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bigJME
Hatchling
125 Posts |
 Posted - 26/04/2012 : 20:31:37
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hey guys, so my corn snake is coming up to 2 years old now and he is getting rather big now, he's just over 3ft long now. He has a 36" Vivexotic vivarium but he is being an absolute pain. I have a strip of LED's in plastic trunking built for the tank with 25 10mm blue LEDs which he absolutely loves. As the viv isnt very high he has a habit to climb all over the lights because the LEDs stick out around 8mm and he is just too big for it, he tries to lie across them and constantly falls off them. I have brought him some vines to climb over, a large and small which are wrapped together to make a higher climbing area, though still not as high as the lights.
Now he just climbs on the vines to help him get up to the lights  so i think he needs a taller viv now, i was looking at making a viv the same size as the larger Vivexotic vivs. I have been researching on the internet and finding some materials, everyone has said contiboard but its really expensive for the size of the sheets. I am going to be using Clear Polycarbonate for the doors as i can have a set of 3ft x 2ft x 6mm doors for £19.31 each which isn't too bad for the doors cut to size. Which for those that don't know, polycarbonate is what they use for bullet proof glass as its 290x stronger then glass
lots of people have been saying they have brought 8' x 6' sheets of material to use but i cant find anyone saying what material they have used, and what they have used to stop the humidity effecting it. I have a micro-climate AHS so i will be using that which should be find for the viv size. Any ideas on materials and if its worth it please let me know. Others have said to use the normal 36" vivs and stack them, I would need to buy 2 however and then the doors so its almost £160 for the 2 vivs to add to mine and the doors which is rather a lot, for that price it allows me £120 for wood to use, i was also looking at making the viv out of twin-wall polycarbonate which is 10mm thick and not too expensive to have cut to size, have seen some use it for treefrog vivs but never for corns.
If any has any pictures of any using polycarbonate twin-wall for the main viv frame i would be thankful and help will be greatly appreciated
Regards,
Jamie |
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sue2012
Hatchling
United Kingdom
391 Posts |
Posted - 26/04/2012 : 21:47:27
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| my mate just made a viv for his corns its 3ft tall 4ft long and 2ft wide but he has split in in half so each snake has a 4ft long 2ft wide and 1.5ft tall viv (if that makes sence lol) he used ply wood that he got from b&q they cut it all to size for him as well and the hole lot cost him £65 |
1.0 Caroliner - Ozzy
1.0 caramel
Bloodred - Damon
0.1 sulfor - Stella
0.1 moonstone - letti
1.0 lavender - tazz
0.1 amber opal - salt
0.2 cats buffy & narla |
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bigJME
Hatchling
125 Posts |
Posted - 26/04/2012 : 22:00:57
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i was looking at about the same but it was going to be;
3ft wide
4ft tall
2ft deep
but i may change it to a bit bigger like below but im not sure;
4ft wide
4ft tall
2ft deep
i priced it up and it was much more then that. do you know what thickness ply he used etc.? i found most use 18 or 15mm thick but found it bloats with the humidity so needs sealing well, the actual shape i wanted is the same as the picture i have included below, with a divider in the middle of the 2 door areas that i can remove if i want to make one large tank or keep in if i want another animal in the top section
http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/5263/vivarium.png
using url because the image is large, if your friend has any pictures of his it would be appreciated and give me some ideas |
Edited by - bigJME on 26/04/2012 22:49:49 |
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a2c7
Hatchling
United Kingdom
320 Posts |
Posted - 27/04/2012 : 09:41:57
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I've just copied and pasted this from my other thread:
I found out I can build a 4ft viv (1220x500x500mm) for ~£50 with materials from B&Q. B&Q very helpfully provide glass shelves which are 600x250x6mm or 'thin' versions slightly cheaper so as long as you make the gap in the middle for the glass 250mm you're set!
It works like this: 1x B&Q £17.48 MDF @ 2440x1220x18mm. 2 x B&Q glass standard shelf (£10.48) or 2x 'slim' glass shelf (£7.48). Glue + screws ~£10, Runners ~£5 from ebay. Vents - you can get these cheaply on ebay as well. You can even get the kind people at B&Q to cut it all for you, if you pay them whatever it is per cut just found out B&Q do 15 free cuts per customer - can post up the plans if you want but this is where I got the idea from : http://www.therainbowboa.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=90
p.s. just realised my calculations don't involve sealing the wood, but I have yacht varnish currently kicking around so I didn't need to factor that in - there are plenty of posts around all the forums about sealing MDF and they're not expensive methods.
With MDF YOU HAVE TO SEAL IT. That mofo will buldge to the tiniest drop of water. You could do the same with some plywood - they've just got some nice stuff in B&Q (Saw it yesterday) which was ~£25 for the same size as the MDF I was looking at. |
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Edited by - a2c7 on 27/04/2012 09:44:53 |
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a2c7
Hatchling
United Kingdom
320 Posts |
Posted - 27/04/2012 : 09:43:37
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| Please note though you can get a vivexotic 4ft for £75 with free postage online. I'm not advertising any shops in particular but I got mine from seapets at that price and it arrived a week after ordering all in correct shape and size. |
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bigJME
Hatchling
125 Posts |
Posted - 27/04/2012 : 10:51:24
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I know j can but for my height i would need 3 of them, and if im willing to do that i may aswell buy the tall 4ft vivexotic tank for £210
Sorry that i couldnt find that post, i spent 3 days googleing what to use and didnt find anything on sealing, clearly i needed to google more. The doors i need to my own sizes, i know i can get already cut glass but the top doors are much taller thrn the bottom so i would have to order cut to size
the MDF sheets you brought are only £17.48 now and the ply of the same size is £28.85
MDF - http://www.diy.com/nav/build/timber/sheet-materials/mdf/length_2400mm/MDF-Board-L-2440-x-W-1220-x-T-18mm-9276268
Plywood - http://www.diy.com/nav/build/timber/sheet-materials/plywood/softwood_plywood/Temperate-Softwood-Ply-Structural-L-2440-x-W-1220-x-T-18mm-9276280
so i think the MDF is a much better option for money wise, i'd need around 2 sheets i figured out, need to draw up the cuts for them all later to check, but if i can get the entire thing done for ~£35 as i have glue, nails etc. and would just need the doors and runners. i will check what other shelf sizes they sell aswell as they may sell ones roughly to what i want that i can change my design slightly to accommodate
edit: just quoted up the doors the same size as the shelves from B&Q, its £0.60 more for polycarbonate cut to the size thats shatter proof and much stronger and lighter. So i think the polycarbonate is still the best option for strength & weight vs cost |
Edited by - bigJME on 27/04/2012 13:27:50 |
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bigJME
Hatchling
125 Posts |
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a2c7
Hatchling
United Kingdom
320 Posts |
Posted - 27/04/2012 : 17:40:37
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One thing I'll suggest with the poly is that it can be flexible...if you've got a cunning snake (or just a big one) it'll be able to flex the polycarbonate and escape!
With the MDF people have suggested using acrylic sealant/spray varnish and various others. I personally would use yacht varnish (and have seen a fair few others who do) which set me back ~£15 from B&Q. That stuff is the most water proof of waterproof. Coat your wood in that and then line the edges of it with aquarium sealant. MDF buldges like a ...bad word here... so you really want to avoid that to ensure your viv lives as long as possible. Once you've used the yacht varnish it you'll want to leave it to air for a week or more - I've got some downstairs which hasn't quite had a week yet and I can still smell it.
I think that thread I linked to above suggests using fake wood sticky stuff (veneer, but waterproof) to seal it - that might be a good idea, but I doubt it's as cheap as a coat of yacht varnish, it would end up looking like 'real' wood as well. |
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Edited by - a2c7 on 27/04/2012 17:45:15 |
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a2c7
Hatchling
United Kingdom
320 Posts |
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bigJME
Hatchling
125 Posts |
Posted - 27/04/2012 : 17:59:56
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yeh i found that thread, the stuff is cheap but doesn't really explain the sizes, only tells you the width and not length lol
i have been looking at the poly because i cant find anywhere that will make me some glazing for anywhere near the price, my snake loves to climb and tries to open the doors but he is only little. I chose 6mm because it is rather thick so hopefully wont bend, plus the largest runners i can find are 6mm
what do you use for your doors? are they cut to size and if so where do you order them from?
And this is the stuff you use isnt it?
http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/paint/woodcare/exterior_woodcare/-specificproducttype-exterior_varnish/Ronseal-Yacht-Varnish-Clear-1L-11348552 |
Edited by - bigJME on 27/04/2012 18:16:46 |
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a2c7
Hatchling
United Kingdom
320 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2012 : 14:51:16
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Sorry I missed this reply :S I've used that exact yacht varnish - you can get cheaper versions and I assume they all do the same job.
Doors wise I was planning on using the glass shelves and would build the MDF to fit them. You can get runners on ebay to fit all sorts of size glass or wood so that's not a worry. I've not actually built mine yet, but I have used the yacht varnish to seal things. Currently working on decor for a 4ft vivexotic, but have plans to make one of my own in the near future.
(I've got all sorts of DIY experience from growing up with a Dad as a DT teacher who was always building something or other!) |
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a2c7
Hatchling
United Kingdom
320 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2012 : 14:52:05
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| I should note : the glass shelves listed in my original plan post are not used as shelves but as doors! |
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bigJME
Hatchling
125 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2012 : 10:02:52
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The glass shelves would be fine for the bottom doors but not for the top being of it being around 2ft tall. If i have the glass cut for the top it will cost me ~£100 where as the poly doors are only £50 :/ unsure what to do now, i priced the entire viv to £120 with poly including the sealing etc. And only an extra £10 for the runners which is much cheaper
I may build the frame and then wait on the glass, give myself 2 weeks to find whats best to use while the mdf totally seals and the varnish fumes go |
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mkmattyk
banned
United Kingdom
837 Posts |
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a2c7
Hatchling
United Kingdom
320 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2012 : 10:27:58
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I'd go with the poly - A lot of self build vivs do use it sucessfully. I'd maybe be tempted to put some kind of lip on the sides of the viv to stop it from being pushed out when it was shut - a stiff piece of plastic for example that sits flush with the vertical sides where the poly is housed.
I'm not sure how hard polycarbonate is compared to acrylic, but you can bend acrylic easily. I'm guessing since they make riot shields out of the stuff it's got a degree of flex but not bend to it.
Also as mkmattyk suggests above maybe there are some glass shelves that'll be useful for you? |
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Edited by - a2c7 on 02/05/2012 10:28:47 |
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bigJME
Hatchling
125 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2012 : 22:40:34
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I will be sure to check out those glass shelves in a second. And i may have like an outer boarder in the from and the poly seated inside the tank itself so theres a 2 inch lip all the way round or something. I know the mdf and varnish will do fine. We do have a bit and from the looks of it some 12mm would do the job, will have to see if b&q sell it and what the price difference is. im going to have to have a support of some sorts in the centre because of the width and height it may begin to sag a little
Edit: couldnt find any doors large enough sadly, the largest doors are 574x606mm so rather large. Also i have found some comments about using poly for viv doors from the place im looking at buying it from
- We bought the perspex so we could turn an old three sectioned wardrobe into a set of vivariums. The plastic served for the sliding doors at the front of the vivariums
- I used the plastic for my vivariums for my reptiles, for 4mm thick its very sturdy and solid.
ive also found some people actually building entire vivs out of multi-wall polycarbonate which can be seen here;
http://www.theplasticpeople.co.uk/cut-to-size-multiwall-polycarbonate-opal-bronze-p-275.html
this is too expensive to use though but demonstrates the strength roughly |
Edited by - bigJME on 02/05/2012 22:59:42 |
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a2c7
Hatchling
United Kingdom
320 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2012 : 12:45:11
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| Looks like it's all coming together now! Good luck with the build, show us pictures when you're done and of your snakey faces appreciating their new homes. |
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bigJME
Hatchling
125 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2012 : 13:11:37
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Only got one and he's hard enough to please, i will build the viv and order the bottom.doors, because their shorter they shoupdnt be as flexible, be a couple of weeks before i can afford it all sadly
Ooo and i think i will follow what you posted on the other build thread your posting on, i will be sure to paint it see if i can get it to look abit nicer, wonder of a black viv would work with the varnish to make it look a little like gloss
hmm just found one thing i never contemplated..... this viv is going on the 3rd floor of my house and the floor isnt exactly brilliant. Need to check the weight this will be because if its too heavy it may ruin my plans  |
Edited by - bigJME on 03/05/2012 15:42:57 |
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a2c7
Hatchling
United Kingdom
320 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2012 : 16:56:09
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What do you have on the 3rd floor? I considered that as well..but since we have a whacking great TV (old fashioned one), a sofa, two desks with PCs, the TV unit and two people in this room all the time I concluded that three vivs which weigh ~30kg each will be fine. Got two here stacked at the moment - know they weigh 27kg flat packed each. (They're 4ft VX48 vivexotics)
The yacht varnish I use and you linked to earlier does have a colour to it, a brown colour (think yacht decks), if you put that over black you'll get a glossy, deep finish that I think would look quite nice and professional. Check whatever paint you're planning to use won't be damaged by the varnish - I used acrylic under mine and it's fine. When I put the varnish on white grout it came out yellow/brown in colour. |
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bigJME
Hatchling
125 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2012 : 17:30:23
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| 3rd floor is a bedroom as it has been converted. Right now it has 2 wardrobes, 2 beds, 2 tellys, my 36" viv, my pc which takes 2 people to lift! a set of draws, my paintballing equipment including gun, bottles etc. so theres a lot of stuff up there |
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a2c7
Hatchling
United Kingdom
320 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2012 : 18:17:43
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| If it takes that + people up there your vivs should be fine, maybe position them on a more sturdy piece of floor as the inhabitants are sensitive to vibrations and a wobbly floorboard could peeve them a bit. ....how heavy is your PC?! Is it a server or something?! |
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Possible Vivarium Build
