Hey everyone, I wanted to do a thread on cage construction. I love the cages GTPfan has come up with (frankly I think they are the best home-built option out there for cost and simplicity) and I plan on building a few in time. In this thread I wanted to share a design I came up with years ago when I was breeding Day Geckos and figured it would work just as well for GTP’s! The build is a bit time consuming but they cost roughly half the price of similar sized all-pvc cages that are commercially available.

I’ll admit I am a total hack when it comes to carpentry so bare with me! Below are the details:

My design uses a few unconventional materials but they work great if used correctly. Basically the cage is constructed with panels made from 2”x2” pvc trim board frame and Coroplast walls. I like these materials because they have the following properties: waterproof without any additional treatments, they are cheap, relatively lightweight, and easy to work with. Coroplast for those of you who don’t know is essentially corrugated polypropylene (plastic cardboard) that is very durable if used properly. I originally used this material when I did Aerial RC combat….the stuff can take a beating! It also comes in every color of the rainbow (for this cage I used white). What’s neat about this material is that it has flutes that span the length of the material that are filled with air…in other words it’s a good insulator and will hold heat really well! Plus it’s very inexpensive…costing just $18 for 4x8 sheets locally.



Here's some of the Coroplast:

Here's some of the Coroplast:

For the door I used a storm window I purchased at Home Depot…again pretty cheap! They have lots of sizes available and since mine was on clearance I got them for $14 a pane (24”x24”). They are normally $25 a pane for that size and they come as a complete window (2 panes) for roughly 50 bucks.. They also have built in locks too! Just add some hinges and you are good to go.

The panels are made by constructing a frame out of the 2x2 pvc (again Home Depot). I dado a channel down the middle of one side of each piece to slide in the Coroplast ; which is held into place with type 1 silicone caulk….I roughen up the edges with sandpaper first to give some tooth to the polypropylene. Once assembled and glued the panels are rigid and very durable (I can’t pull them apart)! After each side has been built just throw them together!



Piece of the 2x2 with the dado groove in place as well as how the Coroplast fits into place:

Piece of the 2x2 with the dado groove in place as well as how the Coroplast fits into place:

So this one I made this week is a little bigger than a 24” cube (approx 27") and costs about 90 bucks to build with the door. There are less expensive and simpler designs to use but I like to tinker and I’m pleased with the results…



Here’s the finished product:

Thanks!