Budget Friendly Acrylic Enclosures

[Stu Macher]

I like the 2 door access, that's why I like ExoTerras, that's a good % off!

I hope the don't get loose! Advert says they can be stacked.

I hope so too I feel confident enough that it'll pass the test, but ya never know with a houdini. You can order them online and pick them up curbside. Just check your stores availability. Don't wait too long though if you're thinking about it

 

[viper69]

I hope so too I feel confident enough that it'll pass the test, but ya never know with a houdini. You can order them online and pick them up curbside. Just check your stores availability. Don't wait too long though if you're thinking about it

Check my message again- I added more questions.

The 4 magents at the top concern me from looking, makes me think a T could push a corner open....

I saw online- for the price they can't be beat, even if they are not on sale, the population competition is twice as much for the same dimensions, that's for sure. Unfortunately, I don't have a need for them yet....but maybe I will get just one for my P met that just molted.

The review I watched did show one his door's clicking as he opened it for unknown reasons. His other didn't. Will see, I might get one.

 

[Stu Macher]

Nice I can’t get any tree spiders for a while all my pretzel jars and sling containers gone missing. Probably mom tossed them out , so I’ll be getting 100% ground spiders until I get a job. I’d definitely like a terrestrial version of these if I had any money left. Are they durable ?

I think it depends on what's going in. Some T's, the ones that need larger spaces would have a better shot at beating it up more. But it is sturdy. I wouldn't post my observation if I thought it was flimsy. I've owned several Tcribs and honestly (no acrylic) is going to compare to one of their enclosures. I'm going to put a defensive OW in a tcribs.

I like the 2 door access, that's why I like ExoTerras, that's a good % off!

I hope the don't get loose! Advert says they can be stacked.

Can you dismantle it? One review mentioned the rivets, once pushed in, their "legs" get flanged out a bit. The guy felt you could remove them, but the rivets would get destroyed...?

You can dismantle it. I removed some earlier because the holes weren't aligned and crooked. But I'm thinking about a solution to this issue. Because over time, wear and tear is bound to happen.

I'm going to take measurements and see what I can find that can seal it together without fear of destroyed rivets. Even if it's a plastic component that can serve the same purpose. I'll take a trip to home depot this week.

I think my favorite element of these enclosures that i forgot to mention is the floor. Once you do disassemble, you can fill the floor with dirt and the pieces fit in the grooves on the outside. This eliminates the annoying chore of wiping dirt from the enclosure walls. I wish i wouldve followed this BEFORE i added dirt, but i was tired lol

Attached is the rivet they are speaking of, and they are stackable and stack nicely. They look sharp. Plenty of room for a label on the white as you can see.

There is a remedy for the rivet thing. Anything can be plugged up, especially with standard factory drill holes.

This isn't t cribs quality though, so dont expect bullet proof acrylic. Its budget friendly acrylic that will be fine unless you use it for target practice.

Compared to my other enclosures, this is lush living

I'm hoping to move the 3 psalmos tomorrow. I'm going to put the enclosures inside a ventilated bin to see if there are any jail breaks in the night.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I think it depends on what's going in. Some T's, the ones that need larger spaces would have a better shot at beating it up more. But it is sturdy. I wouldn't post my observation if I thought it was flimsy. I've owned several Tcribs and honestly (no acrylic) is going to compare to one of their enclosures. I'm going to put a defensive OW in a tcribs.

You can dismantle it. I removed some earlier because the holes weren't aligned and crooked. But I'm thinking about a solution to this issue. Because over time, wear and tear is bound to happen.

I'm going to take measurements and see what I can find that can seal it together without fear of destroyed rivets. Even if it's a plastic component that can serve the same purpose. I'll take a trip to home depot this week.

I think my favorite element of these enclosures that i forgot to mention is the floor. Once you do disassemble, you can fill the floor with dirt and the pieces fit in the grooves on the outside. This eliminates the annoying chore of wiping dirt from the enclosure walls. I wish i wouldve followed this BEFORE i added dirt, but i was tired lol

Attached is the rivet they are speaking of, and they are stackable and stack nicely. They look sharp. Plenty of room for a label on the white as you can see.

There is a remedy for the rivet thing. Anything can be plugged up, especially with standard factory drill holes.

This isn't t cribs quality though, so dont expect bullet proof acrylic. Its budget friendly acrylic that will be fine unless you use it for target practice.

Compared to my other enclosures, this is lush living

I'm hoping to move the 3 psalmos tomorrow. I'm going to put the enclosures inside a ventilated bin to see if there are any jail breaks in the night.

You should see what my pet shop charges for acrylic cages. I basically just said no way … I couldn’t afford the cage from there.

Your Expensive pet shops !

All I see are stuff I can’t afford They have what looks like a 4” curly hair (looks possibly female but very skinny ) and a 2” seemani sling $45 each worth it ? Everything else is way too expensive. Some are reasonably priced being near adult size but unsexed . Sorry if it’s too many pics .

arachnoboards.com

 

[Stu Macher]

You should see what my pet shop charges for acrylic cages. I basically just said no way … I couldn’t afford the cage from there.

Your Expensive pet shops !

All I see are stuff I can’t afford They have what looks like a 4” curly hair (looks possibly female but very skinny ) and a 2” seemani sling $45 each worth it ? Everything else is way too expensive. Some are reasonably priced being near adult size but unsexed . Sorry if it’s too many pics .

arachnoboards.com

It's crazy what people charge. Also, thought of ya when I was at the dollar store. Family dollar I believe. They have quite possibly the best sling enclosure I've come across for sizes .25-1") perfect design. You could go even smaller than that if you kept it minimal. It's a miniature candy jar. 2pk is $1.25. Can't believe I never spotted these but their easy to miss.

 

[viper69]

I think it depends on what's going in. Some T's, the ones that need larger spaces would have a better shot at beating it up more. But it is sturdy. I wouldn't post my observation if I thought it was flimsy. I've owned several Tcribs and honestly (no acrylic) is going to compare to one of their enclosures. I'm going to put a defensive OW in a tcribs.

You can dismantle it. I removed some earlier because the holes weren't aligned and crooked. But I'm thinking about a solution to this issue. Because over time, wear and tear is bound to happen.

I'm going to take measurements and see what I can find that can seal it together without fear of destroyed rivets. Even if it's a plastic component that can serve the same purpose. I'll take a trip to home depot this week.

I think my favorite element of these enclosures that i forgot to mention is the floor. Once you do disassemble, you can fill the floor with dirt and the pieces fit in the grooves on the outside. This eliminates the annoying chore of wiping dirt from the enclosure walls. I wish i wouldve followed this BEFORE i added dirt, but i was tired lol

Attached is the rivet they are speaking of, and they are stackable and stack nicely. They look sharp. Plenty of room for a label on the white as you can see.

There is a remedy for the rivet thing. Anything can be plugged up, especially with standard factory drill holes.

This isn't t cribs quality though, so dont expect bullet proof acrylic. Its budget friendly acrylic that will be fine unless you use it for target practice.

Compared to my other enclosures, this is lush living

I'm hoping to move the 3 psalmos tomorrow. I'm going to put the enclosures inside a ventilated bin to see if there are any jail breaks in the night.

I see now with the rivets, thank you. Would definitely need a backup plan to disassemble them- for me. Still very encouraging

 

[Stu Macher]

I see now with the rivets, thank you. Would definitely need a backup plan to disassemble them- for me. Still very encouraging

I agree. If you get one, lmk your thoughts. My friend put an Ornata in one. I'm not putting a pokie in there until it passes the test. He is a little wild when it comes to his animals. Not saying it's bad, but he lacks the fear center in the brain.

 

[Brewser]

Cheap Enclosures... got to be from the 'Peoples Republic of'

 

[viper69]

Cheap Enclosures... got to be from the 'Peoples Republic of'

China- maybe or some other cheap manufacturing nation

 

[Stu Macher]

I see now with the rivets, thank you. Would definitely need a backup plan to disassemble them- for me. Still very encouraging

This girl and my irminia will let me know without a doubt if these cages are garbage. I'll keep you posted. My victori is going in 1 when i get home. Only day 1 so I'll be curious to what the night brings.

 

[viper69]

This girl and my irminia will let me know without a doubt if these cages are garbage. I'll keep you posted. My victori is going in 1 when i get home. Only day 1 so I'll be curious to what the night brings.

Looks like a P pulcher to me? I've had those and some irminia. I recently acquired a P. cambridgei sling

 

[Stu Macher]

Looks like a P pulcher to me? I've had those and some irminia. I recently acquired a P. cambridgei sling

Yeah she's a pulcher. I think going smaller with enclosure size is better in this case. They were in 26qt sterilites but that's kind of overkill imo. Hopefully the cages workout.

 

[viper69]

Yeah she's a pulcher. I think going smaller with enclosure size is better in this case. They were in 26qt sterilites but that's kind of overkill imo. Hopefully the cages workout.

I always give Psalamo, and OWs arboreals primarily, more space due to their speed. Also with arboreals they are like flying glue in 3 dimensions -you never know where they will end up, stick to, and keep running. Keep things "interesting",

 

[Stu Macher]

I always give Psalamo, and OWs arboreals primarily, more space due to their speed. Also with arboreals they are like flying glue in 3 dimensions -you never know where they will end up, stick to, and keep running. Keep things "interesting",

The only OW arboreals I keep are pokis. They are the only ones I feel comfortable dealing with. But they are pretty predictable until their not. During rehousing, Psalmos stay in their web turret unless forcibly moved (so far for me). When any of my arboreals are out, I either wait for them to go back to their hide, tap a bit to see if they'll go back, or come back another time. You can't out maneuver them

 

[Matt Man]

I don't see how warping is possible in these cages because the bathtub floor is plastic, and moisture will just collect and eventually evaporate. My truly, truly moisture dependent sp are fossorial, and I won't keep them in an acrylic enclosure for their final rehouse. I plan on putting 3 pokie slings in these enclosures once they mature more.

When i kept my P Met in an acrylic Tcribs, I never really wetted the substrate too much. I just keep a large water dish, but they are a hardy bunch in general. But if I noticed them spending more time near the dish I trickled a bit of water, but nothing excessive. I had my P Met in the front opening Tcribs and that was a royal pain in the butt when I rehoused her. But luckily there was no warping.

That probably won't work for many OW arboreal's though. But maybe people who've had success can chime in. You have to find the proper moisture balance because I think over time any acrylic will be susceptible to some level of warping.

If you type in your browser "Thrive brand acrylic enclosures" you should find more info
Let me clarify my 1st sentence. The bottom won't warp, but I don't think the sides would because moisture isn't collecting. But not sure on that one

Warping with acrylic is always possible. As soon as you have 2 different moisture gradients on each side of the material you are open to warping. Acrylic on walls (Art) will warp from the frequencies created between wall and art.
For our Acylic Wall Art we use Steel Back frames that are only a few inches smaller than the print so they float mount and the frame mitigates warp.
There are multiple things one can do to mitigate, but typically all of them are outside "Budget Friendly"
1) Using Extuded acrylic over cast acrylic. Extruded Acrylic is far more stable
2) Using thicker acrylic over thinner. Most is made from 3mm, it is better to use, 5 or 6mm as it is less prone to warping
3) Keeping the cases small. The longer the surface the more apt to warp
4) Minimizing humidity differences between room and enclosures (this is tricky but can be done)

I work with the material daily, and was building my own enclosures. The problem is building good ones is too time consuming (glueing acrylic is a pain to do well) and material costs are too much to make competitive with overseas products and you are limited by the size
of container one can build. That is why I switched to making acrylic replacement lids for glass terrariums. I can have large, clear (Glass on all sides but 1, and that side (top) is art grade extruded 6mm) cases with a minimal amount of fuss

 

[TheraMygale]

It's crazy what people charge. Also, thought of ya when I was at the dollar store. Family dollar I believe. They have quite possibly the best sling enclosure I've come across for sizes .25-1") perfect design. You could go even smaller than that if you kept it minimal. It's a miniature candy jar. 2pk is $1.25. Can't believe I never spotted these but their easy to miss.

i bought some of these at michaels! They have a ton of clear enclosure possibilities. Maybe not for big species but still.

and i got these square enclosures for slings at dollorama too. And the drill beautifully. Thick and clear!

you can see a bit of the circular one in top shelf top photo. It has my k brunnipes in it. And its amazing. Drilling was no problemo.

 

[Stu Macher]

i bought some of these at michaels! They have a ton of clear enclosure possibilities. Maybe not for big species but still.

and i got these square enclosures for slings at dollorama too. And the drill beautifully. Think and clear!

you can see a bit of the circular one in top shelf top photo. It has my k brunnipes in it. And its amazing. Drilling was no problemo.

View attachment 483753 View attachment 483754

Thanks for that tip! I'll definitely be checking that out

 

[TheraMygale]

Thanks for that tip! I'll definitely be checking that out

at michaels, they sale a thick clear acrylic that would be great for haplos or fossorials. Its big and around 30$ cad and you cant use the coupon on these. Id already have one otherwise. The jewelry section has tons of acrylic containers.

 

[Glorfindel]

Arts and Crafts Stores and Dollar Stores are good for cheap containers.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Arts and Crafts Stores and Dollar Stores are good for cheap containers.

For non adults yes, I haven’t checked Dollar general yet or Walmart . All my pretzel jars for adult arboreals are gone 10+ of them .