Check out our clamping system. The lumber was very green, and the grains were deflecting our wood screws and throwing off the alignment big time. So we clamped each stud in place and predrilled the holes. Lots of extra work, but it was well worth it!

Look at that smile!

First wall completed!

Here's the underside of the floor. Later on, we'll drill drainage holes.

First wall, staged and ready. Yes, we added "Drywall nailers." Not for Drywall, of course; we just didn't want any gaps.

Both side walls staged and ready.

Both sides and rear walls, staged and clamped and ready to screw into place!

Clamped and ready!

Quick little break.

Ta-Da!

All four walls staged and clamped and ready!

Chillin'

Where ya shoes at, girl?

Zoe on the Mitre Saw.

Cut it, girl!

Long hair should be in a bun when working with electric tools. This is a serious safety fail!

Almost through it!

Door framed in.

Barefoot and cool as ice cubes in the habitat frame.

Who da man?
You da man.
No YOU da man!

Dad holding what will become the doors, with his tank top and dorky safety goggles.

Come on, mark it already!

(One more second, Dad!)

Zoe marking what will become the door while Dad holds it in place.

Zoe takes her time marking the board.

"Almost done, Dad!" (Tee-hee-hee)

Dad, still holding.

A cloud passes overhead...and Dad is still holding. (sweat forming on upper lip)

This is Dad's DIY circular saw guide. Use one of these when the cut needs to be "smooth as a baby's butt." The doors need to have tight clearance all the way around, so we indeed needed a precision cut.

Look at that saw guide, baby!

Tucking that saw foot into the groove of the guide. The guide does no good if you don't hug it!

Yes, Dad. The camera is rolling.

Finally! Dad's starting the cut.

Still cutting...

"Oh give me that thing, Dad!" Note how Zoe has the right side of the saw foot hugging that guide.

Now that's the way you make a cut,
smoother than a baby's butt!

The door (soon to be twin doors) shimmed in place.

Check out the tight clearance! Held in place with door shims, checked for equal clearance all the way around.

View of the tight clearance from the inside of the habitat. See the tip of the shim in the upper right corner? Now das' tight!

Bottom left corner of the door, soon to be doors.

Time for the door stops.

Dad staging the top door stop.

Another angle of the door stops.

First hinge installed. The secret is to get those hinges on without even so much as breathing on that tight spacing we so painstakingly set up. And no, we haven't yet cut the door in half to make two doors. (Huh?) Just wait for it. You'll see.

Right side hinges installed, and no, the door won't work until it's cut in half. Trust me on this!

Ta-da! My non-working doors. (Man, I hope Dad knows what he's doing here...)

So that was the plan! The hinge holes will insure the doors go back on precisely as they were. So when Zoe cuts the door in half to make two doors, there will be exactly one saw blade's width gap between them. Genius!

Left door on. (*Gulp* I hope this works...)

Aaand the right door's on. (But will they close with a nice tight clearance?!)

I don't know...should I try closing them?

Boom! Doors move freely but with clearance so tight a mosquito couldn't escape the habitat!

*Sigh* Drilling out 24 drain holes using the latch bit of a door saw.

Still drilling drain holes. And of course Dad had to plot them out so they're evenly spaced...like anyone will ever KNOW!

One side down, one to go.

The doors will be essentially screen doors, so we need to cut out the inside edges. Dad planted the front of the foot on the line, then slowly lowered the whirring blade through the board, then cut it down the line. 4 cuts on each door.

Trying to capture Dad lowering the blade through the board.

The blade is almost all the way in...and I'm realizing...DAD'S NOT WEARING HIS SAFETY GOGS! That's a worksite foul.

We decided to try Flex Seal on this project. Dad wanted to start with the underside because he's never used Flex Seal and wanted to test it in an inconspicuous area.

Flex Seal is AWESOME! It goes on really thick, then dries to a semi-ridgid rubber coating, almost like plyer grips.

We finished several coats of Flex Seal, so now we attach the dirt walls. See, this will be a natural habitat, like a planter except for snakes. Rain (and snake poo and pee) will simply soak into the dirt and drain out.

We decided to mount the dirt walls above "grade." This will protect the bottom of the main frame from water and provide a little starter grip for when we move this heavy son of a dog!

Another blue print change mid-build. We wanted the dirt walls on the outside of the frame to give our pets more space inside. But on the front wall, the base of the door frame would create a blind hiding space. Feeling around for snakes without seeing their moods and reactions is a sure way to get our fingers nipped. So we decided to mount the front dirt wall on the inside.

The Flex Seal is tedious! Dad wanted gravity to work for us in a lot of places, so we could only paint one side, after which we had to let it cure overnight! RRRrrr!

*Sigh* Yet another coat.

Wow. Another coat.

And another...

And yet another...

When I woke up this morning, Dad had installed some screen. Yay!

See how he painted the screen black? He says that will drastically reduce glare, making it easier for us to see in and our snakes to see out!

He also did the top. (Those stupid Banyan berries are all over our yard!) The roof is screen because we want the habitat as close to nature as possible. In nature, snakes enjoying crawling around in the rain. And so rain will fall right through our screen roof, soak into the dirt, then out the drain holes.

Dad unrolling the screen. Note how he's pulling it off the TOP of the roll. He hooks the stubborn leading edge over the table, then unrolls it and presses it as flat as possible.

Dad explaining how to unroll and flatten screen. Come ON already!

That screen is stubborn, but not as stubborn as Dad.

More screen flattening...

And MORE screen flattening.

We cut the stray edges off first so that every screen edge in the habitat is a run of smooth wire rather than a line of pokies.

We use tin snips to cut the screen. Dad did most of the cutting because it requires a brutal grip!

Go Dad Go!

Cut it baby cut it!

Now das' what you call cuttin' up!

Go Daddy. Go Daddy.

You can do it!

He had to hike his knee up on the table to hold down the screen!

Don't give up, Dad!

Getting close...almost there!

After the piece is finally ready, Dad "breaks its back" over the table edge, trying to get it as flat as possible.

Dad slides the screen, back and forth, flips it around, slides some more, working out the curves.

That screen is so stubborn! It doesn't want to be flat.

Now he's touching up the edges. This is so that the screen walls don't dip in or out, but are flat as possible.

Okay alright, Dad!

RRRR! Now he's bending it the other way. Says he bent it too far the first way.

Dad. Please.

(Do you believe this guy?)

ZZZzzzz.

Finally! And I gotta say, that is one flat piece of screen!

Okay okay! We got it. The screen is flat.

Ooh. Ah. (Eye roll.) Yes. The screen is flat already.

(Yawn)

Here's a close up of Dad cutting off those pokie ends. Every edge must be as smooth as possible. Snakes love to nose on anything unusual. Especially the hyper-curious Ball Python. We'll cover every screen edge with trim, but better safe than sorry. Besides, WE could poke ourselves while working with it!

More pokie cutting - Flex Seal depleted.

Note how Dad is cutting over a trash barrel. We don't want those sharp wire pieces floating around our yard!

Note the blade position. Right up against the wire running parallel to the snips. No sharp points.

Another shot of Dad trimming those nasty barbs.

At the bottom edge, the screen will bend 90 degrees to sit on top of the dirt wall. This method worked great for getting a straight, precise bend.

Note the screen is flipped where the wire running parallel to the "bending tool" (a square) is on top.

A shot from the other side.

Start bending, with the square snugged right up against the wire on the other side.

The square must be held firmly to keep it from jumping over the wire.

This trowel created a sharper angle and was easier to hold in place. The smooth edge of the square kept trying to slip over the wire.

In fact, the angle was so sharp, Dad took care not to actually break the wire while bending it!

More trowel bending...

This angle shows the bending technique a little more clearly.

Check it out...

The screens cut to size, fully flattened, and bent precisely, we started painting.

Note how the screen seems to disappear when it's painted flat black.

Another shot of the disappearing effect.

Note how flat we got the screen.

This shot REALLY reveals how invisible the screen looks when painted flat black! It looks like Dad is spraying the air. That's how it looked in real life, too.

Magical invisible screen. :)

Okay, Dad. It's invisible. Got it.

This one really DOES seem invisible!

Dad...

Dad snapped in the staples, then Zoe made sure they were flat.

Zoe flattening staples.

Go girl!

The commercial stapler we used works on a super strong spring. Even with Dad, holding it flat against the screen while squeezing the trigger was difficult if not impossible. That gave Zoe job securiy. Ha!

Zoe the hammer queen, seen from inside the habitat.

If Dad can do it, so can Zoe!

Spray paint nozzles are not easy to press. Notice Zoe's thumb technique.

I can make it disappear, too!

We used quarter round to secure the screen where it bends over the dirt wall's edge.

*Sigh* Dad insisted on everything being just so.

Yes, Dad; we got the shot.

This is the spray paint we used for the quarter round and later the flat trim, both of which are plastic instead of wood.

Got the door hardware on. Yay!

We really liked how the doors turned out!

Pose all you like, girl. You are a joy to look at.

Another successful Daddy-Daughter day.

God wanted to snap a quick shot, too.

We had these bricks laying around. Mom picked them up for free, but never found a place to use them. Well, we did!

Notice "Goo's" habitat. Dad and Seven (my older brother) made it out of a plastic 50 gallon drum. It will never rot or rust! Goo is short for "Iguanga Goo." He's our juvenile iguana, but of course the name is a dead giveaway. He loves his little hideout!

Zoe is one tough little lady. Not to mention capable. And cute!

A level confirmed what Dad's eye suspected: The brick base was not level. It wasn't far off, but you know Dad...

We took these shots of the base so we'd remember exactly where we placed it. Placement is crucial, you see. Reptiles need direct sunlight, but being exposed to the searing Miami sun all day would roast them. So you need a spot with mostly canapy-filtered light, but that provides short periods of direct sun. Water and shade must always be available, too.

Leveling completed at last, we started on interior decorating. Conventional wisdom is that Ball Pythons do not climb. Dad didn't know for sure, but disagreed with that theory, betting that any snake would enjoy climbing. So we made this little climbing stick.

The base of the climbing stick. Though Dad bet on Ball Pythons liking to climb after all, we opted for an angled limb for easy mounting. Thus, the end of the stick would bare a lot of weight. So we secured a wedge and the base of the limb with weatherproof construction screws.

Installing the climbing stick.

Wide angle of climbing stick installation. That big rock is hollow on the bottom, which we hoped would make a nice little hide.

Climbing Stick installation complete! The snake can crawl on at either end.

Habitat interior, side view.

Side View 2.

From outside, behind the enclosure.

Done! Now we need a snake...

After much searching, on Craigslist, we found a snake breeder who set us up with not one but TWO ball pythons!

Zoe holding the little male, Bonzai.

Does that girl look happy or what?

Zoe's little sister, Ezra, taking a turn holding Bonzai.

Another shot of Ezi and Bonzai.

Really nice shot of Ezra and our new legless friend.

Seven picking up Pauline, the female Ball Python.

Seven with Pauline. Where your shirt at, boy!?

Zoe and Bonzai.

Really cool shot of Ezra and a Ball Python!

We got the snakes on Friday, December 17th. The next day, Saturday, December 18th, Ezra would get her first degree black belt. So of course she ain't afraid of no snake!

Checking out the new digs.

Peek-a-boo!

Pauline.

Bonzai, and Pauline's butt.

So-called non-climbing Ball Python on limb.

Within about 5 minutes, our "non-climbing" ball pythons discovered the limb and played on it. In fact, Pauline shinnied up the 2x3 in the back. It was incredible! This confirms without doubt that the "non-climbing Ball Python" theory is incorrect.

Check out the new design. We found a really cool limb and replaced the old one. We also lined the water bowl half of the enclosure with rocks. This will allow easy drainage when we clean the water, which we do by blasting it with a hose. This was how Dad did it back in the 80s and 90s when he was an amateure herpetologist.

Yeah, they're digging their new digs.

Pauline about to head up the limb.

Bonzai gazing out at his back yard.

Here is Bonzai, our "non-climbing" Ball Python, pictured here "non-shinnying" up the 2x3.

Yeah, too bad these Ball Pythons do not climb...

Wait. That CAN'T be a Ball Python. Because Ball Pythons do not climb!

Yep. No climbing Ball Pythons around here!

Zoe & Dad's Ball Python Habitat Project.