexi to the inside lip of the tank.

has anyone ever done this before?
any pros or cons you can think of before i get into it?
 
I think that's smart, but since I only have had my first snake for about a week, I have no idea how that would work. I'd love to see pictures if it does work out.
 
The sides of glass vivs are not made to hold much weight so you should be careful with how much you put in to the viv when on it's side. Other than that I don't see any other major problem.

One more thing, I really don't think it will matter to the snake if you are trying to grab it from above or from the side. Predators in the wild would attack from every possible angle.
 
I guess it would be like the herp vivs that you can buy. I don't know much about glass, but would there be a problem with weight distribution?

Be careful of gaps between the glass if you are using a double-sliding door. Small snakes can squeeze out of very small gaps. Make sure to drill some holes in the plexi for air circulation.

I'm sure more people will come by to offer their 2 cents.

Good Luck!
 
I had thought of doing that myself and building a shelving unit on a wall, but for me, practicality and laziness took over.

I'm guessing the 5" lip at the bottom front would be to give it a full bottom to keep substrate in?
 
a glass aquarium is meant to hold water, from all directions, so i dont THINK it should be a problem.....but its just a thought so far.
but if its elevated to allow airflow for a uth, i dont know what kind of effect that might have if any

i know of several people that have turned 20L tanks on end to make em tall for their aboreal geckos. but again, these are usually placed flat on a table, not elevated

then on the other hand, i have some of those herp vivs that pnyklr is talking about that open in the front. these are actually elevated on the bottom to provide room for a uth.

PNYKLR- i will not be doing sliding doors. my doors, or door, will be hinged. also, the plexi will just be for the bottom 5" or soto keep the substrate in. above the 5" of plexi would be screening
 
dwyn127 said:
I had thought of doing that myself and building a shelving unit on a wall, but for me, practicality and laziness took over.

I'm guessing the 5" lip at the bottom front would be to give it a full bottom to keep substrate in?
Click to expand...

correct....and im kinda upset you became to lazy to try this. was looking for some advice, lol
 
NYCrestie said:
correct....and im kinda upset you became to lazy to try this. was looking for some advice, lol
Click to expand...
:laugh01:

Sorry, I guess I get to wait on YOUR advice......that is as long as you don't get lazy or something.:grin01:
 
dwyn127 said:
:laugh01:

Sorry, I guess I get to wait on YOUR advice......that is as long as you don't get lazy or something.:grin01:
Click to expand...

D'oh
well once i get the info, and seems possible, ill probably give it a go
unless of course the idea gets axed by experienced viv builders
 
NYCrestie said:
a glass aquarium is meant to hold water, from all directions, so i dont THINK it should be a problem.....but its just a thought so far.
but if its elevated to allow airflow for a uth, i dont know what kind of effect that might have if any

i know of several people that have turned 20L tanks on end to make em tall for their aboreal geckos. but again, these are usually placed flat on a table, not elevated
Click to expand...

The bottom of a glass tank holds most of the weight when full of water. The glass pane on the bottom is also normally thicker than the sides unless you are using a tank that is made for reptiles then the bottom is also made of the same thinner glass as the sides. I was trying to help you avoid stress fractures from having to much weight on the sides.

This info comes from working at Central Garden and Pet Supply (A pet and garden supply where house). They were very strict about how you were supposed to stack glass aquariums because if you stacked them on there sides they the ones on the bottom would get stress fractures and be useless.

I have know doubt that you can do this but just be careful of how much weight you put in it and you might want to add support to the edges that have no support.
 
Most of my tanks are turned sideways like you are planning to do and they work just fine. I don't have any stacked on top of one another except my small 15 gl. on top of the 20 gl. The rest are placed sideways into the shelving unit I have because I couldn't fit them any other way. Without a little lip of something to keep in the substrate though, the stuff tend to end up in the lip where the screen lid slides, or it spills on the floor. I haven't found that to be enough of a problem to want to do something about it though. My new house is going to have a dedicated snake room so I'm hoping my husband will build me proper wooden cages for all the snakes that will be a uniform size and shape.
 
MegF. said:
Most of my tanks are turned sideways like you are planning to do and they work just fine. I don't have any stacked on top of one another except my small 15 gl. on top of the 20 gl. The rest are placed sideways into the shelving unit I have because I couldn't fit them any other way. Without a little lip of something to keep in the substrate though, the stuff tend to end up in the lip where the screen lid slides, or it spills on the floor. I haven't found that to be enough of a problem to want to do something about it though. My new house is going to have a dedicated snake room so I'm hoping my husband will build me proper wooden cages for all the snakes that will be a uniform size and shape.
Click to expand...

i would be interested to see how you have yours set up if you dont mind
 
Billybobob said:
The bottom of a glass tank holds most of the weight when full of water. The glass pane on the bottom is also normally thicker than the sides unless you are using a tank that is made for reptiles then the bottom is also made of the same thinner glass as the sides. I was trying to help you avoid stress fractures from having to much weight on the sides.

This info comes from working at Central Garden and Pet Supply (A pet and garden supply where house). They were very strict about how you were supposed to stack glass aquariums because if you stacked them on there sides they the ones on the bottom would get stress fractures and be useless.

I have know doubt that you can do this but just be careful of how much weight you put in it and you might want to add support to the edges that have no support.
Click to expand...

i understand you are trying to help, i appreciate it
i also dont want anything to happen like stress cracks.
which is why im researching first before doing anything

you said that tanks made for reptiles have the same thickness glass all around... wouldnt it be just as prone to cracking no matter which way you put it then?
 
NYCrestie said:
i understand you are trying to help, i appreciate it
i also dont want anything to happen like stress cracks.
which is why im researching first before doing anything

you said that tanks made for reptiles have the same thickness glass all around... wouldnt it be just as prone to cracking no matter which way you put it then?
Click to expand...

The main thing that stops the stress cracks on the bottom in glass vivs made for reptile is the fact that the bottom has suport on all for sides. Plus many glass vivs for reptiles also have a support on the bottom that gose down the middle of the glass.
 
Laying a tank on it's side is not out of the norm for reptiles. It has been used with some regularity with chameleons, arboreal snakes and arboreal tarantula's. There should be no problems structurally with what you are doing as you are not putting water in the tank . . . duh! :)

D80
 
Also be careful of the screen front. Snakes tend to push against screen and develop nose rub. Maybe plexiglass would be better there.
 
BeckyG said:
Maybe plexiglass would be better there.
Click to expand...
No, it wouldn't. You gotta have some space for air flow, and even plexi with holes drilled in it will not allow enough air flow to keep the humidity down.

Do make sure you have the screen top locked down effectively as the snake could potentially have more leverage to push against it. As for nose rub, it sounds like you're putting in a plexi 'dam' at the bottom to hold in substrate. The bottom is where most of the rubbing typically takes place in my experience . . . that and the edges.

D80
 
He is talking about putting the screen across the front as the door, just above the plexiglass dam. At least that is what I understood from his post. I would still be concerned about nose rub. I have a snake that has it from pusing against the screen TOP of his cage.

When I was a child, before I knew any better, I kept a snake in a wire mesh cage. He pushed all over that cage, not just along the bottom.
 
BeckyG said:
He is talking about putting the screen across the front as the door, just above the plexiglass dam. At least that is what I understood from his post. I would still be concerned about nose rub. I have a snake that has it from pusing against the screen TOP of his cage.
Click to expand...
Correct, I'm not sure what I said that may have indicated I thought otherwise, but okay! I also didn't say not to be concerned about nose rub, but covering the front of the tank with plexi would not be the answer. You wouldn't have nose rub to worry about, but you would most likely have scale rot and potentially mold and fungus to worry about. I'd rather deal with 'potential' nose rub. I currently have 6 cages with screen tops and 3 homemade cages that have tin 'screen' as tops . . . not a single case of nose rub in 5 years (probably 20 some snakes through those cages at various times). That doesn't include the snakes I kept well before my children were born . . . which were all in tanks with screen tops (no nose rubbing problems).

But nose rub is a different conversation entirely. So, on topic, yes you can lay the tank down sideways, yes I'd put in a 1 1/2" plexi damn to hold in substrate, yes I'd use a screen top on the front which should be locked down (or locked sideways in this case! :) ).

D80
 
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