[lifeainteasy20]

I am building a new cage for my cordylus tropidosternums and although I don't have a ton of building experience I consider myself an intermediate builder. There were just a few questions I couldn't find answers for really. So bare with me and help me out if you can. For an idea of what my cage will be like, it will be made out of 1" plywood, with fake rock backgrounds and flooring. I will have a thin layer of sand over it. It will have two levels for them with overhead lighting for both. The front will have glass sliding doors. So if you can help me please read.

One - I want to have glass or plexi-glass sliding doors. I've never worked with it and I don't know how thick it comes or anything. All I really know is I need to put it on some tracks to make it slide right? So first off, should I use plexi-glass or real glass? I have a cat that constantly likes to scratch her paws at the windows so I assume the plexi-glass would not be good as it scratches? Also if you can recommend what kind of supplies I need including what kind of tracks for whatever I need to make the sliding glass doors let me know.

Second - I plan to make the cage out of plywood. After the cage is built, what kind of stuff would I use to seal the cracks and corners that would not be harmful to my lizards? When I drill holes for the electrical what should I use to fill the holes with that is not harmful? Also, does the wood need to be coated with anything before I put the lizards in?

Thanks in advance everyone. I don't think building the cage should be too hard but my lack of experience makes it a little intimidating. I'm just a person who wants what he wants and does not want to pay an arm and a leg for someone else to do it.

[filecore]

Hi, sorry to see you haven't had any replies. I did a similar project and will post my info in case others find this thread. A few quick answers: I used aquarium-grade silicone to seal the joints and stick things down (you can find this at any DIY store) and then I had glass doors made to order, it was fairly cheap at a local glazier. These are mounted on sticky-backed metal tracks, cut to length, from the same glazier. Mine was built large to accommodate an Uromastyx Occellata, but the basic concept can be modified to suit most types of terrarrium. Here's my album with annotated photos showing my progress and materials (it starts with the basic box shape already having been built, but that's the easy part anyway):

Kayak the planet! | Construction

Here were a couple of sites I used as inspiration (one also with good construction photos):

Crossfire Enclosure | Nice Bearded Dragon Enclosure
Untitled Document

You've probably already built yours by now, but for anybody else reading this thread, good luck!