Building a complex enclosure
From UroWiki
Here is another lengthy write-up about building a complex enclosure. Based off the first How-To article about building a basic enclosure, here is one for the more experienced builder or somebody who is willing to push themselves to learn and build something incredible.
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Credit
This write-up was originally written by Justin (also known as RTL402), who has built this double-stacked set of enclosures + extra enclosures by utilizing as much scrap material as possible. This build is more advanced then the previous article that has been written about building enclosures, so please be aware before attempting this that the cost and experience needed is not for beginners.
Introduction
| Materials | Equipment/Tools |
|---|---|
| 6 Sheets of Oak Plywood | Pencil |
| 9 Light Switches | Small & Large T-Squares |
| 3 Triple-gang electrical boxes | Drill w/wood bits |
| 9 Electrical boxes (4" round) | Jigsaw w/hardwood blade |
| 9 Ceramic Sockets (660w rated) | Panel Saw |
| 14 AWG Electrical wire w/ground | Large workspace table |
| 6 Caster wheels | Chop Saw |
| 1 Gallon of Acrylacq (Glossy) | Clamps |
| Glass hinges | Utility knife |
| Glass pieces (Cut by a professional shop) | Wire Strippers |
| 16 2x4's | Measuring tape |
| Aquarium Silicone | Electrical Tape |
| 3 Prong Plug & 3 Prong Timers |
I have spent a long time working on this design, and hopefully everything will be explained well enough for people to understand my crazy ideas and building procedures for this project. I will start off by saying this was a complicated build, and without the help of gift cards to Lowes and Home Depot, would have been even more costly then it already has become. If at any time anyone would like to discuss this build or has any questions please feel free to email me at RTL402@gmail.com but please be sure to put 'Uromastyx' in the subject, as I ignore anything that makes it to my spam folder.
I will try and give as much detail as possible for this entire build. There will be many visual aids as well. Materials being used can mostly be purchased at any local hardware store, Lowes, Home Depot, Ace, etc. I had to go to a private lumber yard for the Oak ply, as the big box stores only carry 3/4" thickness. This of course would be stronger, but may also be more of a pain to measure everything out and will also add a lot of weight to the enclosure. I have also decided to install caster wheels as well as a handle on the stacked unit, so that it can be moved for cleaning purposes.
As for pricing, many people have been asking how much certain materials cost. This may vary between stores, or brands that you choose to use. I can say the total cost (paying retail) for this entire build is around $1,000. Of course, discounts, coupons and gift cards were a big help in saving money on this project.
Shown to the right is a list of materials and tools needed for this project. I am sure I missed some things along the way, but at least this will give most people an idea of how much is really needed to work on this project.
Design
Ok, so we start off with some crazy design ideas.
I have looked into designing enclosures 6'x2' as well as 5'x2' for floor space. I finally had decided to go with the 5'6" (66") length, as it made much better use of the materials needed. Other sizes would require additional sheets of plywood or would leave excess scrap materials that were not suitable for building Uromastyx enclosures. Although it may have been possible, I wanted full sheets for all sides, floor and roof of the enclosures for maximum strength and life expectancy of the enclosures.
Taking into consideration the cost of materials for Grade A USA Oak ply and the amount of scrap material that goes to waste, this entire design was created to make use of as much scarp material as possible. The 6 sheets will be used to create a stacked set of 2 enclosures of size 66”x24”x30” with a storage unit below 66”x24”x12” to hold spare bulbs, timers, food bowls, etc. It will also create a 4’x2’x30” enclosure as well as some smaller gecko enclosures 16”16”44”(split in half for 2 enclosures). End result is there is about 2 sq ft of scrap that is no good for building anything else with. Considering 6 sheets of 4x8 is 192 sq ft, it was well designed to eliminate scrap! Below is pictures of how each sheet gets cut. All cuts are assumed to be made with a 1/8" thick saw blade.
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As we can see from the images above, each sheet is cut and each piece was labeled. If building this all at one time it may not be necessary. Being all this material was cut late at night in a friend's shop, it had to be labeled and brought home for final assembly several days later. The only piece of this entire enclosure that is not a single solid piece was the final roof of the stacked enclosure, which is 2 pieces. This should be no problem, especially being there will be added vents for air circulation.
Once we get to the point of cutting the 2x4's, we will have to go back and check measurements to be sure the 2x4's are being cut to the correct size. From this image we see how the 2x4 frame supports each enclosure. Both enclosures that are stacked will have 2x4 frames for support and even single enclosures will be supported for maximum strength. This image is for the storage unit and lower enclosure supports for the stacked system. When measuring to cut the 2x4's be sure to noticed that the 2x4's that support each floor have been laid down flat, so that the longer side (3.5") goes front-back of the enclosure and the shorter end (1-7/16") is bottom-top. Be sure when cutting the short pieces that go in between the lengthy pieces to account for (2) 2x4's of width 3.5" each. So... if your enclosure is 23" deep inside, subtract 7" from that and your short 2x4 pieces are only 16" in length. Always double check your measurements before cutting!
Cutting Materials
Now, on to part the actual process of building the enclosure. First, we start off by measuring and checking measurements before cutting the full sized sheets of plywood on a panel saw. Luckily, most sheets have one cut that is the same exact cut, so we put a stopper on the end of the panel saw and slid each piece in one by one, making the exact same cut on each sheet. So, cut each sheet one at a time, working your way from one piece to the next. If possible, try and make all the cuts for the first sheet before moving on to the second sheet. Unfortunately, no access to a table saw or a tall enough panel saw forced this build to be done mostly by hand.
As you can see from the cut sheets in the design section above, 3 sheets have the same cut off at the end, approx 30” in length. Another is a 31" cut, and 2 smaller cuts at 24" and 23". These cuts were all cut first, labeled and set aside. We then used the panel saw to make as many cuts as we could. We took the piece that was just cut off of sheet #4 and cut out the 2 sides for the spare (4x2x30")enclosure. These pieces were labeled and set aside. We then trimmed down the piece for the space enclosure floor. Here is where we finally ran into a problem. The panel saw did not fit the 66" lengths of plywood!
Once all the cuts possible with the panel saw were complete, we had to devise a plan on how to make the remaining cuts. We searched around the shop for available tools, as it was already late and no stores would be open. Finally, we decided to use a hand-held jigsaw. If the cuts we needed to make were small cuts it would not be much of an issue, but with cuts as long as 66” it was going to be very difficult holding the saw still and straight. We needed to come up with an idea of how to make sure the cuts were straight. We finally decided to use some aluminum tubing and clamps to create a guide for the saw to run in a straight line.
We marked out the beginning and end of the cut on each piece of plywood. Then, measuring twice on each side and using the saw, we lined up the aluminum and clamped it down. This was time consuming, but it paid off big time. The cuts were surprisingly almost as straight as if we were using a table saw to create the cuts. They are not 100% perfect, but they are pretty damn close. This will add an extra step later for some additional sanding, but well worth it considering our options and the clock approaching 11pm.
Once we had all the sheets cut to the required size, the next challenge arose, cutting out the window openings where the glass will go. This required some careful measurements and clamping of the aluminum guides once again to ensure a straight cut. Although we did some of the windows by hand without the guide, they still came out pretty straight, and only need a light sanding. These cuts are not as important, being it is only for viewing through, whereas other pieces are going to be assembled together and needed a more perfect cut. First thing we did to cut the windows, was grab a drill and drill holes in the 4 corners of the proposed opening. From these holes we carefully cut into the corners with the jigsaw. Then using the guide we cut the 4 sides of the window and removed the wood from the frame.
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We then have a front of an enclosure with the window opening cut out. This was repeated 3 times (for the 3 Uromastyx enclosures, as the gecko enclosures will be built at a later date).
Now that we have spent all this time getting covered in saw dust by cutting the wood, we will have to continue getting covered in saw dust by doing some sanding on the edges of the plywood. No matter how slow you try and go or how careful you are, there will always be some pieces or splinters that stick out from the rough edges. If you have access to a small electric hand sander, this works best. All you need is a very light sanding with a fine grit sandpaper to take off the rough edges and splinters. You don’t want to use rough sandpaper, as this will further dig into your plywood and not look as clean as possible. Plus you may have to sand again with a fine grit to take out any rough lines. So, it is best to just use a fine grit and lightly sand the edges.
Once all your plywood is finally prepped and ready to be put together, mark each piece (masking tape works best, post-it’s will do too but may fall off) so you know which piece goes where. This will make final construction a bit easier when it comes time for assembly.
Now, we move on to the structural part of the enclosures, the 2x4’s. We need to build a frame for the enclosures so they will not bend, stress, or warp or any other problem that could arise in the future.
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From the design here we can see how the 2x4’s will be used to create a frame for the enclosure so the floor does not warp, and the entire enclosure does not twist in any way. We will measure each piece and make cuts one by one. While there may be a bunch of leftover scrap, 2x4’s are very inexpensive and can always be used for something around the house.
Construction
Due to the complexity of the stacked enclosures, I will explain both setups separately. The 4x2 is a bit easier, where as the 5'6"x2 is a much more complicated.
4'x2' Enclosure
Once all the 2x4's had been cut to size (or so I thought) I began to put the pieces together. Pictures below will show progress as the construction went along. First, I started with the floor, as all the other pieces will be installed around the floor this seemed the best starting point. First, I took the plywood floor piece and laid it down and placed the 2x4 frame pieces where they need to go. Next I predrilled the holes that the screws will go in to hold the 2x4's together. Be careful when building to predrill each hole and insert the screw one at a time. If you predrill too many holes they may not line up and leave excess holes in your material.
Once the subframe for under the floor is complete, you can lay the floor on top of the frame, and screw down the corners. You could put screws all along the center as well, however I prefer not to use excess screws if not necessary, being these will have to be covered and sealed at a later time. So, we now have our floor built. Next step, was getting the sides ready. Being the side panels go against the side, I held it there and lined up the 2x4's that are used for structural support against it to make sure they were the right size. Perfect fit... So, we lay down the 2x4's on a flat surface and lay the side panel on top. Once again predrill the holes for the screws one by one and install (2) 2x4's onto each side panel. Notice in the pictures how the sides fit onto the base section.
The next step is building the top of the enclosure. While my preliminary thoughts were to cut pieces the same as the base, I quickly realized this wont work, as the 2x4's being used for the height would be in the way. So with some quick thinking I realize I can cut down some of the scrap that wasn't going to be used and make shorter supports that go from the front to back. Notice in the pictures that fitting this together became very easy at this point. I decided to lay out all the pieces in between the 2x4's attached to the sides and make all the pieces fit together like a puzzle. This should also aid in preventing any twisting of the enclosure, as all these pieces fit together like a puzzle now! Once the roof frame was made, I carefully measured and installed the roof piece onto the frame. This roof frame will later be used for mounting the light fixtures.
All that is left now is to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Put the floor section down, put the sides in place, slide the top on. Predrill and screw these pieces together to prevent any movement. Now all that is left is to screw the back panel on flat and the front panel for the window. Then you have a mostly finished product!
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The next step after the construction is completed is to begin sealing the inside with aquarium silicone and once dry, to seal all the interior wood with Acrylacq. This will be explained in the next section.
5'6"x2' Enclosure
For the large stacked enclosures, planning was done more carefully, as the amount of material was far more then the 4x2 enclosure. This is where the majority of the 2x4’s will be used, as well as this being the main enclosure for my current Uromastyx.
First, lets look at the structure of the build. Measuring the 2x4’s and cutting them to create the base is the first logical step in building something this large. With the 2x4 frame being on the inside of the enclosure, the length of the 2x4’s will be the same as the inside dimension of 65” long. 4 lengths of these were cut from full length pieces, as the storage area and the frame below the first enclosure floor will be the same. Then we look at the depth of the enclosure, which is 23” and subtract out the size of the (2) 2x4’s that make up 2 sides of the frame. The pieces that will go in between the 2x4’s will each be 16” long. This takes into consideration that the 2x4 at the wider side is actually 3.5”. 8 of these pieces were cut. Then we can begin to assemble the frame. The 65” 2x4’s and 16” 2x4’s were lined up with 4 short pieces going in between the 2 long pieces. Holes were then pre-drilled and 1.5” screws were installed. The frame begins to look like a ladder.
Once both ‘ladder’ frames were completed, the 2x4’s will then be cut to create the storage area. These will be vertical pieces that go in between each of these ‘ladders’. Once again, be sure to pre-drill all the holes before installing the screws. This keeps the wood from splitting. Now, to keep things simple during the remainder of the construction process, I installed 6 industrial casters on the bottom of the frame. This will allow the enclosure to be moved around during construction, when cleaning the house, moving, or any other possible reason to need to move an enclosure of this size and weight. By the end of this build, it REALLY came in handy. Once the casters are installed, we have the frame of the storage area, and the bottom of the first enclosure, which looks like this.
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Now that the frame has begun to take shape, lets setup a few pieces. First, the easiest thing to install is the first floor. This is the exact size of the frame that was built and is very easy to line up. Line up all 4 corners, pre-drill a hole (in a place that will be hidden by future pieces) and install a screw in each corner. There is no need to go crazy adding additional screws to hold the floor down to the 2x4’s being there will be plenty of substrate (sand) and décor (tile or rock) the be sure it sits flat.
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Next, the sides were built. Being the design allowed for a single sidepiece of plywood be used for the bottom enclosure and the storage area, the 2x4’s were cut to the height of the enclosure. Being the enclosure is designed at 30” in height, subtract out the height of the floor (1/2”) and cut 4 pieces of 29.5” each. These 2x4’s were then attached to each of the side panels, which when the entire thing was placed on the existing floor, sat perfectly and only needed to be screwed in from the sides. Screws were installed where they would go into the 2x4’s of the storage area. Here is a picture of the sides fully installed on the bottom enclosure.
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Once the sides are attached, we can cut the 2x4’s to make the frame for the base of the upper enclosure (which is also the roof of the lower enclosure). For this, we cannot use the same dimensions as the bottom frame, as now we have additional vertical 2x4’s that we need to go in between. The long 65” pieces will remain the same, only this time they will be installed closer together, in between the vertical frame of the side panels. It was measured by placing the 2 long 2x4’s on the floor of the bottom enclosure, and measuring the distance between them. Instead of the previous measurement of 16”, we are now working with a distance of approximately 13”. Being 2x4’s are not exactly 2”x4” (they are closer to 3.5”x1.5”), it is always best to measure several times before making any cuts. If a piece is cut too short, it becomes useless. Now 4 pieces of 13” were cut from the 2x4’s. These again were pre-drilled and screws were installed just as before. The problem then became how to attach this frame to the upper enclosure floor. This is where using screws is much more convenient than using nails. The side panels were removed from the lower frame, and turned upside down on the upper enclosure floor piece. Being the floor will go to each corner of the 2x4’s on the side panels, it was easy to place these, and lay the 2x4 frame that was just constructed in between the sides. Now once again, we can pre-drill holes and attached the floor to the 2x4 frame. Once this is completed, everything can be flipped back over and reattached to the bottom frame. We now have the bottom enclosure almost complete.
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From here we simply screw on the back, which will serve as the back to the lower enclosure as well as the storage area. Then screw on the front piece, which will ONLY serve as the front of the lower enclosure. The lower enclosure is now completed.
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Once the lower enclosure is ready, begin following similar steps to construct the top enclosure. Again, we will take the side panels, cut a 2x4 approximately 29” this time (subtracting the height of the floor and roof this time) and attach the 2x4’s to the side panels. Again, these panels can be screwed down into the lower 2x4 frame for best support. Unfortunately the final roof (which will be at a final height of 6’3”) is going to be 2 pieces. These pieces will be lined up and installed into yet another 2x4 ‘ladder’ type frame for the roof. These pieces will get screwed down in more then just the 4 corners, but no screw tips will stick out into the enclosure. They will simply provide more places for the roof to be held down to the 2x4 frame. After the sides and roof have been constructed, once again we screw the back panel and front panel onto the vertical 2x4 frame. There will be some play in the panels (front and back) of the bottom and upper enclosure and there will be gaps. This will be resolved later when the inside of the enclosure is caulked with the aquarium silicone. We now have a completed (mostly anyway) unit, which includes a storage area and 2 enclosures (each with exterior dimensions 66x24x30 and interior dimensions 65x23x29).
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From here all that is left is to create doors for the storage unit. Currently I am looking for a hinge to accomplish this and is not complete at this time.
Sealing
Sealing the enclosure is fairly simple, all you need is the correct material. The only product that I personally feel is safe, which has also been used by several other people who have built enclosures, is called Acrylacq. Acrylacq is made by AFM products as contains no VOC’s and has no hazardous emissions at the temperatures required by Uromastyx. Unfortunately a gallon of Acrylacq comes with a heavier price tag, around $55 + shipping. You may choose to do as many coats of this sealer as you would like, I used 2 heavy coats on every single piece of material on the inside of the enclosure. The floors, sides, front, back, roof and 2x4’s were all given 2 thick coats. Just be sure no matter how many coats you use, that it is done evenly and you allow it the time to cure, following the mfg directions.
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Once the entire enclosure has been given enough coats and has fully cured, now take the aquarium silicone and caulking gun (you will need the big tubes for a project this size) and go around every edge, so the wood forms a strong bond as well as keeps anything from leaking out of the enclosure or soaking into the edges of the wood which have not been sealed.
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Electrical
The one part of building any enclosure SAFELY is to be sure your electrical wiring is correct. Please consult an electrician before taking on any electrical work in your home! Follow town codes to ensure the safety of your pets and home.
Ok, now on to the work... First, for simplicity I will explain the installation and wiring for the 4x2 enclosure. First, we start off by installing the blue electrical boxes where the sockets will mount to. I used 4" round boxes that simply installed by hammering in the 2 nails into a 2x4. Next, a cutout was made to fit the triple-gang light switch box. First thing to do is cut 3 short lengths of wire, 1 for each switch. These wires will be connected to the plug as well as the switch, so you can remove the white(negative) wire entirely. The switches operate by interrupting the black(hot) wire and being grounded (bare copper wire). I used a heavy duty pair of needle nose pliers to tightly twist the 3 grounds together as well as the 3 hot wires.
Now, once the switch box is ready and all the 4" round boxes are installed, you can cut some wire to run from the switch box to the light boxes. Be sure to leave some slack so you have room to cut back wire and strip each wire as needed. Screw the white and black wires into the corresponding terminals on the ceramic sockets, and tighten the screws to mount the sockets to the blue boxes.
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Then on the other end separate the white wire and black wire at about 6-7" from the end of the wire. The black wire will go into the light switch box and be connected to the switch. When looking at the side of the switch, when the switch is in the 'on' position, this is where the black wire going to the light socket gets connected to. The other side will be the black wire that goes to the plug. Once all 3 wires are separated and the 3 blacks are connected to the proper switches, ties all 3 white wires together behind the box. Now inside the switch box, all 3 switches should be completely wired and behind the box there should be 3 blacks tied together, 3 whites tied together and the 3 grounds tied together. Now, depending on how you wish to control the lights on the enclosure... you will wire in the plug. I am going to be running a digital timer, so my length of wire is going to be short, as the timer will be recessed as the light switches are. Cut a length of wire, and connect each wire of one end to the appropriate wire behind the light switch box. Be sure to tape them after or use wire caps to be sure they will not touch or become disconnected.
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On the other end of this wire, connect your 3 prong plug. Once again be sure to follow directions and connect the wires to the proper terminals. Once everything is connected, its time to test if it works with some spare bulbs. I would recommend against testing with expensive MVB bulbs. I used compact florescent bulbs that I will use later for ambient light.
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Once everything is tested and working properly, the CF bulbs will be replaced with MVB and other heat bulbs as needed to get proper temperature gradient in the enclosure.
For the large stacked enclosure, the light switches were actually installed below the enclosures inside the storage area. This was one of several options that were considered for mounting on this enclosure. You may install the switches anywhere you wish. For this I ran the wire from the sockets that were installed the same way as the 4x2 enclosure, down the back of the enclosure and into the storage area. The switches are wired exactly the same, and timers were installed for each enclosure. Depending on if you want to breed your Uromastyx or just to provide different light schedules for adult/young Uromastyx, I chose to use 2 timers instead of 1. You could use a single timer and have both enclosures on the same exact schedule. However, I have found by speaking with other keepers that Maliensis need a harsher brumation schedule than Geyri do. This is the purpose behind the 2 timers.
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Decor
Coming Soon! I am still in the process of arranging and building some of the enclosure decor.
Completed Enclosures
Once everything is completed you could have something that looks like this:
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Questions/comments
As a Uromastyx enthusiast I am always looking for feedback on anything related to these wonderful creatures. If you have any questions/comments/picture request/etc please feel free to email me any time! It was a lot of fun building these enclosures and hopefully this writeup can help others as well!
-Justin -
