Refurbishing my beardie's enclosure

[Renenet]

Hi,

I need some advice with renovating my beardie's enclosure, please. It is 117cm wide, 60 cm deep and 39 cm high. A photo of the thing is attached.

You can see there's a divider in it. I need to get rid of it because it seems to be playing merry havoc with my beardie's day-night cycle. If she goes in the dark compartment in the late afternoon, she often doesn't realise when it's morning.

The divider looks simple enough to remove - it's just a few screws. The problem I can see is that the divider is probably acting as a support for the roof. I'm not sure if you can see it in the photo, but the roof doesn't rest on the walls. Rather, it is held in place with nails so that it sits beside the walls. If I remove the divider, the entire weight of the roof will be resting on those nails.

So, DIYers, the challenge is to remove the divider and keep the roof up. Other than a drill (which I am so happy I bought), I have no fancy power tools available to me. What would you recommend I do?

Thanks,
Ren

 

[WomaBoy]

maybe remove the divider and cut it like a U shape, so he can walk thru and the divider will still hold the roof, sorry about the drawing just a quickie hope this helps

WomaBoy

 

[shrinkie]

if you take the divider out you could put 2 brackets in to keep it square and so the roof dosent sag not sure if it would work though but i like womaboys idea better

 

[Flaviruthless]

Could you leave the divider in and just put some LED strip lighting in there? That way you still have an awesome thermal gradient but it won't be dark enough to make her think it's sleepy time...?

 

[Renenet]

Thanks. I did think of the U-shape idea, but I just don't have the tools to do it. When it comes to sawing implements I am limited to a small hacksaw. Brackets could work... any other ideas? Maybe I could get two sturdy pieces of wood and put in a couple of columns.

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Could you leave the divider in and just put some LED strip lighting in there? That way you still have an awesome thermal gradient but it won't be dark enough to make her think it's sleepy time...?

That's another good idea.

 

[tyson001]

you could remove the divider and get a thickish piece of gum and cut the same height of the divider then screw in place.

 

[Justdragons]

have you got a few more snap of the enclosure?? might be fine to just remove? and then if it isnt you can always just put a few dowels like posts in ther for support or some brackets?

 

[WomaBoy]

Maybe you could get strips of wood as support, and cut them to the length of the tank and nail them in through the side of the tank, like have 3 or 4 runnong along the roof ??

WomaBoy

 

[Cypher69]

Invest in a jigsaw...this way you can either do the U-Shape or a large circular hole.

 

[anthony91]

hand saw = 10$ at bunnings.

 

[Renenet]

Invest in a jigsaw...this way you can either do the U-Shape or a large circular hole.

How much is a jigsaw? Unfortunately, money is tight at the moment.

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hand saw = 10$ at bunnings.

I get your point, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort to saw the U shape by hand. It would be easier to put in a couple of columns of wood.

Thanks for all the suggestions - keep them coming. I'll think it over. So far I'm leaning towards a couple of columns of wood.

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you could remove the divider and get a thickish piece of gum and cut the same height of the divider then screw in place.

Gum as in gum tree? I do like that idea. I might use it in future for another enclosure when I have more power tools!

 

[Marzzy]

Jig saw shouldn't cost much your only gonna use it once get a sangwunghoho for 20 bucks. Aka cheap brands that aldi bunnings master carry...

 

[oOLaurenOo]

Jut get an awesome looking branch that has a bit that reaches from bottom to top. Cut it so it sits snugly and screw it in. It will look awesome, and support your roof.

 

[lizardman59]

the u shape idea is a really great idea i would invest in a jig saw there not too expensive and at the end of the day ur beardie will thank u for it

 

[WomaBoy]

the u shape idea is a really great idea i would invest in a jig saw there not too expensive and at the end of the day ur beardie will thank u for it

Im a genius i joke...

 

[leeroy1983]

Haven't read all the posts so not sure if it's been suggested yet but get a broom handle or bit of 2x4 timber cut it to the height of your tank and remove the divider and the timber should support the top no worries. Worked for my old 8 ft water dragon enclosure

 

[Renenet]

What I might do is get those lengths of wood and install them but keep the divider. When I can afford to get a decent jigsaw, I'll adapt the divider if necessary. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

 

[smileysnake]

you could use your drill and drill hundreds of holes in the shape you want then just hit with a hammer and knock it out if you do it right it will be fine just tidy it up with your handsaw and a bit of sandpaper job done

 

[BigBrad]

Keep it simple people , remove the divider cut two prices of timber fit them in the top two corners from front to back fix to the underside of roof and the inside of the end walls, then for a little extra support were your roof is only fixed by nails predrill some pilot holes and put a few screws in. Hope this helps. Cheered BigBrad