# Custom Bearded Dragon vivarium...:S



## GeckoTim (Feb 1, 2010)

PICTURE HEAVY!!!!!!!!!
hi all i have finally decided to start building my first ever custom vivarium for my bearded dragon zeus:










i did some shopping around for some cheap vivariums and came across two 4x2x2 vivariums on reptile forums classified section for £50 for the 2 of them:










i was going to join them to make a big 8x2x2 for my 3 beardies but due to issues at home i will be giving up 2 of them and keeping zeus.

right to start off with i toke the top of the vivarium off, and gently easing the nails out of the back so its open topped to make things easier to work inside the viv.

i then lined the inside of the viv with space boards from b&q:










these come in packs of 4 and should be more than enough to do the viv it costs £18.98 a pack.
as you can see iv lines the back, sides and floor with the space board:










after studying alot of other peoples viv designs on here and looking at beardies natural habitat i decided to get the knifes out and chop up the space board. (ANY KIDS THINKING OF DESIGNING A VIVARIUM PLEASE ASK FOR YOUR PARENTS HELP WHEN USING KNIFES) 
These are the results of spending 2 hours with the knifes, space board and pendulums new album, lol

Zeus got curious and had too check out what i was doing.... 










as you can see it got quiet messy.....




























and with some spare space board i decided to make a calcium dish and salad bowl for zeus...










when i next get some time i will be sticking everything down and securing everything in place ready to be grouted.
so watch this space...
all comments and suggestions appreciated...
cheers Tim


----------



## Avpl (Nov 13, 2007)

Looks excellent! Cant wait for more pics :2thumb:


----------



## bry rose (Apr 3, 2010)

WOW looks AWSOME! :no1:


----------



## thething84 (Apr 26, 2010)

looks great. and ya get so into till ya have to tidy up the mess. then seem to loose interest. well thats wot i found. LOL


----------



## roddy mac (Dec 10, 2009)

wow looks great like others cant wait to see it finished : victory:


----------



## lee young (Oct 14, 2009)

Looking good, a good tip I got when makingmine was to use a lighter to melt off the sharp angled edges, its really easy and gives a good natural rock like surface, give it a whirl, its quite fun.


----------



## dimebag66 (May 28, 2010)

that looks amazing, your making me want to do it to my beardies viv


----------



## GeckoTim (Feb 1, 2010)

UPDATE
Thanks for all your nice comments.
The clear up after chopping up the space board was hard work and had to empty the vacuum 7 times. Lol
I was thinking of taking a lighter to it but iv got a mixture of smooth and sharpe edges where iv taken a bit of sand paper to it and I like the look iv got with that way.
right I have glued down the base, back and sides with super stuff no more nails, I have slipped a heat mat down one side witch can be easily reached if needs to be changed. I also glued all the edges so there's no little gaps for crickets or anything to get down. Once this is dried I will put all the ledges down.
Here are some pictures....


----------



## ollie1 (Oct 13, 2009)

Looks good! i have been tempted to use that polystyrene but its so expensive!


----------



## GeckoTim (Feb 1, 2010)

Quick update, 
Sorry I haven't kept up to date been hectic at work. Well everything has been glued in place an 4 coats of grout + adesive have been put on and so far I'm very impressed with the results. So here we go the grout was just b&qs own brand.

























As you can see it's all moulded together very well.


NEXT 
I painted the vivarium I put masking tape all round the edges so not to paint the sides. I used wilkinsons sand coloured spray paint which is quite expensive but has a really good effect and fun to use.

This is the stuff I painted it with. (this is not the coulor I used tho)









And then this is it after two coats of paint, and a epoxy resign to seal it witch is animal safe.

Re testing the temps before I put the big lad in









Big lad exploring

















And a wide picture of the whole tank. All the new lighting is due tomorrow which includes a 4ft Exo terra 10.0 UVA light strip and a solar glo 125w UVA and UVB bulb and a ceramic bulb and a pulse stat with a day and night settings and a night eye. All the lighting comes to around £150+ 










Hope you enjoy. And any questions just let us know.
I will add more pictures as Im sure il add more things to his viv.


----------



## GeckoTim (Feb 1, 2010)

*YouTube video of viv.*

Check out this video on YouTube:

YouTube - Custom made fake rock background bearded dragon vivarium


----------



## boabloketony (Jan 22, 2007)

Wow it's really good !!!


----------



## mandi1234 (Mar 13, 2009)

love it, youve done a wicked job :2thumb: bet zeus loves it


----------



## Ross150 (Oct 26, 2010)

*Looking good A quick question*

Hey

Looking great 
trying my own soon but am qondering whats the best way to glue these sheats together?

Looking at solvent free grab adheasieve? What did you use?
im trying to build the layer up to make a solid structure:-s

thanks
ross


----------



## GeckoTim (Feb 1, 2010)

Ross150 said:


> Hey
> 
> Looking great
> trying my own soon but am qondering whats the best way to glue these sheats together?
> ...


Thanks
I just used no more nails, once it's been grouted and sealed it doesn't matter what adhesive you use it's only really the sealant you gotta be careful with. If you look at my leopard gecko viv you can see where iv layered not to get a solid structure but it's the same principle.


----------



## GeckoTim (Feb 1, 2010)

mandi1234 said:


> love it, youve done a wicked job :2thumb: bet zeus loves it


Zeus is a happy chappy but I'm planning a new one soon using slate at shelves and floor because on this one his nails don't get worn down.


----------



## pyromaniac (Aug 15, 2011)

Well impressive mate.. ive been searching for a while now to find some way of making my own rocks and things and you've just showed me exactly how its done..

Awsome thread.. i'll be checking out one to do my self soon i think.. 

Keep up the good work


----------

