Yo what's going on SerpaSquad, Tanner here!
I'm not alone though, I've got my new friend here, which is a Praying Mantis and more specifically
a Ghost Mantis.
I've had it for about a week now and it's just been living in a temporary home ever
since.
As I'm sure you could guess though, I've got to get it in an awesome setup.
So in this one, I'm going to show you just exactly how I did that and I think you're
really going to like it.
So let's get right into it.
I'll primarily use glass to build this enclosure.
I picked up a few pieces of 3/32” Thick Sheets from HomeDepot.
They were about $3 a piece.
I cut these down to various dimensions based on the adult size of the mantis.
Typically you want the enclosure to be at least 2x wider and 3x taller than the mantis
is long.
This will give them adequate room to molt as they grow.
As I'm sure you'd expect though, I took the liberty to go slightly larger than that.
There will be plenty of decorations and plants, so the extra space will compensate for any
loss.
As usual, once all the pieces were cut out, I sanded the edges and rinsed them off to
remove debris.
I ended up with 6 pieces of glass.
The back, left, right and bottom are all consist of individual pieces.
The front however is composed of three pieces.
One for the top, one for the bottom and one for the middle, which is the door.
I taped everything that will receive silicone.
After that, I applied it to the appropriate locations and constructed the tank.
I've shown this in other videos, so I won't explain in detail.
If you want to learn more though, I'll link up a video that shows the process step-by-step.
The only difference with this one, is how the front is built.
I only attached the bottom piece at first.
This will make it more rigid for when I add the remaining piece.
I applied silicone to the inside, smoothed it out and removed the tape.
I let it cure for a few hours.
Then I added the last piece of glass.
I taped the door on the front first.
I left a small gap between the panes.
And attached the top like before.
I let it cure overnight and gave the tank a test run.
The door fits perfectly and appears like it will work well.
The remaining elements will be made with wood.
For that I have a few Square Dowel Rods and an old Planter Trellis.
I'll start by making the door mechanism.
I marked the pieces and cut them out by hand.
These ones will dictate how the front is designed.
At first, I cut them to the total height of the setup.
Then I cut them into thirds to account for the opening.
I'll use the trellis to support the sides.
I broke it down, cut the pieces to size and sanded them down to restore the look of the
wood.
The top and bottom pieces of the door mechanism will be attached to these.
I glued them together, wiped off the excess and clamped them down while the glue dried.
Then, I removed the clamps and taped the wooden pieces to the front of the tank.
This allowed me to account for the remaining boards.
I processed them like before.
Since this tank is so small, it made sense to use Neodymium Magnets to keep the door
closed.
I marked the pieces accordingly to indicate where the magnets should go.
This will only work if they're embedded in the wood, so I drilled a shallow hole for
each magnet.
I removed the adhesive backing prior to attaching the magnets.
It typically doesn't work well for applications like this.
Then, I filled the holes with super glue and put the magnets over the opening.
It'll be a snug fit, so I used a wooden block and hammer to embed the magnet.
This isolated glue splatter and kept the magnet from clinging to the hammer.
Now the pieces lock together with the power of magnets.
With that addressed, I went on to stain the wood.
I used a gray stain, which is pretty subtle and accentuates the natural character of the
wood.
Since the setup is so small, I decided that it didn't need sealed and that stain was enough
to finish the wood.
I let the stain dry and then I went on to secure the boards to the glass.
I applied silicone along the boards and clamped them down.
I secured the front and back boards first.
After the silicone dried, I went on to add the rema ining pieces like before.
You'll notice that the side pieces on the top have magnets embedded in them as well.
More on that later.
I also attached the boards to glass door.
In doing so, I made sure the magnets on the right were oriented in the correct direction.
Once the silicone cured, I removed the clamps.
At this point, I decided the enclosure should have a back.
For that, I stained a piece of plywood with a dark stain and siliconed it to the glass.
After that, I went on to attach the door.
Thankfully, my measurements were spot on and everything fit perfectly.
I picked up Mini Hinges and Other Small Hardware from Hobby Lobby.
I attached three hinges to left side.
Since the screws are so small, I didn't have to pre-drill the holes.
I also put a tiny handle to the right side.
Here you can see how well the door works.
As for the top, I decided just to glue a piece of Window Screen over the wood.
I did the corners first to make sure the piece laid flat.
Then, I went back and glued down the remaining sections.
This secured it in place quite well.
Now we can go on to make the canopy.
This will be a simple piece that's made of just a few boards.
I cut them down on the table saw to match the dimensions of the tank.
I applied glue and used various clamps to hold them together.
After that, I put a piece of plywood down inside of the structure.
I glued a few of the square dowels from earlier along the seams.
This will secure it all together.
I also added wood putty to the top to account for inconsistencies.
Once everything dried, I went back and sanded it.
Here's how it looks on top of the tank.
I like how it turned out a lot.
Remember those magnets in the top pieces from earlier?
I'll use those to hold the canopy in place.
I transferred the measurements for those onto the underside of the canopy.
I used the markings to install the magnets like before.
I also want to add a few holes on the sides.
This first one is on the back and it's for all of the wires.
I added a few more for airflow.
Two large ones on the back and three small ones on each of the sides.
Here's a closer look.
Like the other pieces, I finished it with gray stain.
I also painted the inside with glossy white paint.
The paint itself will help preserve the wood.
I went with glossy white to reflect more light down into the living space.
Regarding the lights, I got these Linkable Mini LED Puck Lights.
When I purchased them, I thought I may be able to get away with just one.
I ended up needing four to get proper coverage.
The light kit also included a guide to mount the lights.
This made my job way easier.
I put the guides down and added screws.
The lights were installed accordingly.
The kit also included these sticky cord clamps.
I used a few to keep thinks tidy.
For the sake of good air circulation, I got this Mini USB Fan.
It's a perfect size for an enclosure this small.
I'll use a few Eye Hooks and Zip-Ties to install it.
I marked for fan near the center of the canopy.
I secured the eye hooks accordingly.
I fastened the fan onto these with zip-ties.
I have it situated to where it blows air down into the enclosure.
Finally I did some cord management.
There you have it, the soon to be home for my Ghost Mantis.
It's a decent size and I can't wait to show you what I have planned for the inside.
Stay tuned for next week's video to see what I'll do.
Initially, I wanted to do it all in one video, but the enclosure build ended up being more
involved than I anticipated.
The interior will also be fairly complex, so I figured it made sense to do it in two
parts.
I don't know about you, but I really like how the enclosure turned out.
I found that this was a really easy way to create a front opening enclosure with few
elements being visible on the viewing portion of the setup.
These techniques could easily be translated over to a vertical conversion as well.
Depending on you animal, you may need to drill holes in the side for cross ventilation though.
Anyway, I can't be happier with this and I can't wait to show you more.
I'm also very excited to introduce this mantis to the animal room.
It's already fairly large, so we'll most likely only have it for a month or two.
That's alright though, we could always get another.
Let me know what you think of it and the enclosure.
Until next time, take care and peace!