DIY Enclosure Series - Part 1

Ever since Bruce came on the scene, I have needed to do something about a permanent home for him.  In reality his arrival accelerated the need I already had to provide permanent accommodation for Lacey through her adult life.  She can only live so long in a 20 litre tub after all.  As much as it is ideal for her now, in a year or so, it will be completely inadequate.  Add to these requirements my general interest in DIY lately and you find me where I am today.  On the cusp of starting to build my own custom enclosure for both Lacey and Bruce.

I read an article in the current edition of Scales and Tails magazine that went into some detail the merits of building your own enclosure using tubular aluminium to construct a frame on which to encompass the various materials that make up its faces.  I set upon this concept over and above what I had been thinking, which had centred on using melamine to construct a wooden home for our reptiles.  I like working with wood.  That is not to say that I am any good at it.

The article described the tubular aluminium as being available with different profiles.  That is to say with different extrusions on it that would help simply secure different materials such as glass and wood.  With this and other basic information in hand I set about researching the manufacturers of the aluminium tube and what options were in fact available to me before setting about designing what I wanted.

The two images in this post are what I came up with.  The are produced in Google Sketchup and are to scale as a result.  I sent the designs to a couple of manufacturers and based on the great advice, help and the products themselves of one of them, I ordered the framework for my new enclosure.  I am very pleased to report that it arrived today!  So let the fun begin...

You can see in the images that I have designed a two storey home for the critters with Lacey to be in the penthouse and Bruce in the basement.  The void in between is where lighting for Bruce's pad will sit.  I have also included flyscreen panels on the top and sides for ventillation.  The left hand sides of both enclosures will have toughened glass hinged doors.

I am really looking forward to the interesting challenge of this piece of construction and will keep the progress recorded here.