Best enclosure materials?

[boxers1997]

What is the best type of building material to make a 7'X3'X3' enclosure for my tegu? He's about 2ft right now, but he's growing fast so I was hoping someone could tell me the best kind of materials to use. I've heard melamine is really good, but over time the moisture will get to it and turn it to crap and deteriorate.

 

[chitodadon]

Hardwood ply

from Samsung Galaxy S3

 

[got10]

im going o use bamboo planking as the floor and sides of my new indoor cage and oak as the outside trim . Standard two by fours will be used to frame out the cage

 

[Teg]

Melamine should last you years, just make sure the edges are sealed !

 

[Tannaros]

What is the best type of building material to make a 7'X3'X3' enclosure for my tegu? He's about 2ft right now, but he's growing fast so I was hoping someone could tell me the best kind of materials to use. I've heard melamine is really good, but over time the moisture will get to it and turn it to crap and deteriorate.

It depends what you want out of a cage and what your building skills are. Essentially building one is just making a big box. However, what do you want your box to be like? Lighter weight so you can move it around? Or does weight not matter as it will just be a completely stationary fixture for some time?

Melamine works, it's easy to work with and for the most part keeps things simple. Cuts are minimal and the sealing is essentially already done for you, you just have to worry about sealing seams. However, it is very heavy and as such it will probably never move again. It will also more than likely take a few people to move.

General lumber/plywood is good as well. You have to make sure you seal it well, and ensure your structure has solid support. Unless you're using some thicker plywood, then it essentially follows the same route as melamine. It gives you options of creating a lighter weight cage, and in my opinion is more flexible when it comes to structural adaptations.

You can also get creative and use something like a large metal bin horse trough for the bottom substrate holding part and just build a cage on top of and around that.

I personally have no metal working talent, though you could build a frame from aluminum or something similar for a possibly even lighter cage.

Anyway, if you're going to use plywood or melamine remember to predrill, and to avoid splintering you can tape over where you plan to cut.

 

[Dubya]

1/4 inch thick windshield glass for the windows. Super strong, scratch resistant, and shatterproof.