# "Under Counter" Planted Fake Rock Snake Vivarium (Picture Heavy!)



## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

Summer is here which means... VIV BUILD TIME!!

Having had plenty of fun over the last few years with viv builds, I decided it was time for one last one. I'm leaving the UK soon and am down to my last two reptiles gasp Luckily, they should both be able to stay where they are even when I'm not around, so I decided to do one last viv build...

Previously I've built the massive Fake Rock Beardie Cage:










And last year was the "Dry Riverbed" Uromastyx Cage:











This one's going to be a bit different from anything I've done previously. All of my other cages have been for tough, rugged, desert-dwelling lizards. This one's going to be a temperate cage for a Corn Snake.

It means the cage and background won't have to be so "overbuilt" to stop the lizards wrecking it, but it does also mean that things have to be a bit smoother and softer. So no more sand and resin...

It's going to be "in-built" to go under a breakfast bar and will replace the cupboard that's currently there. As it'll be in the middle of a combined kitchen-living room, it has to fit in as much as possible with the existing styles.

Typically I'd already started before I got my camera out, but it's this type of cupboard it'll be replacing:










I also want to have a plant or two in there - a quick trip to B&Q and I returned home armed with a couple of plant options, along with all of the wiring etc that I'd need for the build:










They're not "authentic" Corn Snake habitat plants (but then is a pure-white Corn Snake even "authentic" anymore...?) but should do the job. The two palm-looking ones only need water every couple of weeks and do great in shade. This means they should lose very little water through their leaves (vital when you're trying to keep humidity down), and will be fine with the reduced lighting that'll be in the cage - being a Blizzard, Ollie's albino and won't want bright lights to keep the plants happy!



First task: Replace the "solid" cupboard door with a glass-fronted one.

The shop the kitchen came from had quoted me a rather-excessive £106.00 for a glass-panelled version of the door I already had (that's more than the budget for the whole cage!!) Plus the glass would have been "smoked" or "frosted". No thanks.

Back to the drawing board for a new plan - keep the outer frame, and replace the "panel" with a sheet of glass. That way it fits in with the style of the room, whilst still giving me a large see-through front and not taking me over budget before I'd even started!

Typical kitchen doors such as these consist of a strong outer frame with a U-shaped channel on the inside. The "panel" is only thin (6mm or so) and sits in the U-shaped channel. The frame holds the panel firm, and the panel stops the frame twisting or "rhombusing" out of shape. 

I got the router out, routered away the inside "lip" of the door frame to expose the panel, then gave it a kick to break the dabs of glue which held it in place. With panelled doors like these, all of the strength comes from the panel being held in place by U-shaped channels around the frame, so only a token amount of glue is used. Once one side of that channel has been routered away, it doesn't take much to separate the panel from the frame.

With the panel out I popped down to the local glazier to get some 6mm glass for the door - whilst I was there I got a 6mm plinth to go at the front to keep the substrate in, and a 4mm sheet to cover the heat mats (more on that later)

Total cost = £19.60 


Photo showing the "panel" removed leaving just the frame:










I'm keeping the panel I took out as it'll make a good false ceiling for the cage - waste not want not and all that 










Progress so far (plus you can see where it'll sit in relation to the Breakfast Bar / rest of the room:










The final job for the day was to take the door off its hinges again, and fix the glass in place. It sits nicely in the recess where the wooden panel sat - some aquarium silicone will make sure it stays there, as well as sealing the exposed edges of the frame against any accidental splashes. 

It'll dry overnight and I'll then be able to get the door refitted to the cupboard.


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## em_40 (Sep 29, 2010)

Looking good so far :2thumb:

Goes to show how much money you save too by doing it yourself... £100+ or a door :gasp:


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## keithb (Jan 29, 2009)

Will be keeping a close eye on this mate as your build are normally first class:no1:


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

Cheers guys : victory: 

As it's (hopefully!!) going to be a low-budget build, I'll try to keep track of what I'm spending at each stage, just out of interest. I've collected a lot of stuff over the years (heat mats, fluorescent controllers, glass runners, sealants, glues etc), so I'll be able to find all of that kind of stuff and put it back into service free of charge. Stuff like that which a lot of people will be able to find lying around or stashed in cupboards won't be included in the cost for the build.


Quick update for this evening then - I've got the false ceiling built and fitted.

The top of the cupboard goes through into the cupboard next to it (the one under the sink) - I plan to use that as the main source of ventilation, and it will also let me run the wiring in from a control panel under the sink to keep the wiring tidy:










The main priority is making sure that Ollie can't get out that way, which is where the false ceiling comes in.

I took a jigsaw to the panel I removed from the door and cut two small square holes and one full-length rectangular hole. These will provide ventilation and will let light through. I decided for this build that I want all of the lighting etc out of the main cage, so I plan to have a fluorescent tube sat along the rectangular vent. I then covered the top side with fine-grade mesh (£2.99 for a sheet)

The false ceiling is then fitted on black plastic runners (L-shaped plastic channel - £3.49) to leave around 3" at the top of the viv. It sits high enough up that you can't see it when the door's closed. As there's lighting in there, I will need access from time to time - that's why it's on runners rather than being fixed. You just need to open the door and you're able to slide it in and out. To stop it being lifted, I drilled holes above the false ceiling and pushed the pins which used to hold a shelf in the cupboard in place. The black plastic runners support the weight, and the pins stop it moving upwards.

This is the false ceiling - I finished the vents in black plastic edging but it's not really necessary. I had a few metres tucked in the garage from a previous build. If I didn't already have it sat there, I probably wouldn't have bothered going out and buying it, as the false ceiling won't normally be seen:










And a view of the upper section of the cage - the frame of the door hides the edge of the false ceiling nicely, to the point that it looks like the "real" top of the cage. You can also see the type of shelf pin I'm talking about - there's one still in place in the main cage, just below the fly and it's shadow on the left hand wall:











Today's cost = £6.48
Running total = £26.08


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## Spuddy (Aug 24, 2009)

Looking good so far, want to see it finished though, Im impatient. 


Leaving the UK? Hope youre going somewhere nice. :2thumb:


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

Quick lighting test - I still need to get the wiring properly run in and the tube seated but it looks like it should do the trick!

Hopefully enough light to keep shade-loving plants going strong, without annoying Ollie's albino eyes:










I'll add more details on the lighting once it's finalised : victory:


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## IndigoFire (Apr 11, 2009)

Looking good! Its a good idea! : victory:

Cheers

Elliott


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## ginna (Jun 2, 2009)

ace thats cool


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

The light is now installed and connected to an old timer (free) in the cupboard next door to the cage:










I've got the wires tidied up and the tube itself just sits along the top of the rectangular mesh vent. Keeping with the theme of "low-budget", I used an old 18" Arcadia controller (free) and bought a standard household 18" fluorescent tube from B&Q (£3.89)



As in the top-left sketch in my plan (like all my builds, this one was extensively planned out on paper, not just a jumble of ideas in my head... :whistling2, I want the plant(s) to be sitting near-level with the bottom of the cage, probably surrounded by rocks:












Whilst in B&Q, I bought a plastic plant pot without drainage holes (very important!!) that was a little larger than the pot that the houseplants sit in (69p). This way the drained houseplant pot can sit in the larger pot which is water tight - effectively the larger pot is a very tall saucer for the smaller pot.

I then figured out the diameter of the larger pot at the top, added a few mm, and cut a hole in the bottom of the cupboard. The wastewater pipe from the sink runs under that cupboard, so I had to make sure I was near enough to the front that I wouldn't drop the hole down on top of it!












To ensure a snug fit, I added a ring of draught excluder tape (smooth and padded - and free!) around the top of the larger pot. The larger pot sits on a block of polystyrene (like the wastewater pipe does in the picture above), and the draught excluder tape makes the fit tight enough that the pot will stay put, and it won't let any substrate fall through the hole and under the cupboard:












Larger pot fitted in place:












The cage with the larger pot and a mini palm - I think I'm going to keep it at a single palm (£3.99) for now, otherwise the cage would be too crowded-looking, especially once three sides have a fake rock background:












Today's Cost = £8.56
Running Total = £34.64


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## keithb (Jan 29, 2009)

I love watching these come together, looking good too.
Now i wonder if our lass will let me try this on our new kitchen:whistling2:


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

Not a massive amount to update with - it's been a busy weekend :lol2:

I've managed to get the heatmats run into place and the thermostat fitted. I'm using a Microclimate Ministat 100 (£14.84), an old hatchling mat (free) and reusing the mat from a spare RUB setup I had - it's the same as Ollie's current mat, so once he moves under the counter his current mat will then go back with the RUB (free)











The wires are held in place using cable ties (99p) and staples (free). They'll then be covered up by the background once it's finished and fitted.

The piece of glass from the first post covers both mats to ensure that Ollie can't get in direct contact with them, even if he burrows into the substrate.

To keep things tidy, I used a single hole for the two power cables and the stat cable - like the overhead lighting, it all goes into the cupboard next door for easy access and to keep the cage clear:










The stat cable will be partly hidden by the background, then "disguised" by the plant, and the two heatmat cables will be hidden by a combination of background and substrate, so it should look pretty "wire free" when it's finished.

Today's Cost = £15.83
Running Total = £50.47




keithb said:


> I love watching these come together, looking good too.
> Now i wonder if our lass will let me try this on our new kitchen:whistling2:


Cheers - and what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right...? :whistling2:


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

Finally finished... :no1:



This is one of the sides being dry-fitted to check the wiring sits in the right place - the sides and back will cover all of the wiring:













Sides and back fitted, substrate in, plant fitted and covered with stones:






















Door closed to hide the edges of the sides:













Close up on the plant and half-log hide:













The finished viv with Ollie moved in - that's his head poking out of the hide : victory:











The total cost for the cage was in the region of £70, plus odds and ends that most keepers tend to accumulate over the years : victory:


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## YXZF (May 29, 2011)

Wow, that looks awesome. :2thumb: I don't know if i missed it or not but have you done anything to keep the door shut?

Edit: Doesn't matter now, just seen the magnets to hold it shut.


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## MarcusF (May 9, 2010)

Doesn't it make you sick with jealousy? :lol2:


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## fuzzzzbuzzzz (Apr 11, 2010)

Thats awesome  Its given me a great idea 

Gemma


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## keithb (Jan 29, 2009)

Great build matey gonna have to persuade the wife now:lol2:


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## About-Snakes.com (Aug 25, 2011)

very impressive work


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

Cheers everyone : victory:



YXZF said:


> Wow, that looks awesome. :2thumb: I don't know if i missed it or not but have you done anything to keep the door shut?
> 
> Edit: Doesn't matter now, just seen the magnets to hold it shut.


Yeah, it's got a heavy duty magnet top and bottom. Because of the glass plinth at the bottom, Ollie would have to reach up 3" or so to actually touch the door, which will limit the amount of force he can put onto it.


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## Ste123 (Apr 30, 2011)

Silly question and maybe I'm missing something here.....

You say you're moving out of the country soon so why build a vivarium in a kitchen cabinet I'n the actual kitchen lol I'm guessing you're not selling the house?

Looks great idea though and I have spoken to the wife about living on takeaways to gain a room that is perfect for. Reptile room by removing the whole kitchen lol


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