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Front Opening Vivarium with Substrate Dam?

S

SlyBlackDragon

New member
Hello everyone! Looking to become a snake dad soon, and I want to have the perfect vivarium setup before bringing a legless friend home.

I really like the idea of a front opening enclosure for viewing and cleaning purposes, but the pre-made ones aren't in the budget.

I was wondering if it was possible to convert a standard aquarium somehow?

If not, does anyone have a simple cheap diy solution? I was thinking of doing a melamine cage with sliding doors , but I have concerns. I want to use flex watt or a heat pad, and I assume that would need to go in the tank. Is that a doable safely? Also, I have concerns about glass doors. The edges seem sharp and might harm myself or the snake going in and out. I thought of using Plexiglas, but that seems too flexible and the snake might find a way out.

Thanks in advance for the input!
Sly
 
check out chondro.net, it's home to the Morelia Viridis Forum. On there, do a search for Maxwell-style caging or Maxwell Style Caging. You might also be able to enter those terms into google. with proper precautions, you should be able to do a nice wooden cage (melamine...try to find a "green" version if possible as melamine is typically placed on particle board or MDF which usually utilize formaldehyde in the gluing process). As for glass, when a glass shop cuts it you can ask for the edges to be smoothed/beveled out so there are no sharp lines. This is actually a very common practice for glass shops for non-window or picture frame glass. Plexiglass will warp with time with enough heat and humidity.

Heating the Maxwell-style cages, at least for green tree pythons, is typically done with radiant heat panels. With wood, I'd invest into a quality thermostat (talking Vivarium Electronics, Helix Controls, or Spyder Robotics [I prefer Spyder Robotics]) that has the ability to cut power to whatever it is plugged into should the thermostat fail. That said, you should be able to use flexwatt (or look into THG-brand "flexwatt" as it supposedly heats more accurately and evenly) or even a radiant heat panel. Pro Products makes great heat panels, though I've yet to own any.

Or, if you want to convert a glass tank, you might head over to the Dendroboard forums. There is a gentleman on there that makes conversion kit for turning aquariums vertically. If you provide him the aquarium manufacturer and size, he is capable of making custom conversion kits and this might be something you could do versus building a wooden cage.
 
I have considered using a 55 gallon, lay it on its long side and use the metal grate folding lid on the front like this kind.

The only problem would be that you would have to use plexiglass or some barrier on the inside of the bottom screen to keep the substrate from falling out the front through the grate, but to open it all you need to do is fold the top down in front of the lower half.

However, you would also lose some of the viewing because of the screen.

Another option would be the same thing but with all plexiglass and some hinges, but you would have to have to have a lot of holes in the plexiglass for air.

Let us see what you come up with, I would love to try my suggestion and see if it is feasible.
 

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You could easily cut vent holes threw plexi-glass with a router or you could drill them by starting with a small drill bit and gradually move up to the required size.
Plexi-glass (acrylic) & Lexan (ploycarb) are fairly easy to cut with a table saw and the proper saw blade. A blade for cutting plastic cost about $60 from Home Depot or Lowes.
Each of the two have benefits and drawbacks. Acrylic is shinier and polycarb is stronger. Acrylic is less expensive but easier to crack. Polycarb is more impact resisant but easier to scratch. They are both stronger and lighter than untempered glass; acrylic is 6x to 10x stronger than glass, while polycarb is about 200x stronger.
 
I am currently building my own cages. I also thought the ones for purchase were too expensive, but I am finding it is no simple task to build your own. I ended up with a 1/4 inch sealed plywood box, with extra framing supports in the joints. You can make sliding doors with a groove around the perimeter so no edges are exposed. I ended up using plexi (cheaper) which fits into a groove on top and bottom, and is held in place by stiffeners attached to the sides, which also act as handles to lift the door up and out. (I'm still adjusting the details) I did use flexwatt (actually THG tape) which I cut into shorter pieces, then sandwiched between cheap porcelain tiles with silicone. The tiles are waterproof and easy to clean, while also transmitting heat well. I placed three of these in different locations (such as in hides) rather than trying to heat the entire cage. I am now sculpting foam, which will be covered in grout to create a landscape with artificial plants. I'll post something when I've decided that my decisions were good, and my creation will work as intended.
 
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