Materials: Expedit, Tundra, Besta
Description: The Idea was to build a cheap but tasteful enclosure for reptiles.
It all started when I was working the morning shift in the Ikea of Groningen (NL). I had to drive in the pallets of Tundra laminated floors. On top of the pile was a complete sheet of Tundra, for protection. I knew I could use it for something, so I kept it.
Then I looked for a closet with the right dimensions to keep some kind of reptile species and thought of the Expedit series.
Eventually I bought 2 of the small sized Expedit (80x80cm) closets. I drilled extra holes in the all of the top ends of the side plates and placed them with the little wooden plugs on top of each other.
I added the top of one and the lowest part of the inside. Then I had to cut the Tundra sheet the right size and glued it to the back of the Expedit. It had to cut one horizontal shelf in 2 pieces for the down and upper front. Here I cut 2 holes out for ventilation and placed 2 ventilation shafts.
On top of those I placed double U shaped profiles for the glass doors and gave them a nice finish by adding 2 aluminium strips. At last I installed 3 light fittings and put in the glass from a Besta series.
Next up, finding the right lizard!
(no snakes allow by order of the girlfriend ;))
~ Aki Ook, The Netherlands
It's a tall cage so I'm recommend an arboreal lizard. Maybe a chameleon. The veins and sticks would look really pretty in there. Cool hack.
ReplyDeleteIt is handsome, for sure. I would be somewhat concerned about off-gasing, as there are a lot of synthetic materials involved. Perhaps leaving it open in a well ventilated area for a period of time (2-3 weeks) would minimized the danger to the future inhabitant.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I indeed thought of a tree-living lizard, it's ideal to create a nice forest enclosure.
ReplyDeleteI build it a few months ago so the toxic fumes should be gone ;). To bad my appartment at the moment is to small to place it, so it's storred till i get a bigger one.
You might need to pay attention to the humidity in there, you give no indication if there are spaces for ventilation with the glass doors you've chosen. Also, some cheap materials will swell up when they come in contact with water or high humidity (no idea what these are made of), might want to test it or seal it with something safe. Nice looking setup for something arboreal, though!
ReplyDeleteChameleons would love that type of enclosure :)
ReplyDelete