Alternative containment latches, locks and hinges.

[The Snark]

Quality double stick tape Velcro. The same velrco that they attach wrestling and gymnastic mats together.

As for adhesion to glass, acrylics or metals, or in my case right now, to flaking and chipping painted wood. Clean surfaces thoroughly with acetone. Use caution on acrylics as it can cloud the material. Then coat the surfaces with good old super bonding wood glue. Rub a thin uniform coat in firmly and allow to dry completely. Then apply the velcro again pressing firmly.

How well does it work? I have an aluminum screen door that has no hinges. I treated the painted wood door frame and the aluminum as above and attached the velcro as a hinge, planning on getting a new door in a few weeks with hinges. I went to remove the door this morning. Getting the velcro off the aluminum I ended up bending and twisting the metal out of shape. On the door frame the velcro came off in little bits and pieces and I'm looking at spending most of the day with a chisel removing the left behind remnants.
As for the durability of the velcro, it's obviously stronger than the hinges on the new door a month of continual use later. As for a precision fit, absolutely no problem. Fit the door into the frame where I wanted it and the velcro compensated and allowed for minor adjustments.
Strong closure? I think it would be even odds going up against a python.

Extra strong adhesion, instead of double stick tape, get the non adhesive velcro and use one of those adhesives they glue frame members and laminates together on wood ships or that deadly glue they used to attach the ceramic tiles to the space shuttle. (Get it on you, use the recommended solvent immediately or resign yourself to having a new skin).

 

[Dry Desert]

Quality double stick tape Velcro. The same velrco that they attach wrestling and gymnastic mats together.

As for adhesion to glass, acrylics or metals, or in my case right now, to flaking and chipping painted wood. Clean surfaces thoroughly with acetone. Use caution on acrylics as it can cloud the material. Then coat the surfaces with good old super bonding wood glue. Rub a thin uniform coat in firmly and allow to dry completely. Then apply the velcro again pressing firmly.

How well does it work? I have an aluminum screen door that has no hinges. I treated the painted wood door frame and the aluminum as above and attached the velcro as a hinge, planning on getting a new door in a few weeks with hinges. I went to remove the door this morning. Getting the velcro off the aluminum I ended up bending and twisting the metal out of shape. On the door frame the velcro came off in little bits and pieces and I'm looking at spending most of the day with a chisel removing the left behind remnants.
As for the durability of the velcro, it's obviously stronger than the hinges on the new door a month of continual use later. As for a precision fit, absolutely no problem. Fit the door into the frame where I wanted it and the velcro compensated and allowed for minor adjustments.
Strong closure? I think it would be even odds going up against a python.

Extra strong adhesion, instead of double stick tape, get the non adhesive velcro and use one of those adhesives they glue frame members and laminates together on wood ships or that deadly glue they used to attach the ceramic tiles to the space shuttle. (Get it on you, use the recommended solvent immediately or resign yourself to having a new skin).

I have found that nothing beats good old Araldite.
Equally as strong as concrete when set.
I also found that velcro looses it bound in the presence of humidity, not wet, just humid conditions, as we have plenty of here in the UK.

 

[The Snark]

Araldite.

I've never encountered that before. Life under a rock.
I've got the perfect velcro humidity test! My wife's studio blinds adhered with the stuff to wood and mortar with it right next to her evaporative cooler. That thing consumes 2 liters of water an hour. I can hear her already: "Why are you tugging on the blinds?"

 

[jrh3]

I definitely wouldn’t use velcro on a tarantula enclosure due to the fact of stressing the tarantula every time you rip the Velcro apart. It would probably work really well in the reptile hobby for snakes and such.

 

[Kada]

Except that it is glue based, and velcro, by nature, rips and stresses the glue bond every time it is opened. Although it still stresses, a sewed in velcro would be more trust worthy. But even the, the thin backing will still inevitably stress enough that the strings break through(as with clothing).

I prefer purely mechanical large physical locks, rather than chemical binding ones onto surfaces. At least in my experience, every single time the "glue" based styles always fail over time. Metal locks that have prongues wrapped through holes never fail.

 

[The Snark]

Except that it is glue based, and velcro, by nature, rips and stresses the glue bond every time it is opened.

That is why I mentioned the wood glue. It provides a slick bonding surface for film adhesives or tapes to adhere to, think glazed ceramic tiles, or can be roughed up with sandpaper providing an ideal surface for other strong glues like epoxy. Controllable porosity.
But if using Walmart or equivalent ordinary double stick tape all bets are off. 3M industrial duty or similar please.

You would probably want to give velcro a miss if housing Tokay geckos. Watched one last night that managed to get the tip of it's nose between hardwood slats then just powered it's way through. Those slats defeat birds, rats and squirrels but hardly slowed the geck down.

 

[Dry Desert]

That is why I mentioned the wood glue. It provides a slick bonding surface for film adhesives or tapes to adhere to, think glazed ceramic tiles, or can be roughed up with sandpaper providing an ideal surface for other strong glues like epoxy. Controllable porosity.
But if using Walmart or equivalent ordinary double stick tape all bets are off. 3M industrial duty or similar please.

You would probably want to give velcro a miss if housing Tokay geckos. Watched one last night that managed to get the tip of it's nose between hardwood slats then just powered it's way through. Those slats defeat birds, rats and squirrels but hardly slowed the geck down.

That must be the " bite and never let go " ones..
Beautiful creatures though..

 

[The Snark]

That must be the " bite and never let go " ones..

Cement head belligerent wall crawling battle wagons. One managed to get a chomp on a small rat about twice it's girth and length above our bedroom window. For close to an hour every 90 seconds or so, a banging rattle sound as it shook the rat. Found the rat's head on the carport floor the next morning.