# First Build - Rainforest Jungle Theme



## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

With a Suriname BCC Red Tail Boa on his way this month, I decided to come up with a natural habitat style background for his new 4x2x2 vivarium.

Having never made anything like this before, I spent a LOT of time on here, checking out and bookmarking numerous threads, to work out which method would suit me best.

I finally found this incredible build:

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat/350345-terrarium-contruction-step-step-jungle.html

And it inspired me to use expanding foam and silicone, as compared to the more generic polystyrene - grout method. I figured the foam would give a more natural, forest-y appearance.

I trundled off to B&Q to get myself some 3mm hardboard to build onto, instead of building straight into the vivarium. This way, if anything went wrong I wouldn't have ruined a nice new vivarium and could scrap it or start again.

I also went through a lot of reptile shops and aquatic shops in the local area to source bits of cork bark. Most reptile shops and online stores charged ridiculous amounts for this stuff, but I found a nice little Aquatics shop which had awesome deals on it, and managed to use the January sales to my advantage in the local reptile shop.

With the hardboard cut to the right size, the vent holes cut and the cork bark ready, I went ahead and started to apply the expanding foam to the hardboard, pressing the cork bark into place and holding it down with heavy objects such as the excellent new book by Jamie Oliver...



















These are the two back pieces which were to be joined together later. I was unsure at this stage if I would build over it and make it one piece, or have them as two removable pieces.



















Once they were completely dry (takes about 2 days to be rock solid) I went ahead and filled in the rest of the gaps. This ended up meaning that the back piece was just one single entity, so that solved that problem!




























When all of this was dry, I flipped the hardboard over and cut away the excess at an angle. The reason behind this was to make sure the background would press really firmly into place in the viv, to avoid having to fix it permanently. The angle was shaped a few times until it fit perfectly.



















At this point, it looked like this, sitting really tightly against the back wall.



















More to come!! Next step: Adding plantation soil to make the background look less arctic, and more amazon.


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

So. The background was ready for attaching the Plantation Soil at this point. I was going to use Eco Earth, but couldn't find any when I went to get it, and this stuff looked identical. It works in the same way - soak in water, dry it out in the oven for 14 weeks, and glue it on!

To begin with, I decided (foolishly) to use a PVA water mix to glue everything on. Neil Buchanan made it work on Art Attack and he's a god, so surely it must work, right?




Wrong.

Looked like this when I started...



















And when I went back two days later to see how it had stuck, it looked like this...



















So. Back to the drawing board. Most other sensible people were using brown silicone, so I gave that a go! I wasn't sure at all how to spread it (we all know how hard it is to spread Nutella. Add glue to that, and you'll get the idea)

HOWEVER. A wet knife seemed to do the trick. I kept a glass of water by the side, and dipped it in every time I spread some. The silicone went on, followed by a firm pressing of Plantation Soil. Unfortunately I got carried away at this point and forgot to take pictures. (P.S. Don't forget to put down lots of newspaper. My OH wasn't particularly chuffed with the new carpet. Personally, I like patches of dried silicone and mud, but hey ho. Each to their own.)

This is how it looked once the silicone and soil had been applied.



















At this point, I decided to start work on the side pieces. These were just more 3mm hardboard pieces cut to fit the sides. Instead of using foam on these, I recruited my OH and we layered silicone and soil straight onto the board. I was slightly worried that it might look a bit flat, but with the random amounts of soil and silicone it looked perfect.

Here it is, half completed










This is where my creative flow took over. I took a trip to the local Model Railway shop, and got a load of fake grass, moss and lichen to glue to the bark to make it look really natural and alive.

The grass or "flock" went on in exactly the same way as the soil, with thinly spread silicone, and pressed straight in.



















The vent holes were lined with silicone and the grass flock was pressed into these, to make them look a bit different to plain brown soil.










Once this had all dried and the loose bits were brushed off and hoovered, I started with the lichen. This stuff is amazing - looks exactly like the real deal, feels nice and soft and fluffy and was glued on in just the same way.

This is the packet of lichen in case you're wondering:



















And how it all looked once the lichen was glued in.




























Looked a bit of a mess at this point, but the next installment - how it looked in the viv, with the side pieces might amaze you!! It certainly amazed me!


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## judy (Feb 12, 2009)

wow looking great!
cant wait for the next step!


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

So here's the background piece installed in the vivarium.










The huge log was screwed in at both ends to provide the perfect branch for my boa to exercise on, and of course there are the obligatory fake plants to give it some depth.





































The probe for the dimming stat was pushed through a hole that I drilled through the back wall, and out of the front of the foam background. A small green tag was tied around it to prevent it from pulling back out.














































We had a willing volunteer to try it out before my boa arrived, and here are some piccies of the OH's little Rainbow Boa exploring!














































(Don't worry about the heat lamp - of course it will be guarded before any snake lives in there!)

What you can't see is the UV strip light installed behind the upper glass rail at the front of the viv for day lighting. There is also a green LED strip to highlight the greens and make it look more "jungle-y"

The thermostat is a Forttex ATC-120 which can control both the heat of the vivarium and the UV strip's on/off times.

Hope this all made sense, and you enjoyed my little step-by-step! I'm quite chuffed by it, considering it's a first build! Just a shame my boa will probably out-grow it in a few years and I'll have to do it all over again in a 6 footer!


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

judy said:


> wow looking great!
> cant wait for the next step!



Cheers!!


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

WOW!! See anyone can make a background and this is a great example!! Very natural, using natural materials and it brings the viv to life. :no1:


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## PhilipM111 (Dec 6, 2010)

hey,

that looks really nice 

what kind of substrate/flooring will you use?


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

I'll be using orchid bark, or a mix of orchid bark and coco husk. Not entirely sure yet!


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## quizicalkat (Jul 7, 2007)

brilliant!:no1:


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## sambridge15 (Nov 22, 2009)

gorilla glue would have made your job alot lot easier:lol2: it seems to be replacing silicone in the dart keeper world and when it comes to this sort of natural thing there a million miles ahead!

from what I under stand its like a cross between expanding foam and glue 100% safe easy to use easy to spread cheaper and less stressful....have to keep it in mind for next time :2thumb:


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

sambridge15 said:


> gorilla glue would have made your job alot lot easier:lol2: it seems to be replacing silicone in the dart keeper world and when it comes to this sort of natural thing there a million miles ahead!
> 
> from what I under stand its like a cross between expanding foam and glue 100% safe easy to use easy to spread cheaper and less stressful....have to keep it in mind for next time :2thumb:


I'll bear it in mind! I just enjoy the "csssooooooooorrrrrrr" you get when you use a can of expanding foam! Plus it looks dead natural once it expands.



Becky Wheeler said:


> WOW!! See anyone can make a background and this is a great example!! Very natural, using natural materials and it brings the viv to life.


Cheers Becky! Lots of your builds were very inspirational, and just the way your vivs look once it's all done made me want to move away from boring old plain vivariums!


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## sambridge15 (Nov 22, 2009)

Willz0r2010 said:


> I'll bear it in mind! I just enjoy the "csssooooooooorrrrrrr" you get when you use a can of expanding foam! Plus it looks dead natural once it expands.
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers Becky! Lots of your builds were very inspirational, and just the way your vivs look once it's all done made me want to move away from boring old plain vivariums!


you use the glue over the foam in place of silicone:lol2:


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

Ahh. You said it was a cross between expanding foam and glue!

I might use it next time, but branded stuff is always more expensive. I was using proper cheap discount-store items for this one!


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## jlbyron2000 (Sep 20, 2010)

Looks really great! Would love to have the patience to put that much work in!


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

This is how it looks with the UV light added and running.


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## Stotty (Nov 2, 2010)

Nice work looks amazing :notworthy:


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Looks smart!! :no1:


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## sambridge15 (Nov 22, 2009)

Willz0r2010 said:


> Ahh. You said it was a cross between expanding foam and glue!
> 
> I might use it next time, but branded stuff is always more expensive. I was using proper cheap discount-store items for this one!


iv never used it from what i understand it does expand a little bit but seems to be totaly replacing silicone in the dart world due to price and ease of use !


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## Evie (Jan 28, 2008)

Willz0r2010 said:


> So. The background was ready for attaching the Plantation Soil at this point. I was going to use Eco Earth, but couldn't find any when I went to get it, and this stuff looked identical. It works in the same way - soak in water, dry it out in the oven for *14 weeks,* and glue it on!


Did you really dry it in your oven for 14 weeks or is this a typo? If so your local takeaway must have been minted!!:lol2:


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

It was neither a typo or serious... it was a joke =P That stuff does take AGES to dry though. It was in the oven in two separate oven dishes at 200*C for 2 hours, and only the top layer dried. I had to stir it all up, do it again for 2 hours, and repeat three more times!


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## Evie (Jan 28, 2008)

Willz0r2010 said:


> It was neither a typo or serious... it was a joke =P That stuff does take AGES to dry though. It was in the oven in two separate oven dishes at 200*C for 2 hours, and only the top layer dried. I had to stir it all up, do it again for 2 hours, and repeat three more times!


Thank god for that - It looks awesome and I want to copy the idea!


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

Awesome! Good luck, if you have any questions just ask!


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## Evie (Jan 28, 2008)

Willz0r2010 said:


> Awesome! Good luck, if you have any questions just ask!


 Cheers - will do


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## snakeskinshoes (Apr 6, 2010)

Looks great that mate.. I was going to make an elaberate jungle set up with a false floor and a stream but I have afew boas and not much time unfortunatly, If I had one boa just as a pet id love to make a set up like this :no1:


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

Ahh cheers dude! A stream is going to be my next project! It's a shame that boas get so big that elaborate designs tend to get destroyed fairly quickly!


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## Brandan Smith (Nov 17, 2010)

looks goooodd


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## Darth_Vandal87 (Mar 2, 2008)

wow great setup love the idea of the cork bark fixed onto the back panels with the eco earth lichen and flock grass great build thanks for sharing


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## Barlow (Sep 23, 2010)

Looks amazing. I just hope you sealed the back of the hardboard with yacht varnish. I did something similar for my water dragons and after 18 months the whole lot fell away from the backboard due to moisture from behind.


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

Oh joy. Can't wait for that. Rats.


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## ginna (Jun 2, 2009)

looks fantastic , i like the idea of sticking lichens on the bark , never thought of that


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## snakeskinshoes (Apr 6, 2010)

Willz0r2010 said:


> Ahh cheers dude! A stream is going to be my next project! It's a shame that boas get so big that elaborate designs tend to get destroyed fairly quickly!


Streams not too difficult to do aslong as your viv is big enough for the pipe work lol


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

Just thought I'd update this thread with a couple of pics of the Bcc it was intended for enjoying his new home!

Seems to have settled in quite nicely I think.


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## lfields85 (Jan 7, 2010)

Your back ground looks amazing:no1:, i'd love to try something like this.
Probably a silly question but how do you clean it with out wearing away the soil?


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## motorhead (Dec 5, 2010)

nice boa!!


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## TrueBlue (Dec 15, 2011)

I'm really sorry to bring up this old thread but i just wanted to say that this is an absolute inspiration. 
I think your selling this viv, either that or there is someone that is selling two vivs that have been set up in this exact way.
I'm currently in the process of trying to transfer all of my vivs (8 in total) to bio active substrates and now I am going to do this as well!
It'll probably take me months to do them all as i have a feeling its gonna be a one at a time jobby lol but gonna be well worth it.
thanks for the inspiration.... me, my snakes and anyone that visits my house are grateful


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