Acrylic Housing Questions...

[BelgianWaffle]

Hey guys,

I recently made a nice little design for a few enclosures in SketchUp (see below), it's custom built so that they can all fit nicely on one of my shelves. I wanted to get them cut to order, that would include getting the ventilation holes drilled so all the units would look really sleek.



I got a quote from the company I was thinking of going with and it would cost £65 for just one of the enclosures above which isn't really within my budget... So I was wondering are there any alternatives to acrylic that could work, if not could I cut the acrylic myself? I'm looking at spending about £100 - £120 for everything including silicone, hinges, etc... Any ideas?

Look forwards to hearing your thoughts!

 

[Marvinxox]

How big will the enclosures be?

Sometimes custom glass enclosures can be cheaper than acrylic, so maybe thats something, you might want to look into.

Or you simply cut and drill the acrylic yourself. Drilling can be a bit tricky, but there´s a lot of tutorials on how to do it properly on the internet.
I´d recommend that you use acrylic glue instead of silicone, as silicone sometimes stops adhering to acrylic over time.

 

[MintyWood826]

Sometimes custom glass enclosures can be cheaper than acrylic, so maybe thats something, you might want to look into.

Just keep in mind that you can't add cross ventilation to glass.

What are you going for with the enclosures? Good looking displays or just functional?

You could always use plastic enclosures. It can take some searching to find the right dimensions though. Ventilating it should be easier than acrylic, but some plastics are cloudy rather than clear.

 

[BelgianWaffle]

How big will the enclosures be?

Sometimes custom glass enclosures can be cheaper than acrylic, so maybe thats something, you might want to look into.

Or you simply cut and drill the acrylic yourself. Drilling can be a bit tricky, but there´s a lot of tutorials on how to do it properly on the internet.
I´d recommend that you use acrylic glue instead of silicone, as silicone sometimes stops adhering to acrylic over time.

The arboreal enclosures are about 32cm X 22cm X 20cm so they're not actually all that big but should work just fine but I'll definitely have to have a look into glass and see if that's any cheaper!

 

[BelgianWaffle]

Just keep in mind that you can't add cross ventilation to glass.

What are you going for with the enclosures? Good looking displays or just functional?

You could always use plastic enclosures. It can take some searching to find the right dimensions though. Ventilating it should be easier than acrylic, but some plastics are cloudy rather than clear.

It's really mixture between functional and aesthetic.

I've left some space on the shelf so that I can essentially make frame to go round all the enclosures and make it seem as if I'm peeking into a cave that some tarantulas happen to live in. That being said the enclosures themselves are still designed in such a way that they're easy to access and have good cross-ventilation.

 

[viper69]

if not could I cut the acrylic myself?

We can't tell you that, it depends upon how handy you are hah.

You are better off w/glass in Europe, it's cheaper than acrylic over there.

 

[Marvinxox]

The arboreal enclosures are about 32cm X 22cm X 20cm so they're not actually all that big but should work just fine but I'll definitely have to have a look into glass and see if that's any cheaper!

You could look, if there are any Terrarium-builders in your area.
Sometimes you can order custom glass enclosures of them for very cheap.
But if they can only be seen from the front, then building them out of plywood and having just a glass-panel on the front could be a very cost-effective solution.

 

[Madmog]

Depending on where you live...we got our perspex enclosures from Dragon Reptiles in Radyr, Cardiff. £30 each for the standard size (30cm x 20cm x 20cm)but also have bigger /smaller for sale. Sliding lid and ventilation holes designed to stand either horizontally or vertically. Here’s our B. albopilosum, Tara, in hers....

 

[Nonnack]

Imo, glass is much better. Cheaper, nicer, easier to clean, only downside it is little bit heavier. And harder to cut or drill, but I don't do it myself i just order glass that is already cut from local glazier, and put it together myself. Ventilation is made from perforated steel. Some pics