# 4 Viv stacker



## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Not much habitat stuff going on.. so I thought Id post a pic of the viv stack just after I built early last year, it was still in its temp testing stage at this time  it doesnt look so nice now with paper substrate and flowerpot hides 

They are 3ft, and it worked quite well with the small light bulbs at either end..


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## exotics 4 me (Feb 16, 2005)

looks good to me,and all the room you save,i go around peoples houses and they have viv everywhere in singles,think of the electric bills :lol:


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## chocolatecolubrid (Apr 1, 2005)

Love the setup! Giving me ideas....! Can I ask a stupid question - why do you have the heat bulbs on opposite sides as the tank below - wouldn't that mess up the whole thermal gradient thing? I'm just paranoid and not meaning to insult your setup or anything cos I think it's class, just wondering if I've missed out on something!!! :?


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

I did that to spred any heat from the light bulbs up through the stack.. however, I use tiny little 15W bulbs and they produce very little heat through the floor of the viv above (I think they might have been 25W bulbs in the pic)... just seemed to work out right with the cooler end just being slightly warmed. I didnt realy need much heat produce by the bulbs as the vivs are located in the snake room and the temps always stay at constant level anyhow


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## chocolatecolubrid (Apr 1, 2005)

AHHHHH :idea: That's that sorted in my head then!! :wink:


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## hellyskelly (Apr 22, 2005)

I have to build something like this as we have to split our snakes as now they have been sexed we have females and mails together.
Can I please ask about the dimensions of each viv and what this is built of especialy the back as it looks different from the rest
Yours gratefully
Helen


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

They are 3ft long, not sure of the other dimensions without checking... made of melamine (conte?) board and sealed with aquarium sealent. The backboard is not ideal as its hardboard, but its the sort that is coated on one side to make it water resistant. The back needs to be made of something thinner than the melamine board realy with a viv stack, its pretty heavy stuff.


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## ReptileResort (Jul 25, 2005)

Nice vivs m8 i have a 2 stacker viv but i used hard board coated and covered it again with a laminated background but hardboard is sound 
and it looks good to me


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## CanIFeedItCats? (Aug 19, 2005)

How on earth do you post pics in your posts?

I was going to put a little one of my new vivs on here but for the life of me I can't see how to do it.[/img]


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## CanIFeedItCats? (Aug 19, 2005)

http://pub42.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=81318&usernum=3561341975










http://pub42.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?usernum=3561341975&img=81324

The images seem to only display sporadically so I have included the links to the host site.

Here is the top one of my two vivs. The bottom one is identical so you aint missing much by not seeing it.

I can't get far enough away to get them both in shot!

The snake is the female (Kaa).

The viv is a work in progress. At the moment it is all function with no form but that will change over time.

For anyone that is interested, it is made predominantly from 12 mm MDF (about £12 per sheet at B&Q) that was then coated in pva solution to waterproof it. (PVA is non toxic and does a very good job of keeping the water out of the wood once it has set)

It is screwed together rather than glued but it is sealed. I had to do it this way or I would have never got it in the house and it wouldnt go out again if it was glued.

The water bowl is a standard washing up bowl and is big enough for the boas to totally submerge themselves as they choose. I have built a box and recessed the bowl so that the snakes can't knock them over as there is something like 15 litres of water in there and that is gonna make a mess if it gets spilt.

In the front top right corner is a 100w Ceramic heater with a wire guard cage. A 47" heat mat is under the substrate and lino and the box with a pretty cover is another 125w ceramic heater with reflector. I chose to use wood for this guard as it is at ground level and I was worried that a metal cage would heat up too much and the snakes may lay on top of it and burn them selves.

The house is just another box affair but only has 2 sides with a cut out on each and the back edge is screwed to the back wall. It is raised about an inch above the floor level to allow for the substrate.

In the house box there is a cat litter tray (£1.25 from QD) filled with 400 grams of Saphagem moss to keep the humidity up.

There are 4 vents in each tank which are just small press in (although these are glued as well for safety) recessed ones that came from a specialist fixings manufacturer at a cost of £0.30p each.

The substrate is beech chip.

The glass is 6mm float glass with polished edges and a hole drilled for the handles which are secured on with a rubber tap washer and a metal washer on the back side of the bolt. The handles came from Jewsons and were £1.99 per pair (they are cupboard handles)

All told (excluding the heaters and stat etc) the actual vivs cost me about £130 each to make.

Considering that they are 6 foot long, 3 foot 6 inches deep and four feet tall I thought that this was a bit of a bargain!!!


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2005)

Those look like well constucted and very well thought out vivs.In fact i think i may pinch a couple of your ideas when i build the full size viv for my burmese  

The female looks like a very nice snake.How long did you say she was?


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## nicky (Jul 13, 2005)

woo, nice lookin viv.....


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## nattyb (Apr 9, 2005)

some nice work there dude


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## bigp (Apr 24, 2005)

spot on bud.

orchid bark is good for humidity aswell.


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## CanIFeedItCats? (Aug 19, 2005)

The female is just under 7.5 feet and the male is just under 6.5 but much "thicker" and stronger.

Feel free to use any and all of the ideas that I have used here. Its why I posted them. I was reading somewhere else in the forum about people getting ripped off with the prices for stuff for reptiles. With a little thought you can save yourself a small fortune.

We should start a thread like those womens mags have of handy hints where people can list the obscure items that they have found and use to do certain jobs.

Tomorrow, I am going to rip most of the heating things out and put in a 500 watt panel heater. It will attach to my stat and should give me a single heat source that will allow me to adjust the thermal gradient more accuratly. Haveing my heat sources dotted about the place like they are doesnt seem to help with this.

Panel heaters are £34 in argos if anyone is interested and it should be more than sufficient to heat my viv.

Check out the price of an equivelant powered reptile heater!!!!!

They are only 2 cm thick too so putting a cage round them is fairly easy and because they do not give out the infra red heat like a ceramic heater does, I can use a chicken wire cage as the metal wont get hot.

Whilst I am giving away my secrets, I also have an unusual set up with regards to the stats. I have both tanks running off one stat for daytime settings and both tanks running off another stat at night for the reduced temps and no lights.

This means that both stats are powering an 8 gang extension lead. I got the idea for it after looking at Microclimates new digital thermometer which costs £160+

My power switched relay with associated bits and bobs cost me under £10 and it works a treat.

I am also going to be experimenting with some different forms of cold lighting for the moonlight effect. If anyone is interested in any of the stuff that I have detailed here and wants more info or would like me to make one for them, please feel free to PM me.


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## Andyman (May 16, 2005)

Great viv, gr8 snake! Nice one :wink:


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