Screen House

[fortran42]

Here is a picture link for a Screen Enclosure i made yesterday for my african stick mantis. It was a 2 hour sewing job and a bit of a pain But he/she sure likes all the room..been climbing the walls(literally)! Sides/top are standard fiberglass window screen, floor is 70d cordura coated nylon, 7" zipper on top. Also had to make a wire frame to hang/support the sides. I already had the materials so it was just a matter of putting it together.

http://www.flickr.co.../in/photostream

 

[sporeworld]

Nice work. I have a similar one with the PVC on the inside.

I always thought a design that essentially unzipped in half would be good for cleaning. Any reason you put the zipper on the side, instead of the side or bottom...?

 

[Bryce08]

very nice...the square is much better than the round ones! i like it

 

[Rick]

Looks good.

 

[fortran42]

Thanks for the replies. In hind sight i should have put the zipper on one of the side panels which would have allowed a much longer zipper for better access. I am considering making a much lighter weight version out of no-seeum netting/coated 2.2oz nylon floor with full length side zipper. we'll see..gotta come up with an easier frame!

 

[sporeworld]

Yup! And with a side zipper, you need to decide if teh flap folds UP or DOWN. With flies as food, I prefered UP, as I could sneak my hand inside from the bottom, and avoid a mass exodus of BB's! With crickets, I did the opposite.

You'll still need to clean the mesh every few weeks, so keep that in mind when planning any branches or decorations in the enclosure.

I also put wax paper on the bottom to make cleanup easier. I also started HANGING the plants from the top, so the whole bottom could just sweep right out. AT one point, I used a tin pan (the kind used for catering) that fit almost exactly into the bottom. Man, was that easy! Also, depending on the species, you can clean out the bottom, with all the nymphs hanging from the top, take the entire enclosure outside, and geeeeeently hose or spray it down (with warm water, ideally).