My first DIY need help converting wood cabinet

[savitarthesurfinggod]

Okay so i have a huge wood cabinet that we were going to sell for $5 at a garage sale because one of the doors was torn off and lost well i looked at it and though holy crud that could totally be some vision cages. The dimensions are

The top that i can't see over so is going to be storage

Top shelf - 34 1/2" length x 14 1/4" Height x 18 1/2" Width

Two middle shelves 34 1/2" Length x 13 1/2" Height x 18 1/2" Width

Two bottom shelves 34 1/2" Length x 15" Height x 18 1/2" Width

Okay my main question is that it is a composite wood but not the cheap kind it's older and very heavy. The finish that is on it has an odor to it the actual wood is very pale, will i need to sand that off and re-finish it with something else?

I was originally going to take the back out and replace it with plexiglass however i don't know how to work with it (drilling or cutting) so instead i am going to cut a hole and put screen over it for ventilation and cut a small hole at the bottom for the UDH cord and plug it with a rubber plug from the inside. Since UTH can't be on wood i was going to put a thin sheet of glass in the bottom seal it put the UTH on there and then have tile or another glass sheet on top of it.

I am going to have sliding doors on the front i want to use an acrylic sheet or plexiglass but wasn't sure if i can as i know it has a lot of give i also don't know how thick a piece i would need for that.

Since i can't reach the top shelf or see over it my plan is to use that as storage and have two corn snakes in the middle shelves would that be big enough to house a adult corn mine are just babies right now. The two bottom shelves i wanted to house a ball python would i need to cut that shelf out or could i leave it and house two snakes down there comfortably it would either be another corn or another ball.

 

[savitarthesurfinggod]

Okay so the pictures won't show up how rude.

 

[savitarthesurfinggod]

Ha think i finally figured it out

 

[wowfood]

If you think it smells a bit then I'd recommend sanding it off just in case better safe than sorry right?

You might also want to have it treated just incase there are mites or other pests hiding in there which could cause the snakes harm.

Also don't forget to go around the edges of the shelves etc with sealant just to be on the safe side.

 

[savitarthesurfinggod]

If you think it smells a bit then I'd recommend sanding it off just in case better safe than sorry right?

You might also want to have it treated just incase there are mites or other pests hiding in there which could cause the snakes harm.

Also don't forget to go around the edges of the shelves etc with sealant just to be on the safe side.

Will do it used to be in our office but we took it outside and put it in the garage in august so it's been out there a bit.

 

[proileri]

Probably has picked up some odor from the garage, you could try thoroughly cleaning it first.

Plexiglass is not hard to work with, it cuts and drills quite easily. It can crack easily, though, especially if it's expanded when inserting screws, so don't use sunken-type screws. Plexiglass is difficult to glue, for example silicone doesn't stick to it, so screws would be the easiest option.

I have a sheet of 3 mm plexiglass lying around, and it seems like it would be about the right thickness for a cabin door. One thing is that it flexes, so it needs a stiff frame around it. Looking at the cabin, I'd probably cut up the existing doors to use them as frames.

If you want clear doors without a frame, sliding glass doors cut to size aren't very expensive.

 

[Audrey87]

why not try soldering holes into the plexiglass? i did tt for mine and drill holes into the wood then screwed screws in to hold it in place. on the safe side, i screwed the plexiglass on the INSIDE of the cupboard instead of the outside, so that when my corns push, they cant push it out.