Why Build Your Own Reptile Cage?

When I first started my interest in reptiles I was only young. At that stage of my life I had little or no skills and did not understand the requirements of the wonderful creatures so I did not keep them effectively. We just kept the local lizards, so the cage temperature was not an issue.

I rekindled my desire later in life but I also had mortgages, the cost of raising a family and the daily costs of living to contend with. A reptile was expensive enough, without adding the costs of retail cages and accessories. So I built my own. It saved me a lot of money.

You do need some basic tools but the money you save by making it yourself will allow you to purchase some of those tools that help make the cage. The remainder can go into accessories so that for the cost of a basic cage with nothing else you can make a cage, get some tools and the cage accessories and still have money left over. Thats a big difference.

Many people have materials about the house. If you are going to make your own cages you can save even more money by using bits and pieces or timber you may already have, screws, old glass, hinges, light battens etc. that you already have in the basement or garage.

When upgrading one of my cages recently, I was able to reuse some of the materials and the fittings for use on the new cage. This saved me having to purchase new accessories and materials.

Another benefit is the ability to maintain your own cages. Many of the plastic or moulded cages cannot be fixed once they are broken. With a cage you made yourself you can usually fix broken locks or replace doors (I havent had to do any of these yet as they are very sturdy).

When you build your own cages you decide how strong it will be and what quality of fitting, glues and materials you will be using. The higher the quality of materials and accessories you use, the better the final cage product. You are not at the mercy of manufacturers saving money by using inferior materials and poor quality fittings.

Another benefit is the ability to customise you cages to suit your purpose. One of my earliest cages was built as a normal cage but by placing a removable divider in the middle it allowed me to re-use the cage when I shipped one of the snakes out. This divider was fitted over the middle of a heat mat, allowing for two reptiles to be housed in the cage. It also had two doors. The cage is now used for another purpose but will soon be empty. The divider can still be placed back in the cage for another small snake and then simply removed as the snake gets larger. Tis snake will finally be moved into an arboreal cage. To purchase a plastic cage with divider that will only be a transient cage before the snake goes into a final cage is an expensive exercise.

If you do need to upgrade again, you have the time to build the final cage as the snake grows.

Making your own cages allows you to build and maintain your reptile cages in a cost effective manner while keeping them comfortable and healthy. You can also expand your collection in an affordable way, making more money available for the reptiles while still getting quality cages.

Mark Chapple is the Author of "How to build enclosures for reptiles." Find out how anyone can build reptile cages. Full color pictures, detailed diagrams and easy to follow, step-by-step instructions. http://www.reptile-cage-plans.com

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Displaying Your Exotic Pet

Along with the increasing availability of exotic pets online is people in need of a manner to display exotic pets. Anybody can through a reptile in an empty fish tank but is that really worthy of your exotic pet and how you want to present it to the world? Let's face it, you probably purchased an exotic pet online or elsewhere, because at least a part of you wants to be different than everybody else. So why should your pet's display be the same old thing everybody else already has?

Granted, you can buy a second hand aquarium and throw your iguana or your python in there without any real concerns for their health or safety. Still, there is just something missing when it comes to the way that most people select to display their exotic pets. An aquarium, as convenient as it may be, may not be the way to go.

Hinges cost very little and some people already have a few laying around in their garage or in a spare parts drawer somewhere in their house. Screen mesh is cheaply purchased at any hardware store and mix that with a piece of plywood and a couple of straight one by two inch pieces of wood and you have all of the makings for a custom display for your exotic animals.

Making the entire housing structure for your pet out of plywood is never a good idea for a display. This will actually defeat the entire purpose as people will not actually be able to see your newly acquired exotic pets. Make at least one side of the structure and the top out of the small lumber and wire mesh. In this way, people will be able to see the exotic pet inside.

If you want to make your exotic pet cage even nicer, you can always stain the outside and round the edges so that you have a more pleasant visual appearance on the outside of the exotic pet cage. Do not stain or varnish the inside as the varnish may crack and you may very well kill your exotic animals.

For further visual effects, you can add paintings or posters on the back portion of the exotic animal's cage. Pictures of the desert go very well for iguanas and while it may or may not actually make the iguana feel any better, it will be much more appealing to the human eye. For pythons or boa constrictors, try using a forested river scene or something else with a lot of green. Again, the actual reaction your pets have may not be noticeable but it will certainly give your friends and visitors something to talk about when they come to your house.

The size you build it may have to depend on many factors like how much work you are willing to put into it, how much money you have for parts and how fancy you want to make what you have. However, your biggest concern should be that your new exotic animal display is placed somewhere that people can see it and where it will not have to be moved a lot.

With the ever increasing popularity of finding exotic pets online, make sure that you still have something that is as unique as you are. If you own an exotic pet, you probably want to be different and maybe even a little bit better and that does not mean tossing an iguana in a second-hand aquarium.

CS Swarens is the president of Find a Pet Online. 800 998-7065

For additional information on dogs, cats, birds, horses, and exotic pets visit the internet's pet resource including pet classifieds and exotic pets for sale at http://www.findapetonline.com

Research over 430 pet breed profiles http://www.findapetonline.com/breeds.html

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DNA Paternity Testing Prices

A couple of years ago, if an average person were in need of a paternity test, they most likely wouldn't have been able to afford it. Originally, the cost was thousands of dollars! However, because of scientific advances, those same individuals can now get a home paternity test that costs a fraction of the price. Home testing is almost 100% accurate and individuals can receive the results in as little as 5 to 7 days.

In fact, there are companies which will now complete the DNA testing for less than a hundred dollars. You take the samples at your home and mail them back in to the lab for testing and results. Often times you can find companies which are partnered with labs and provide customers with free test kits. Of course, the lab testing is not free, but the kit is. In order to test three people, which is usually the suspected biological dad, biological mom and the child in question, the price will typically run from about a hundred dollars to two hundred dollars. Of course, you can always pay a fee to have your test be considered priority and completed in a business day.

In some cases, a child needs to be tested but the supposed father is either deceased or not available for the testing. There are a few options here, including doing the testing with leftover samples, such as hair, blood, bodily fluid or tissue. If these items do not exist, the supposed father's mother and father can submit samples and it is possible to determine in this way if the child in question indeed is the biological child of the supposed father. This particular type of paternity testing involves more than a simple DNA paternity test, so it is more expensive. The average price of this is between $600 and $800.

There is a difference in a Paternity test that is legally binding and a test that is only for personal use. For instance, if a court orders a paternity test, it must follow a process called the Chain of Custody. This process ensures that each procedure was completely followed to the letter from the collection to the testing and this is more expensive than a regular test also. It is also possible to do a test on a fetus that is unborn. The results are still as accurate, although there is a small risk to the mother or child and it is best to wait until the child is born. In order to perform the testing, a large needle is inserted and a portion of the amniotic fluid is removed from around the baby. This can be done in week 14 through week 24. This is probably the most expensive type of paternity test, as the doctor's fees are usually over a thousand dollars and the testing is around five hundred dollars.

Are you uncertain about your child's paternity? Do you desperately need answers but don't know where to turn? Have you considering getting a paternity test but are unsure about how they work? Well, we can help! At DNA Paternity Testing Information, we provide confidential and quality information about home and medical paternity tests. Visit http://www.dnapaternitytestinghelp.com today and find the information you need.

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