my first enclosure

[Huskey]

hey guys and gals, i recently bought my first house with my gf and moved in about a month ago. the people we bought the house off left a few things including this wardrobe

we couldnt decide what to do with it as we both had furniture, so i finally decided to take the plunge. Its going to be my first build. the plan it to replace the inside of the two doors with glass and possibly the glass depend show much glass ive got left (they left two sheets in the shed) ill paint it black or dark brown and replace the nobs with some bling. ill also be putting in a shelf about 2 3rds of the way up il have a row of leds at the top on a 12hr timer and a low powered ceramic bulb on a thermostat (live in the tropics so hopfully shouldnt need it) the internal measurments are 1300h x 1100w x 600d and it'll be for a carpet python of some sort, hoping to get one thats common to the area so its easier to maintain the right heat as it'll be my first snake

 

[Aussie-Pride]

I think I see a CBR..

 

[Huskey]

good eye thats my little yellow mc19, my pride and joy

new plan, replace the 2 doors and mirror with one big door with 3 cut outs for glass and mirror. I tried to remove the sheet of mdf in the middle but it sit in a groove thats cut in the frame, i used a jig saw to cut it all up and tried to wriggle it all out but it split some of the frame.

heres the plan for the lay out

its crude i know, as you can see the idea is a basking shelf with a ceramic bulb above for heat, then down below in the opposite corner is the hide, then braches or a log running diagonal. i'll use led's for lighting as they dont emit heat and astro-turf for the flooring. sounds like a good set-up for a coastal? I'm a noob so i thought id just throw my idea out there before i spend hours doing all this to find out there a major flaw i havent seen or it not suitable

any feed back would be great thanks

 

[Huskey]

finally started the doors, all the wood is cut to size just need to stick it all together. got some glass silocon from work to fit the glass.

just a quick question, when i paint it all im going black on the out side but what colour would work best ont he inside and does it matter what paint i use?

 

[JungleGuy]

Your design looks pretty good and should work. I'm sure your already aware of this but make sure you put a cage on your ceramic heat lamp and use a ceramic fitting. As for you paint you can paint it whatever colour you like I personally love the look of black enclosures so i'd paint both inside and outside black. You could also sand back the outside and varnish it and paint the inside black it depends what look your after. I'd use a non toxic water based paint if you do end up paint it. Hope this helps.
Cheers Tim

 

[Huskey]

Thanks for the advice mate, black it is then, inside and out.

 

[JungleGuy]

Sounds good, keep us updated with your progress.
Cheers Tim

 

[Huskey]

ran into a problem today, measured up the glass and the actual size thats needed and I can do it in two full pieces -_-

so im going to have to do it in 4 instead and put a piece of wood across the middle of the window to hide the cut in the glass, not really what i wanted to do but i guess it that or actually paying for glass.