Acrylic sliding doors

[AlexEarl]

i made my first tank today, it went pretty well. i used acrylic for the front sliding doors (theres 2 that slide past each other), one problem i get is when they slide past each other they leave scratch marks. i was wondering if anyone knew what the best way to stop this happening is?

would it be best to just sand it smooth or buy some sort of material to put on the edges so it cant scratch?

thanks

 

[Lennycorn]

I would think if you sand it. It will leave even more marks.

The glass should be in two track and be separated so they don't hit each other.

You have picture of this tank??

 

[AlexEarl]

i dont have a picture with me right now, ill get one tomorrow and post it. ill guess ill sand them down because i went the easy way and didnt put a two track on (because i have no idea how). im going to be making another 3 over the next month, so hopefully i can see the flaws and correct them each time i make one.

 

[AlexEarl]

luckily i just found a picture of the tank i built. as you can see its pretty basic and only took me around 4 hours to build and cost me roughly £30. it isn't completely finished because i have a few questions.

1. is 2 vents enough for this size tank or would it require more?
2. are the vents located in the right place? (there is 1 on each side panel near the top)
3. when i varnish it, should i varnish the inside or not?
4. would a UTH be enough to keep it warm? (this obviously is a very open question with many factors, but in general do you reckon it would need more heating apparatus?)
5. is MDF dangerous to snakes?
6. its measurements are L-28inches W-15inches H-15inches, will this be ok for a fully grown corn snake or is that too small?

sorry for all the questions but i just want to be 100% sure that this is going to be safe for my cornsnake

any help is appreciated

thanks

 

[Lennycorn]

1) yes more vents, I say two in the back.
2) see above
3)yes and or paint then varnish. it might be brighter to see. Your call.
4) No, 1/3 of fllor spaces needs to be heated.
5)NO
6)I would try to add to the L and W.

You should look at tracks that are on glass show cases. they work well.

 

[AlexEarl]

awesome, thanks for the reply. guess ill put my biggest corn in this while he grows (by saying biggest i mean a foot long) and build a few more tanks a bit bigger.

hopefully i can get 2 more vents in without completely destroying my creation

and yer next time i build a tank ill attempt to put tracks on as this would make a better finish.

thanks for the help

 

[bitsy]

My thoughts:

1. is 2 vents enough for this size tank or would it require more?

Should be fine.

2. are the vents located in the right place? (there is 1 on each side panel near the top)

Should be OK. When having a viv built, I had them placed them asymetrically (top at one side, bottom on the other side, diagonally opposite each other) to encourage air flow through the viv. But I think that's probably being pernickitty. Glass tanks with lids only have ventilation at the top and they're fine.

3. when i varnish it, should i varnish the inside or not?

I would. You need to make it as water-resistent as possible to prolong its useful life. A few poops and a water spill on an untreated MDF or wooden floor will start to rot it. I used polyurathane floor varnish on my wooden one - three coats, sanding down after the first and second coats. Make sure you leave it long enough for any residual fumes to clear. I found that even when dry, the smell returned when I switched the heat on. Might be worth running it with heating and without snakes for a few days, just to be safe (if that's the way you choose to go).

4. would a UTH be enough to keep it warm? (this obviously is a very open question with many factors, but in general do you reckon it would need more heating apparatus?)

Will be fine as long as the UTH covers one-third of the floor area. Remember that a UTH is designed to heat the floor - exactly what the Corn needs - and not the air above it. I have two, three foot tall vivs with upper levels and I only have a floor-level UTH in each for heating. The snakes still hang out regularly on the upper (unheated) levels and I've never had a regurge. A long as they have the correct sized warm floor area to return to, the UTH alone will do what they need.

5. is MDF dangerous to snakes?

No.

6. its measurements are L-28inches W-15inches H-15inches, will this be ok for a fully grown corn snake or is that too small?

Personally I'd go bigger. As a guideline, a full grown Corn needs to be able to stretch the length and width at the same time. If an adult Corn gets about five feet long, then you ideally need the length+width to add up to 60 inches. Having said that, many people keep Corns successfully in racks in much smaller containers.

I've seen vivs with acrylic doors before. Even wth double runners, the surfaces still get scratched by everyday use and end up quite cloudy. Glass is more of a pain to start with but is more durable. You can get it custom cut and it may be a better investment in the long run.

 

[AlexEarl]

well my snakes are still babies so ill make 3 more this size for when they out grow there current tanks and then build bigger ones when im not in a rented place that doesn't allow pets

my snakes wont be moving into this for a good 4/5 months as they are still quite small, so the smell of the varnish should have gone by then

thanks for all the help, hopefully it all works out and makes a good temporary tank for my growing snakes

 

[AlexEarl]

one more thing i was wondering about was lighting. i want to put the lights on a timer so i can program it so they have the right amount of light. but i was wondering if white LED's would be too bright for the snake? here is what iv found which would be ideal if it doesnt harm the snakes

http://www.simplyled.co.uk/LED-Flex...D-5050-150-Lumens-20-watts-equiv_ASI60.aspx?0

 

[bitsy]

Not used them myself but I know some folks here have swapped to LEDs to minimise the heat output. Not read anything bad about them yet, but hopefully someone with direct experience will be along shortly.

 

[AlexEarl]

yes and apparently they are a lot cheaper to run, but i was wondering whether they might be to bright for the snakes eyes or whether it wont effect them

 

[alan]

I don't know about white, but I have red LEDs in the top of my snake's viv.
They were really bright when I installed them. They looked like spotlights where they shone on the sides of the viv and I didn't want that. I cut small pieces from a white plastic milk jug to cover each one and act as a diffuser.

 

[Marica]

AlexEarl, did you router the track for the glass? If so, you may want to router out another so that each pane is traveling it's own channel so that they don't grind against each other. If there's enough room, you could just stick on some furniture felt along the glass. Another option would be to install some glass track/runners. I found this supplier in the UK:



Also, when I built my cages I applied 3 coats of Varathane inside, sanded, then applied a final fourth coat for a smooth finish.

 

[AlexEarl]

no i didnt, i thought about it but i didnt in the end. what i have done now is put some yellow tape on the end of each piece of acrylic so it doesnt scratch (and it actually doesnt make the tank look rubbish). the next one i make will have either sliders or dividers.

thanks for the link, ill definitely use them next time

 

[rexracer]

I don't know about white, but I have red LEDs in the top of my snake's viv.
They were really bright when I installed them. They looked like spotlights where they shone on the sides of the viv and I didn't want that. I cut small pieces from a white plastic milk jug to cover each one and act as a diffuser.

An easy way to diffuse an LED is to sand it with some fine sandpaper.

 

[Snakehead]

AlexEarl, did you router the track for the glass? If so, you may want to router out another so that each pane is traveling it's own channel so that they don't grind against each other. If there's enough room, you could just stick on some furniture felt along the glass. Another option would be to install some glass track/runners. I found this supplier in the UK:



Also, when I built my cages I applied 3 coats of Varathane inside, sanded, then applied a final fourth coat for a smooth finish.

This is cool! Does anybody know of a supplier in the states?

 

[Marica]

Rockler sells glass track.

 

[Snakehead]

Rockler sells glass track.

Thanks I saved it in my favorites. I've looked around and those are hard to find. If you do find them they are usually expensive. That is a fair price.