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Building a new enclosure

beardie_love

Bearded Dragon Egg
3 Year Member
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711
Okay so my aunt gave me this antique (I think it's antique) display case. Lucky me, it's pretty much built already, so I just have to do the detail.

I have a problem though. The shelf in it does not pop out. How can I take it out without wrecking the whole thing? My only thought is to cut it out with a jigsaw, veeeeery carefully.

But, I ran into another problem. I was talking this over with someone, and he said that if I take the shelf out, the whole thing won't be stable. It's going to wobble because it won't be supported. I may have found a solution. The same guy told me I can just put thicker wood (because the backing on it is reeeeeeally thin wood) and it should be stable, if I took the shelf out. Any ideas?

I also thought about it, and I was thinking to keep half of the shelf in. The part of the shelf that's gona be removed will be a ramp to go to the bottom. The halfway point of the ramp will be the basking spot. Reason for being the basking spot, is that the fixture I bought will be way too close, and the dragon might burn itself.

Here are some pics:

Here it is with the stuff in it that I'm going to be using..... minus the big piece of wood. There is a 36" fixture with the uvb bulb, and just a regular fluorescent bulb. And there's an outdoor floodlight fixture that just plugs right in.
DSC01182.jpg

With nothing in it:
DSC01185.jpg

DSC01186.jpg

And my current beardie tank will just sit on top of it:
DSC01183.jpg
 

Craiger

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Hey Mel!

Replacing the backing with some thicker wood will certainly help with stability. Specifically, not allowing any left to right movement (when viewing from the front or the back). This will allow you to remove the shelf without any adverse affects.

It looks like it'll make a very nice beardie home. Especially with the sliding glass already installed!
 

beardie_love

Bearded Dragon Egg
3 Year Member
Messages
711
Craig!! It's nice to hear your voice again... I mean see your typing. ;D LOL

Will I have to take the backing right off? Or can I just put the extra wood over it?

Craiger said:
It looks like it'll make a very nice beardie home. Especially with the sliding glass already installed!

I'm just glad I didn't have to install the tracks and glass myself! ;D And, the only thing I've ever made out of wood was a stool.
It's wobbly. LOL
 

Project1

Bearded Dragon Egg
3 Year Member
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8
does the shelf just set in there its not screwed to it or anything? if so i has no support purpose. anyway i would just take that thin wood off the back and cut a piece to fit the back and leave it off and predrill/ cut holes you need for lights and what not then attache when done.
 

staylor

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You can leave the shelf and make a ramp to go up there and have the basking area on the shelf.
 

beardie_love

Bearded Dragon Egg
3 Year Member
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711
Project1 said:
does the shelf just set in there its not screwed to it or anything?

The shelves are... dowelled? It is that how to properly say that?

staylor said:
You can leave the shelf and make a ramp to go up there and have the basking area on the shelf.

Can't. The light would be way too close if that shelf was the basking spot.
That's why I said:
beardie_love said:
The part of the shelf that's gona be removed will be a ramp to go to the bottom. The halfway point of the ramp will be the basking spot. Reason for being the basking spot, is that the fixture I bought will be way too close, and the dragon might burn itself.
 

Project1

Bearded Dragon Egg
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beardie_love said:
The shelves are... dowelled? It is that how to properly say that?

hmm well they might do something support wise.. well you could either do a 1/2 inch and up piece of plywood for the back or if you want to keep the skinny piece in the back you could do 2 pieces of 2x4 vertically or even just one 2x4 diagonal theres prob a 100 ways to make it sturdy again
 

Craiger

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I agree with Project that a 1/2" piece of plywood covering the entire backing would suffice for full structural support. I can't imagine those dowels providing any. They're likely just inserted into drilled holes in the sides to hold the shelf at that level.

And thanks Mel. It's good to be getting back to a bit of normalcy. :)
 

staylor

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beardie_love said:
Can't. The light would be way too close if that shelf was the basking spot.
That's why I said:
beardie_love said:
The part of the shelf that's gona be removed will be a ramp to go to the bottom. The halfway point of the ramp will be the basking spot. Reason for being the basking spot, is that the fixture I bought will be way too close, and the dragon might burn itself.

Ahhh missed that part.
 

beardie_love

Bearded Dragon Egg
3 Year Member
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711
Will do guys, thanks.

Now, is jigsawing that shelf the best way to go? Or are there other options?
 

Project1

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depends how clean you want it to look.. if its only glued to the dowls i would try to get a hack saw blade in there and cut the dowls if possible but theres prob a better way maybe a dremel with a cutting wheel
 

zebraflavencs

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So only cut out part of that shelf.. I did something similar with a china cabinet, also doweled in. I had all the lighting internally, so removed part of the shelf that was too close to the basking light, and relocated that part lower down, as a basking site. Oh, I used 1/4 round trim as the support (nailed into the side/back) and placed some ceramic tile (not sealed) to radiate the light/heat. It worked nicely, until the dragon in question outgrew the enclosure.
Hope this helps.
 

beardie_love

Bearded Dragon Egg
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711
Hmm I wonder if I have that dremel tool.

So when the shelf is cut out, I'm still going to have part of the dowel in there (since it's glued in the wall, I'm assuming). How can I fix that to make it clean looking?

Janie, how did you cut out the part of the shelf ?
 

zebraflavencs

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Lemme show you...
IMG_0046.jpg


This is the over all of the china cabinet refit to enclosure I did for Yardley.

TheCastle4-13-09.jpg


The top shelf I removed, and raised to make the battlements and basking area.
It originally sat on dowels... I merely used 1/4 round with a flat side against the back wall, and a flat side facing up to make the new brace for that shelf to sit upon.

The second shelf became the ramp...
Hope this helps.
 

beardie_love

Bearded Dragon Egg
3 Year Member
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711
zebraflavencs said:
I merely used 1/4 round with a flat side against the back wall, and a flat side facing up to make the new brace for that shelf to sit upon.

Could you please explain this to me, Janie?
 

Pogie

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OK I know Im not Janie, but I get what she says. Will try to put it into words . . .

Take pieces (cut to correct lengths) of quarter round wood (Usually used where your floor and walls meet. Has a curved side with 2 straight sides at 90 deg angle). It has the following shape

OK so I went overboard. In the pic, it shows the side and bottom panel of the VIV with the position of the quarter round. It will make a ledge for the shelf to sit on and be rounded at the bottom so it cant harm the BD, and looks nicer than a square piece of wood.

Quarterround.jpg


This is what you meant Janie ??? Hope so otherwise Ive just made a complete ASS of myself . . . LOL
 

beardie_love

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711
Oh okay I understand! Thanks, Monique, for drawing it out LOL. I needed that. But Janie, I'm wondering how you actually cut out the shelf ?
 

zebraflavencs

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Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh... I used a hack saw... Took out the blade, and wrapped it in a cloth at one end, then went to work... Took more time, but I was able to slide that blade between the wall and the shelf, and cut the glue and the pegs...
Hope this helps.
 

Craiger

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zebraflavencs said:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh... I used a hack saw... Took out the blade, and wrapped it in a cloth at one end, then went to work... Took more time, but I was able to slide that blade between the wall and the shelf, and cut the glue and the pegs...
Hope this helps.

They make hacksaws like that with a handle. ;)
 
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