Spiderpig Enclosures
PETG.
Every Spiderpig cube and arboreal is printed to order in PETG - a tough, glue-free shell with Clear Acrylic viewing windows and the enclosure and lid colours you choose.
Glycol
Modified PET - clearer, tougher print
Acrylic
Clear viewing windows on every build
13
Enclosure and lid colour finishes
0 g
Glue in a finished Spiderpig shell
What it is
Polyethylene terephthalate - with glycol in the chain.
PET is the clear polymer behind water bottles and food trays. PETG is that same family, modified with glycol so the plastic crystallises less, prints cleaner, and survives impacts that would crack brittle PLA - which is why every Spiderpig enclosure shell is printed from it.
In plain terms: the glycol keeps the material amorphous enough to flow through a heated nozzle, fuse layer to layer, and cool into a tough shell instead of a chalky, snap-prone part. That is why PETG became the workhorse filament for functional prints - and why we trust it for terrestrial cubes and arboreal towers alike.
Colour lives in the filament itself - not painted on after the fact - so scratches from cork, substrate, and routine cleaning stay in the polymer, not in a surface coat. Clear Acrylic windows are fitted as standard so you get a bright look at the animal without fogging the front into a plastic haze.
How we print it
Dry filament. Hot nozzle. Your colours.
PETG rewards discipline. Moisture in the spool becomes steam in the melt - weak layers, stringing, cloudy walls. We dry every colour before it reaches a printer, then print the size and finish you ordered - enclosure colour and lid colour locked at checkout.
01
Condition
Spools are dried to print-ready moisture before they leave the store cupboard. Wet PETG looks printable until a door or lid flexes - then the weak layers announce themselves.
02
Extrude
We run nozzle temperatures in the range PETG wants for fusion - hot enough for interlayer bond, controlled enough that cubes and arboreals hold their footprint and window openings stay true for the acrylic faces.
03
Inspect
Every unit is checked on the bench: lid fit, window seating, vents, and overall geometry. A shell that fails does not leave the workshop.
Why Spiderpig chose it
A closed box has different rules than a phone case.
Keepers need cleanable walls, secure lids, clear viewing, and materials that will not soften under a modest heat mat. PETG sits in the narrow band where that is realistic without tooling a factory mould for every size.
Windows
Clear Acrylic as standard.
Every terrestrial cube and arboreal ships with Clear Acrylic viewing faces - display-case clarity for ground hunters and climbers alike. No mesh-or-vent panel upgrades, no extra cost line for a clear front.
Colours
Shell and lid, chosen separately.
Thirteen finishes - Black, White, Yellow, Grey, Green, Blue, Purple, Red, Brown, Orange, Magenta, Lavender, and Oak wood. Match them or contrast them; the pigment is in the PETG, not a coat that flakes into the water dish.
Husbandry
Wipe-clean for years of use.
Substrate fines, water splash, and spot-cleaning happen for years inside a habitat. Mild soap and water are the standard ritual - nothing exotic required to keep a Spiderpig shell presentable on the rack.
Mechanics
Lids and edges that take a hit.
PLA is easy to print and easy to crack. ABS fumes and warps on open benches. PETG takes lid loads and the occasional drop from a bench edge without turning the enclosure into scrap - which is why glue stays out of the build.
Against the alternatives
Why not PLA or ABS?
Both print. Neither earns a permanent seat in a Spiderpig habitat the way PETG does in our workshop.
PLA
Easy. Brittle.
Beautiful for prototypes and display stands. Softens earlier under heat, cracks under lid stress, and has no place as a multi-year enclosure frame.
PETG
The Spiderpig choice.
Tough interlayer bond, workable heat class, low-odour print profiles, pigment in the polymer, and a shell that pairs cleanly with Clear Acrylic windows - without styrene fumes in the workshop.
ABS
Strong. Demanding.
Needs enclosed, filtered printing and fights warping. Excellent for some engineering parts - not the calm, open-bench material we want next to a living collection.
Living with Spiderpig
Care is simple. Longevity is the point.
Clean your shell with lukewarm water and a soft cloth. Avoid harsh solvents and abrasive pads that can haze PETG or the acrylic windows. Keep strong UV off the enclosure for long stretches - like most polymers, PETG prefers indoor light to years of direct sun.
Printed to order means your size and colours stay on file. If you ever need another of the same build, we can print it again without waiting on a mould shop.
Layer lines on a Spiderpig print are honest. They are not a defect - they are the record of how the part was grown. Many keepers leave them as-is; others find they disappear visually once cork, foliage, and substrate are in place.
Printed for keepers
Order the enclosure. We print the build.
Every Spiderpig shell is printed to order with Clear Acrylic windows and the enclosure and lid colours you choose, then packed for rehousing day. See the path from checkout to your rack - then pick a cube or arboreal.