Plastic Caging has become the norm in herpetoculture. But people still like to build their own caging. So why not build your own plastic caging? It is not difficult. Now if you want to get into thermoforming the plastic, that gets more complicated. But the main plastic material used for caging can be worked much like wood. So here is the basic information on Plastic for caging:
1. Sintra is the brand name of the material that most manufacturers use. If you see that the cage is PVC or Expanded PVC, then more than likely it is Sintra. It comes in a variety of colors and thicknesses and is easy to work with.
2. You can go to home depot and get plastic cutting blades for a table saw or circular saw.
3. The adhesive to connect the Sintra is cheap. When I get home, I will look for the exact product number.
4. For the most basic of cages, all you need is a table saw and various clamps. To make it a bit fancier, you can use a router. Just use a lower rpm router so the plastic doesn't melt!
And finally, the big question ......... where to get it?
Piedmont Plastics
http://www.piedmontplastics.com/
They have locations all over the country and most of the cage manufacturers i have talked to use them as well. The key is to open an account with them. The pricing will be much better if you have an account and it doesn't cost anything to open one. They can even ship materials to you. Often they will cut it down for a small fee. Also saves a fortune in Plexi compared to like Home Depot.
For plastic hinges and other odds and ends you can use Craftix (same place Barrs gets their stuff).
http://www.craftics.com/index.cfm
If by some chance you actually LIKE the new locks on Boaphiles, you can find them by looking for "Keyless Cam Locks".
The little turn buttons on Precisions and others are just nylon unites used for window screens that you can get at home depot.
To attach the acrylic hinges to the plexi (acrylic) doors, you use #16 adhesive (if memory serves) from Piedmont.
I even used the scraps to build my own rack drawers. Why use cheap rubbermade or sterilite when you can make your own whatever size you want from PVC and use an acrylic front for better visibility.
I think the material that Animal Plastics used to use was called Varioline. But it is my understanding that is discontinued.
If you prefer sliding glass or plexi, you can get the tracks from
www.rockler.com.
Making a plastic cage is much easier, in my opinion, than wood. I think that many people just don't know where to start. I hope this helps and hopefully I didn't tick off too many cage manufacturers.
Linear Mode
