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Need an Enclosure? Buy or Build?

I've built my own enclosures and I've bought my own enclosures. There is no one answer about which is better as every situation can be unique.

If you need a 4x2x1 enclosure: Don't bother building. The Animal Plastics T8 goes for 150$ and is an excellent and durable terrarium. These cages are light weight but made with a very strong plastic and are the best value I've been able to find. Note that some plastics are cheap and has lots of air in them, so not all plastic cages are a good value, but APcages are very good, both strong and light weight.

If you need a slightly taller cage, boamaster has a 4x2x19" cage for around 140$ but it is made of melamine and it is very heavy as a result. However, the cage was easily assembled and has worked well for me.

The same disadvantage applies to most homemade cages. They are usually made from plywood or melamine. If properly created and sealed, they can be functional and safe, but they will remain extremely heavy. I have more recently seen cages built from home depot plastics, but be aware that many of the plastics available at home depot have lots of air and are very, very flimsy. Home made cages can be attractive. I've linked one I made myself.

In this design for a pair of lizards, I used plywood and drylock as the sealer. Drylock is a good sealer but creates a rough texture that is difficult to scrub clean, so I probably wouldn't use it again and would use paint and a water based sealer like polycrilic or a bar top epoxy. I've used polycrilic in my plywood racks and it works very well and creates a cleanable surface, but be advised that you do want to use several coats to create a really nice, thick seal that will last. It can also be applied over paint, but as it covers the paints, make sure the paint has cured and stuck to the wood first.
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