Rubbermaid Housing

Rubbermaid housing is a cage option often over looked by the average keeper, but it is a low cost and extremely effective way of housing any species. This article will lay down the basics of making your own Rubbermaid cage. Not to be confused with rack systems, these are made from big tubs placed into book shelf type setups. By following these directions you can make an effective, cheap, and fast cage for your herp.

Supplies Needed:

• Appropriately sized Rubbermaid with secure top.
• Electric drill with small drill bit.
• Thick wire mesh.
• Propane torch (optional)
• Zip Ties (optional)

Selection

Certain storage type Rubbermaids do not make good homes. They often have holes in the handle for easy carrying, look out for these. You will most likely need the kind built for indoor storage use such as sweater and shoe boxes. You need to examine all areas of the cage to be sure it is escape proof. You need a container where there are no holes when the top is placed on.

Color can be for looks or for your animal's well being. This can be a key factor in choosing your home. If you are looking for a Rubbermaid that is opaque so you can view your herps, this is a good way to go. They provide a bit more security for your herp, and allow you to view them at the same time. For reptiles who need seclusion and are very nervous such as certain kinds of geckos and arboreal snakes, you should go with a solid colored one. This gives them complete security. But be sure to provide lighting if you choose this option.

Construction

In the actual construction of this it can take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. It all depends on your reptile's specific needs, and how it will be heated. You need to decide first off if it will be heated via underneath heat pads, over head heating, or a radiant heat panel. This will determine the amount of time and energy put into a cage. For reptile requiring special lighting such as UVB, this may take a while longer.

First you need to drill ventilation holes on the side. Simply take a drill with a small drill bit, and drill as many holes as you see fit. 10 on each of the four sides is sufficient. This is by far the easiest step. Just make sure the holes are not so big that your herp can escape.

If you plan to only heat by heat pads, your work is done. Simply put in the decor, place your herp inside, and put on the top. But if you need to create over head ports for heating or lighting fixtures you will need a very sharp knife or box cutter, some real thick wire mesh, some zip ties or a blow torch.

First determine how big of an area you will need for this lighting or heating fixture, trace an outline onto the top of the Rubbermaid top for an idea. If this is a heat fixture make the area around the dome fixture a bit wider then it actually is so the heat caused by it will not melt the plastic. After tracing the outline of your fixture/s take the box cuter, knife, or whatever sharp object you have and cut this area out. In my experience it is best to have a serrated knife or saw then anything else. And be careful of where you cut, try and center your fixture to be near the center. You do not want to cut out a side piece, or severely weaken your top. And be very gentle and cautious when cutting out these holes, too much pressure will cause the top to crack. Here is an example, this would be how you'd cut out the ports for one dome heat lamp and one rectangular florescent light fixture.

After you've cut out the pieces need for your light fixture you need to take out the wire mesh described earlier, and lay it over the hole cut for your fixture. Take some wire cutters and trim the mesh down to be about 1 inch bigger on all sides of the holes you've cut. This will give you the added space to latch it down or burn it in later on. Once the mesh is cut to size you can move on to the next step.

Here you need to decide how you want to attach the wire mesh. You can latch it down with zip ties, or you can melt it into the plastic with a propane torch. Read which ever direction applies to you.

For weaving it down with zip ties (Pictured Below) you will need a drill first of all. With this drill you need to make small holes every 2-3 inches on the top. Place the drill about 3/4 of an inch away from the edge of the hole for the fixture, and drill down. Every 2-3 inches along make another hole 3/4 inch away from the hole. Do not make the holes too far out or the wire mesh will not be allowed to fit. Lay down the wire mesh on top of the fixture hole, not under. Now take the zip ties and insert it into the hole, across the mesh, and through the next hole. When you've done this you will need to latch the ties securely down. This will hold down the wire mesh.. Do it tightly and you should be done. A cross section diagram is pictured below to better explain this process.

For using a propane torch you will only need to lay down the wire mesh, and turn on the torch. Let the torch heat up, and align to mesh perfectly on top of the hole. Slowly apply the torch flame so it melts the plastic and allowed the wire mesh to slowly sink in. Hold the torch down at the top of the blue flame so it does not make the plastic blacken. When the mesh has sunk down significantly take the heat away. If you can get a friend to take a putty knife and smear the melted plastic over the mesh more that would be best. After that let it cool down, then test it for strength. This part is very time consuming but well worth it for those of you who hope for your cage to look good. We recommend you take the easier path as directed above if you do not know what you're doing. If you don't have experience, this part can be dangerous.

We hope you're happy with the results, be careful with the torch and tools. Someone could get hurt.

Next step is placing the decor inside the cage. This all depends on the type of reptile you have. But here is a wonderful example of a ball python enclosure made by the member gen.

This article merged from Reptile Evolutions. All articles & images are Copyright their respective owners, reproduced with permission.