Building a New Home

[jivany]

Hi,

I want to build a new home for my corn so I can get rid of the old 20 gal tank. My biggest problem right now is what material to make the enclosure out of. I don't really want to just get a bigger tank.

I'm assuming that I can't use pine or cedar but what about other softwoods (like spruce)? The problem I see with wood is that it makes for tough cleaning of anything that the bedding doesn't soak up. I've also considered Melamine (sp?) since it (typically) has a laminate side that would make for easier cleaning.

Anyhoo, I'm babbling now so I'd appreciate input from anyone who has built their own enclosure. I've got my design figured out for the most part - basically a box frame out of some material and the major space filled with mesh and glass as appropriate.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[CAV]

Any wood product can be protected with polyu or a good wood sealer so go with whatever you find most attractive.

 

[Drizzt80]

For ease of cleaning I would recommend melamine. (Though it gets pretty heavy depending on the size of your project.) Seal all corners and edges with silicone. I made a three cage unit with glass doors and metal screen tops which works great. Cleaning isn't too bad, though I would put a 1" high dam in the front to avoid bedding, poo, etc from getting into runners if you use sliding glass doors, or falling out of the cage in any case. Also, to solve the heating problem (which was my biggest dilemna in planning) I routed out a square hole in the floors and put in an 11x11" pane of glass with an UTH attached.

Doing my own research when I did the project, I found that your imagination is the only limiting factor. I constructed my cage to suit my own needs.

Hope this helps.
D80