# My 5ft Beardie Natural Viv Build (Pic Heavy)



## durbans (Sep 16, 2009)

Hi Everybody,

I must've started this project months ago but I've been lazy so it's only just finished!! I was inspired by some of the viv builds and fake rock backgrounds being made and shown on RFUK, plus I was pretty bored of my previous setup, I had changed it lots to try and make it entertaining for them but I just wasn't happy with it! 

So I decided to consolidate my vivs into one stack, and make an environment which they would (hopefully) find entertaining and interesting...Details in the partially complete picture log :whistling2:

First the vivarium, thank you very much to Dave's Vivariums for building this lovely viv stack for me at a decent price! It's taken every hammer blow and drill through without a complaint :no1: The Beardie's house is 5x2x2.


Here is Mary trying out the wicker box (closely supervised!) which will eventually be a basking spot...we went with wicker because they seem to love their old wicker box...got the lights and probes in the viv to take basic measurments. And of course the grout and glue gun ready to go!










Here is the food bowl area on the cold side of the viv, I just bought lots of little lunchboxes of the same size and then dug out 2 recesses in the poly (dense loft poly - B&Q £5 - about 1ft thick) with a highly specialised tool (spoon) making sure the lunchbox fitted with a little bit extra for grout and sealant.










Heres me working on the basking-spot-to-be....once again with the thick poly. You can fill the little gaps with grout. Notice the tools being used; bread knife for hacking violently, craft knife for fine tuning, spoon for proving that there IS a spoon, cocktail sticks for sticking through stuff and a glue gun for pointing at people : victory:










This is the general layout...started the bridge but no steps yet. Lots of poly everywhere, and that :censor: squeaking noise!! :bash: It's all held together with cocktail sticks atm. I used the thin sheets of Spaceboard stuff from B&Q here, they work well for the walls and are just the right thickness, so the bread knife got a rest.










Now it's mostly glued (just gotta fill some patches), and I've nicked the log from the current viv to see how it'll look. The cactii didn't end up making an appearance in the end, too big and sharp :devil: 










A few bits were changed/added during the grouting process but nothing major. I didn't take any photos of the grouting process, not sure why, not a fun job though! I used several coats of it (Big pot of normal white B&Q grout - £10), first quite thick to cover the gaps and 'shape' it, and then some thinner coats, using water to thin it. The last couple of coats were more like paint than grout. I also had the lights on to dry it which worked very well and sped things up nicely. 

Me and this guy became good friends during this, good to see the back of him and all the polystyrene and grout! 










Now the grouting is over (finally!) the painting is well on its way, using Acrylic paint (Hobbycraft aka Hell - £15-ish a bottle - I used 2). It works well because its thick paint and dries hard so it builds up a solid layer over your grout. Again I used it fresh out the tub at first and then started watering it down. The blue walls and roof need redoing (and some clouds adding, it's all the rage thesedays), and a few more coats and it'll be all done! 









No sealant photo's either, but I used Mod Podge Matt Sealant (Calcio Crafts website, cost me about £25 total I reckon) and did the same as the grout and paint, thick coats at first and then watering it down. It's good stuff, not too shiny and non-toxic, waterproof etc basically it's everything you need in a viv. It's not readily available in the UK though :-(


Almost there, all the messy work is done. UVB has gone in (48inch with reflector) and 2 probes for a digital thermometer readout on the front of the viv are in. All tacked in and unmovable. Guards fitted. Sweet : victory: relax and smoke a zoot. :censor: I forgot the thermostat probe, so I drilled a nicely hidden hole and poked the sensor through, prefect! Back to my zoot :whistling2:


----------



## durbans (Sep 16, 2009)

Here's the viv on 'dusk mode'. As I've got 2 basking spotlights and a UVB, I'm staggering their timers to try and simulate dawn and dusk. Still needs some tweaking but pretty much there, I love it and I hope they do. Just the sand now....










Sand in, ready for glass and dragons...










Food area....










Home Sweet Home...










I don't know why that last photo looks so dark, but as you can see from the other photos it is very bright in there. I'm quite happy with how it went but I wouldn't put that bridge in the viv before grouting because it was extremely difficult to grout, paint and seal under and inside that hide. The other hide was left as wicker inside because the dragons seem to like it and it don't look half bad either : victory: 

And finally here are the little tikes...









Any questions or comments welcome, I know I did a lot of research on here before trying it and I'm [email protected] at DIY usually! Thanks to Hadesdragon's thread and the guy who made the 8ft beast of a beardie viv which I don't have the link for anymore. It's helped me learn a lot more about my beardies natural environment through research and was quite a lot of fun in the end!

Cheers,
David


----------



## bumbleyjoe (Feb 5, 2010)

Cool! :2thumb: Hope they enjoy it!!! Really need to get my arse in gear and get my viv finished! started it a few weeks ago but havent got past the first layer of grout yet! how much water did you wase to water it down for the thinner layers, the first thick layer was a :censor:!


----------



## durbans (Sep 16, 2009)

It took me a good few months to do it because it was just sat in my living room out of the way and I just did something when I felt like it :2thumb: The grouting is definately the worst bit I cocked up the first layer something proper. Forgive the measuring tools bit it was a small glass 200-300ml I guess of water to a cereal bowls worth of grout, then I used a paintbrush to apply it. You wanna get it the consistency of paint, so its not so thin it drips down the walls but not so thick that you cant do anything useful with it!! : victory:


----------



## bumbleyjoe (Feb 5, 2010)

cool thanks for the advice! Mine is sat infront of me when i sit down to relax on the sofa! i keep looking at it and think 'hmm, i should really get that sorted' but then think about how much hassel the first layer of grout was and cant be bothered! Making a few vivs at the moment which is so much easier and more fun! Did buy some paint today so am probably going to start work on it again this week :whistling2: or next week! cant wait till its finished!


----------



## thething84 (Apr 26, 2010)

might have to try the premixed grout. i am using the powder and mixing a small jar up at a time. i am finding it to be rather powdery and no all the strong really.


----------



## KaneDragon (Feb 20, 2010)

Looks sweet! 

Im hoping to do a full fake build one day...


----------



## durbans (Sep 16, 2009)

it's all about the premixed grout.....:whistling2:


----------



## Whosthedaddy (Nov 29, 2009)

Isn't the UV too far from the basking spot?

What will you do if the Beardie keeps spoiling in the basket?


----------



## durbans (Sep 16, 2009)

No, the UV tube is effective 2ft from the bulb and the basking spots and tree are about 1ft I reckon...Luckily our beardies have already found a spot in the viv to go to the loo and it's not in the basket! I was a little worried about that! :lol2:


----------



## Pendragon (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi mate,

Nice viv, but the uv "is" too far away, the max effective range for a brand new 10%/12% uvb tube with reflector is 4". Don't read the crap on the box, it's b:censor:ks. And don't let anyone on here tell you different either : victory:

The minimum amount of uvb a Beardie should be exposed to (I.M.O) is 100 uW/cm2. You will only get this at 4" or less from the tube.

If you don't believe me, this is my 36" zoo med 10% tube with a reflector.







































Please excuse the out of focus pics, trying to hold a uvb meter, a tape measure, and take photos isn't easy :lol2:

The point is though, the tape never lies, but the propaganda on the side of a box, and the crap people will tell you on here... Now that's a different story : victory:

I would move the tube to the centre of the viv (over the log) and think about adding another tube along side it, this will double the range.

Good luck

Jay


----------



## durbans (Sep 16, 2009)

Hi Jay,

Thanks for the response and comments, definately appreciated. I can tell you know your stuff - UV meters are not cheap!! I have got a spare starter and was thinking of adding a UV 2.0 bulb for maximum lux but that might have to be changed to another UV 10 :whistling2: Can't put them in the middle of the roof though the basking spots are there...will have to crank my brain into gear now...

Couple of things to mention....I had a look at UVGuide.co.uk before buying my bulbs and it seems like a pretty comprehensive compendium of UV for reps (exactly the same figures as you posted on one of their graphs, now I've taken a second look). I am wondering whether another 2.0 is a good idea to increase the lux or a 10 instead to increase UV levels. I wonder because the 2.0 will give off far more lux which also helps simulate their natural environment, but which is better, lux or uv? I'm guessing uv is more important than lux but I've heard good things about both...

Also, they were that far away from the bulb all their life (4 years) and have always been happy & healthy. Are they just very hardy in that way or is it hidden damage - like smoking all your life? I'd hate to think I hadn't done the best for them for all these years. If it's beneficial to them though, then I'll definately add it.

And lastly, without sounding like an a$$kisser (oops, too late!), I've seen your posts on here quite a bit and followed your Hoggie build (hoping to get a Hoggie soon : victory and cheers for documenting all your builds so well and being a big source of information to me and everybody else on here! :2thumb: Too complicated for me to do what with all the underfloor heating and everything. Incredibly naturalistic viv's though!

Thanks again, David


----------



## Pendragon (Dec 8, 2008)

Hey Dave,

Cheers, glad you like the viv's : victory:

I'm glad you are thinking of useing uva, there seems to be a lot of people on here saying they are going to, or have fitted a uva light in their vivs, it's good to see.

This is my Beardie viv (not sure if you've seen it befor, I don't post it much :whistling2. Though it's not the best pic to show it, I have a "natural sunlight" (2%/2.0) compact in here, it is on the left, at the end of the uvb tube.










You are correct, the benifits of uva can not be understated, but it's not the lux that counts, it's the colour temperature (degrees Kalvin) of the light, aswell as the uva that is benifcial.

To give you an idea, the lux (light intensity, or brightness) of a uvb tube is around 500 lux, for a uva tube it is around 900 lux. Now compare this to a 100 watt spot light, around 10,000 lux, or the sun, around 150,000 lux, and you can see, a 2% tube isn't that bright. The reason it looks bright is down to the colour of the light, it is around 6500K, (white) this is the colour or natural sun light on an overcast day at midday. Where as the much brighter spotlight is a much cooler colour, 3500K, (orange) and dosn't look so natural. 

So you could indeed fit another uvb tube, and then fit a 2% compact : victory:

The signs of M.B.D. aren't aways obvious to the untrained eye, (and I include myself here) and not even the professionals can always spot it. My local zoo has had a load of _Alytes_ (midwife toads) that have severe M.B.D. it wasn't spotted untill they did xrays looking for signs of M.B.D. They have had these toads for over 20 years, and as they are kept in the "tried and tested" fashion, i.e. fed with food dusted with Nutrabol and calcium powder, and as they "looked fit and healthy", and are "prolific breeders". It was taken for granted that all was well...Well all was far from well :whistling2:. All these toads, infact ALL herps at the zoo now have uvb, even the nocturnal ones. It is simply a case of, we don't know the uvb requirments of the animals in our care, so it's best to play it safe and let the animal decide, so to that aim I let my animals get as close to the uvb as "they" like, not as close as "I" think they should get.

Hope this helps.

Jay


----------



## durbans (Sep 16, 2009)

Hi Jay, thanks for the reply. The sun is 150,000 lux?! :gasp: We're fighting a losing battle here arn't we?! 

The reason I was thinking I couldn't add both UVA and UVB bulbs was because I thought all UVA 2.0 bulbs were long fluorescents like the UVB. However yours is a compact...do these still need a starter? Also, will the UVB range only be increased with 2 UVB bulbs next to eachother or can there be a space inbetween them?

Looks like I've still got a bit to learn about artificial lighting and thanks for pointing me in the right direction...love the beardie viv, I see you're using Carex grass like in the Hoggie viv, I wanted to nick that idea but wasn't brave enough :lol2: What substrate are you using there, it looks nice and solid, which is much more like their natural environment.

Cheers again,
David


----------



## Pendragon (Dec 8, 2008)

durbans said:


> Hi Jay, thanks for the reply. The sun is 150,000 lux?! :gasp: We're fighting a losing battle here arn't we?!
> 
> Nope, it is now within reach, check out the 70watt Mega Ray metal halide (I have just bought one for my crestie, check out the viv build coming soon...ish)
> 
> ...


Jay.....: victory:


----------

