Serpentess
Very Well-Known Member
Hey guys and gals,
I've had a enclosure idea that is a little bit different. As we are planning to be 'holding back' a few carpets when the breeding thing comes along, I've thought up a design where the enclosure is, well, adaptable I guess you could call it.
See below for image attachment. This is a 6ftx6ftx2.5ft design, which consists of a bank of 9 x 2ftx2ftx2.5ft enclosures. The idea is that the inner walls are some how able to slide out. I have a few vague plans for how to do this, but I would also like any of your alternate ideas of how this could be done.
Okay, so you may be wondering what my reasoning was for this? I want the slide out walls so that as the 'hold-backs' grow we can slide out one wall for a 4ft enclosure and if we decide to keep them for the breeding project, we can slide out another wall for a 6ft enclosure. It may require more effort to make, but I think it'd be pretty handy as you can have say for example: a breeding project pair in the bottom two 6ft enclosures, have a larger yearling or young adult in the top 4ft enclosure and a bigger hatchling or yearling in the top 2ft enclosure. And when the yearling requires 4ft and the young adult requires 6ft, the bottom two can be moved on into 'permanent' adult enclosures, which would be well and truly organised by the time they would need to move out. Or of course, you could alternatively have the 9x2ft enclosures -or- 3x 4ft enclosures and 3x 2ft enclosures - or - 3x 6ft enclosures...
Okay, now the issues I have come across with this design are obvious to me so far:
1. Slide Out Walls: How exactly will the walls slide out.
2. Heating: What about heating, how would this be done most efficiently.
3. Doors: How can this be done to suit 3 x 2ft enclosures as well as 1 6ft enclosure.
4. Ventilation: Is 3 vents too much for a 6ft enclosure?
5... If you see any other issues that could arise feel free to add them, lol.
My solutions so far:
1. Slide Out Walls: The walls can 'slot' in between two lips of melamine/pine/whatever suits best. This idea sort of works like a sideways glass sliding track, with the top going higher than the bottom, but with wood.
OR: Routed out slots, top and bottom, melamine simply slides in. May not be desirable due to the inner chipboard style of melamine but it could all be done up with some sort of sealant to resist water and accidental chipping.
Any other ideas?
2. Heating: Heat cord can be routed out on the underside of the enclosures, possibly with a sheet of melamine, to cover it.
OR: Some sort of heat globe set up, which I can't see being really successful for a 6ft enclosure as there'd be 3 light fittings in it, lol. Possibly have each fitting wired up with it's own light/heat switch on the side of the enclosure, which I have seen done before.
OR: Maybe some heat tape set up on the back walls?
Haven't really gone too far with the ideas for this yet, so any ideas will be appreciated. Thing is, I don't want to really have 9 different things plugged in but I don't want to be heating enclosures that could possibly be empty at some point, so maybe have the heating done up in sets of 3? Left, Middle and Right? Not sure yet, brain stormers needed for this one! As I think this problem is the biggest down fall of the idea.
3. Doors: I originally wanted sliding glass doors, but I think I'd need like 9x 2ft glass cut outs, 3x 4ft glass cut outs and 3x 6ft glass cut outs for it to work (change the size of glass when you slide out a wall).
OR: 9 x swing out doors with a small frame and a glass panel. Some sort of latch for each door. Might get annoying when set to a 6ft enclosure, but also might be handy, as you can open just one door to change water.
Any alternate ideas?
4. Ventilation, I can't really see this being too much of a problem, but if you think it may mean that the 6ft enclosure would be harder to heat or whatever feel free to throw any ideas out.
I'd really like for this to work out, but as you can see there's a few issues in the design.
Thanks in advance for any ideas/opinions.
I've had a enclosure idea that is a little bit different. As we are planning to be 'holding back' a few carpets when the breeding thing comes along, I've thought up a design where the enclosure is, well, adaptable I guess you could call it.
See below for image attachment. This is a 6ftx6ftx2.5ft design, which consists of a bank of 9 x 2ftx2ftx2.5ft enclosures. The idea is that the inner walls are some how able to slide out. I have a few vague plans for how to do this, but I would also like any of your alternate ideas of how this could be done.
Okay, so you may be wondering what my reasoning was for this? I want the slide out walls so that as the 'hold-backs' grow we can slide out one wall for a 4ft enclosure and if we decide to keep them for the breeding project, we can slide out another wall for a 6ft enclosure. It may require more effort to make, but I think it'd be pretty handy as you can have say for example: a breeding project pair in the bottom two 6ft enclosures, have a larger yearling or young adult in the top 4ft enclosure and a bigger hatchling or yearling in the top 2ft enclosure. And when the yearling requires 4ft and the young adult requires 6ft, the bottom two can be moved on into 'permanent' adult enclosures, which would be well and truly organised by the time they would need to move out. Or of course, you could alternatively have the 9x2ft enclosures -or- 3x 4ft enclosures and 3x 2ft enclosures - or - 3x 6ft enclosures...
Okay, now the issues I have come across with this design are obvious to me so far:
1. Slide Out Walls: How exactly will the walls slide out.
2. Heating: What about heating, how would this be done most efficiently.
3. Doors: How can this be done to suit 3 x 2ft enclosures as well as 1 6ft enclosure.
4. Ventilation: Is 3 vents too much for a 6ft enclosure?
5... If you see any other issues that could arise feel free to add them, lol.
My solutions so far:
1. Slide Out Walls: The walls can 'slot' in between two lips of melamine/pine/whatever suits best. This idea sort of works like a sideways glass sliding track, with the top going higher than the bottom, but with wood.
OR: Routed out slots, top and bottom, melamine simply slides in. May not be desirable due to the inner chipboard style of melamine but it could all be done up with some sort of sealant to resist water and accidental chipping.
Any other ideas?
2. Heating: Heat cord can be routed out on the underside of the enclosures, possibly with a sheet of melamine, to cover it.
OR: Some sort of heat globe set up, which I can't see being really successful for a 6ft enclosure as there'd be 3 light fittings in it, lol. Possibly have each fitting wired up with it's own light/heat switch on the side of the enclosure, which I have seen done before.
OR: Maybe some heat tape set up on the back walls?
Haven't really gone too far with the ideas for this yet, so any ideas will be appreciated. Thing is, I don't want to really have 9 different things plugged in but I don't want to be heating enclosures that could possibly be empty at some point, so maybe have the heating done up in sets of 3? Left, Middle and Right? Not sure yet, brain stormers needed for this one! As I think this problem is the biggest down fall of the idea.
3. Doors: I originally wanted sliding glass doors, but I think I'd need like 9x 2ft glass cut outs, 3x 4ft glass cut outs and 3x 6ft glass cut outs for it to work (change the size of glass when you slide out a wall).
OR: 9 x swing out doors with a small frame and a glass panel. Some sort of latch for each door. Might get annoying when set to a 6ft enclosure, but also might be handy, as you can open just one door to change water.
Any alternate ideas?
4. Ventilation, I can't really see this being too much of a problem, but if you think it may mean that the 6ft enclosure would be harder to heat or whatever feel free to throw any ideas out.
I'd really like for this to work out, but as you can see there's a few issues in the design.
Thanks in advance for any ideas/opinions.