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How2make a lid for a fishtank?

sachamama

sachamama

New member
Hi everybody,

I have found some cheap large fishtanks in local recycling centre and think they would make great vivs for older snakes. One for example is 90x30x40cm.

Does anybody have tips re how to make DIY tight, efficient lids that could also possibly be locked? Also, I would prefer the vivs to be front opening so do you think I could turn the tanks on their sides and make a front screen of some sort?

If there are such threads already I would be very gratefull for the link as I still have not worked out the search facility :uhoh:

Thank you!
 
Make a wooden square big enough to fit around the top of the tank and get a strong steel mesh to form the top with holes too small for the snake to escape through.

Making lids is pretty straight forward and just comes down to how you want it to look. You might also find a top for it at the pet store that fits and is more cost effective.
 
ya, aquariums come in standard sizes and reptile stores usually have fitted mesh lids already. I got a good deal on my tanks - second hand. I had to buy the lids new though, cost me about $40 each, so much for cheap vivs -_-
 
Hi Jcapicy, thanks for your suggestion:) I think I got that far myself, perhaps I should have explained my problem in more detail:) What I mean by tight and unescapable lid is how do I attach the "wooden frame" or whatever to the glass of the tank, so that an adult snake cannot lift it. Some kind of attachments at the sides? If its so very tight fitting that snake cannot push it up then it might be a nuisance for me each time I want to open the lid. Was wondering if anybody came up if some ingenious design as there is plenty of inventive people here :)

Didnt know they sell just the lids though so will check it out. Thanks for the idea!
 
you can get clips for the lids too, I have them on one tank and luggage straps for my other two tanks.
 
i had the same problem as u. bought a glass tank with no top.. my tank has the corneres re-enforced with emtal.. is yours wood or metal??

well here are some pics of how i did it.. and it works great.. im changing the locking mechaninsm th oas its hard to open and close

This is how it looks from the side.. the two smalle peices of wood are srewed into the metal frame of the tank.. one screw on each side was enough..

DSCF4053-Copy-1.jpg


then i made a window on each side and covered it with screen.
DSCF4046-Copy-1.jpg


this is how the door is attached (made one big door in the middle to make it easy to clean and acces everything in the viv)
DSCF4052-Copy-1.jpg


and finally the type of locking mechanism i will be putting in sometime in the future..
screen-door-lock-1b-785013.jpg
..

hope this helped!
 
sachamama said:
Hi Jcapicy, thanks for your suggestion:) I think I got that far myself, perhaps I should have explained my problem in more detail:) What I mean by tight and unescapable lid is how do I attach the "wooden frame" or whatever to the glass of the tank, so that an adult snake cannot lift it. Some kind of attachments at the sides? If its so very tight fitting that snake cannot push it up then it might be a nuisance for me each time I want to open the lid. Was wondering if anybody came up if some ingenious design as there is plenty of inventive people here :)

Didnt know they sell just the lids though so will check it out. Thanks for the idea!
Click to expand...

They sell lids, but they are not "fitted" per se. They fit on top, but can easily be lifted off. When I started breeding rodents I used this type of set up, and got a wire rack system at walmart for like $20. It held the top of the lid down, and nobody could take the lid off unless you removed the cage. I am not sure that would be ideal for a corn snake habitat though, because of the moving it everyday... I hope you can find something that works. I used to have an vivarium with a lid that "slid" into grooves at the top, and it had a rod and hole system to keep the lid from moving forward. But it was a complete setup, and more than $40 im pretty sure.
 
If you get the metal screen tops at your local pet shop they sell metal locking tabs that go on the sides and clamp the lip to the box frame of the tank.

Otherwise I have just used something heavy.

On my childreni's python's tank I used boxes of baseball cards and they work great as I was out of the metal tab/clamps.

Granted I have seen everything from rocks to bungee chords used to hold a lid on.
 
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