Cage
Building - July 2002
With
the arrival of Mandrake, it became even more imperative to
build Mo a bigger cage so that we could move Drake into her
old one. So, off to Home Depot dad and I went, and began work
on Mo's new home. The measurements are roughly 6' Tall x 5'
Long x 3' Deep. We used 2x4s for the framing, plywood for
the floor, plastic garden mesh for the sides, and metal hardware
cloth for the top since we didn't want her heat lamps melting
through plastic! The cage is on casters to make it easy to
move, and is built as panels that are screwed together with
metal bracers to make it easy to dis- and re-assemble. You
can find plans for this cage here.
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The
vertical bracers for the corners. They are held together with
metal plates so they can be disassembled easily. |
Closeup
of metal plate used to hold corner verticals together. |
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Beginning
the back wall. The wall is currently resting on its side -
vertical bracers are on the floor, horizontal supports are
being attached. |
Rigid
Tie Angle for hoizontal supports. |
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We
used 2 Rigid
Tie Angles for the middle support to prevent the board
from twisting. |
Closeup
of a Rigid
Tie Angle and an Angle Bracket |
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We
put a few extra screws into the vertcal posts for added stability. |
The
completed back wall frame. |
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Now
we add the side supports. |
More
metal bracers. |
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We
used flat Mending plates on the outside joins of the horizontals
to add stability and keep the boards from twisting. |
Back
frame and side supports. |
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Now
it looks more like the beginning of a cage. |
Beginning
the front - more vertical supports added. |
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Front
bracer for door frame |
Side
view |
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More
bracers across the back were added, not for stability, but
to make attaching the showerboard back wall easier |
Front
wall done with doorway and bracer |
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Stained
vs unstained |
Stained
vs unstained |
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Stained
vs unstained |
All
stained! :) |
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| Stapling
the plastic mesh to the sides |
Stapling
the plastic mesh to the sides |
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Stapling
the plastic mesh to the sides |
Plastic
mesh done |
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Assembling
the 2 showerboard pieces for the back wall |
Back
wall assembled and installed |
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Almost
done... |
Angle
Bracket |
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Rigid
Tie Angle Bracket |
Mending
Plate |
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Finishing
Screws |
Metal
hardware cloth |
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Plastic
hardware cloth |
Stain |
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Polyurethane |
Stencil
around the front |
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Closeup
of stencil |
Adding
the supports for the floor and the casters |
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Floor
supports |
Floor
supports |
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A
door! |
Finally...now
it needs to be stained and poly-ed |
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Dad
testing the floor |
Yay
dad! |
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The
door is on!
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Finally,
a door for the cage! |
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Almost
completed |
brighter
shot. |
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Cage
arriving, in pieces! |
Dad
stapling in plastic before we put in the floor, to catch any
spills around the edges |
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Basking
shelf and ramp are in |
Corner
shelf and ramp |
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Main
and secondary basking shelves |
Secondary
shelf and ramp |
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All
done! |
Mozilla
meets her new cage |
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She
looks so SMALL in there! |
Wow,
mom! All this for ME! :) |
