# how much to build a viv



## martin day (May 18, 2006)

im wanting to build a viv soon a 6ft by 3ft by 2ft out of contiboard and im going to use plexiglass on runners, i was just wondering how much it would cost or would it be cheaper to get one from a shop 
thanx


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## Magpye (Jan 26, 2007)

Can't really quote you a price off hand although I'm sure some other members will be able to. Wickes - Home have prices of sheet timber that may be of help, not sure if they do contiboard but I'm sure they do MDF. 

Speaking from experience, make sure you use plexiglass with a greater thickness than 4mm as this will warp as a result of the heat of the viv - and whilst you may not notice it by looking, you will notice it when you try to slide it open and find it doesn't move with ease.

Dave.


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## Blazey (Apr 30, 2006)

Apparently wickes is more expensive than B&Q. thats what i heard anyway :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## tombraider (May 6, 2006)

is it for your tegu? You may be better with safety glass incase the tegu scratching the plexiglass to bits.


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## Blazey (Apr 30, 2006)

i never thought about that, it does scratch very easily aswell so it will start to look a bit messy after a while. You'd be better off just investing in glass.


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## Magpye (Jan 26, 2007)

Blazey said:


> Apparently wickes is more expensive than B&Q. thats what i heard anyway :Na_Na_Na_Na:



Probably is but they have an online store with prices for timber where as B&Q don't. Just thought I'd mention it incase you wanted to do the sums yourelf :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## Blazey (Apr 30, 2006)

you'd need to invest in yacht varnish aswell to seal the wood. the wood can rot if its not made waterproof and u certainly wont be wanting that.


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## BELIAL (Nov 10, 2006)

Conti board is about £15.00 a sheet that is 8x2 so you would need three bits that £45.00. (would make a small viv out of the off cuts.)

you need some backing will need 3 bits of white board at £3.00 that's £9.00. joiners to join the white board together (they use it on the back of wardrobes) about £5 for two bits.

Runners come in 6 ft bits so two of them..that £10

Vents for the back at about £2 your gonna want one top one bottom on each end....£8

aquarium sealant £5.00 (not from DIY store!!)

glass, DO NOT use plexiglass it will be scratched to bits!! depending where you go (glass cutters best bet) £50? maybe? if you went for untoughened glass about £20 but wouldn't recommend it with a tegu!

so all told you are looking at about: this is best guess!
£135 / £105...

to buy your looking at about £200 from a pet shop..maybe £150/170 online?

so yes would work out cheaper i would think...plus you would get a little viv...useful for all sorts of wee beasties!:smile:


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## kevlar (Jan 7, 2007)

i could build on cheaper than that:no1:


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## tombraider (May 6, 2006)

do you deliver vivs that are larger than 4x2x2 kev?


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## Guest (Feb 9, 2007)

the most expensive part..after glass we found was the bloody runners! 12.00!


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## Deano (Oct 26, 2006)

I found all the little bits - runners, sealant, locks etc are what pushes the price up.

Don't forget that if you buy commercial, you'll probably still need to seal it yourself and buy a lock, so don't include these in the cost.

Also - don't use fixing blocks - they need 3 screws each (cost adds up), are hard to use and are messy when you put the sealant on. Put screws straight through the wood.

Take a look at my thread 'Building a viv - with no DIY skill', I made loads of mistakes which you can hopefully avoid :lol2: . I also listed all my costs.


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## Deano (Oct 26, 2006)

Also, as the saying goes:

Wood - 45 pounds
Glass - 50 pounds
Seeing your reptile happy in a viv you built yourself - Priceless


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## rantasam (Nov 28, 2006)

I built one a while back, and to be honest it wasn't much cheaper than buying a pre-made. I found that I just kept finding little bits which bumped the price up and up. I suppose it's lack of planning really. 

It's satisfying building your own and I'm glad I've done it, but the next one will be bought from a shop! lol


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## martin day (May 18, 2006)

the only reason i was going to use plexiglass is i thought my tegu might break the glass 
im going to put it together useing the blocks that are used in premade vivs if you can buy them from a diy shop


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## Scoffa (Nov 23, 2006)

martin day said:


> the only reason i was going to use plexiglass is i thought my tegu might break the glass
> im going to put it together useing the blocks that are used in premade vivs if you can buy them from a diy shop


Plexiglass is very expensive and you won't be able to see through it in a very short time. Shop manufactured vivs should not be using anything other than toughened glass. If you are intending using fixit blocks they are rubbish for trapping dirt. I built 2 6'x2'x2' vivs just before Xmas and they cost me about £50 each without the electrics. Most of the wood came from Arnold Laver.


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## BELIAL (Nov 10, 2006)

Scoffa said:


> Plexiglass is very expensive and you won't be able to see through it in a very short time. Shop manufactured vivs should not be using anything other than toughened glass. If you are intending using fixit blocks they are rubbish for trapping dirt. I built 2 6'x2'x2' vivs just before Xmas and they cost me about £50 each without the electrics. Most of the wood came from Arnold Laver.


£50 EACH?
what wood did you use then? wish i could get em that cheap!:smile:


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## groovy chick (Aug 1, 2006)

Do you need to use a special type of wood


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## mark67123 (Jun 11, 2006)

Blazey said:


> you'd need to invest in yacht varnish aswell to seal the wood. the wood can rot if its not made waterproof and u certainly wont be wanting that.


If you use contiboard (aka melamine faced chipboard, laminted chipboard) you do need to seal it with varnish as the laminated surface is already waterproof - you just need to silicone around the joins.

Any other wood/board (especially MDF) would need to be sealed.


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## talltom69 (Dec 8, 2006)

It cost me £85-90 to make a triple stack viv, with two racks for tubs as below:


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## Deano (Oct 26, 2006)

martin day said:


> im going to put it together useing the blocks that are used in premade vivs if you can buy them from a diy shop


Trust me, fixing blocks are rubbish! Put large screws straight through the wood.


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## Guest (Feb 10, 2007)

all mine are screwed together with fixing blocks the only problem is sealing round the buggers ,i used this method as its better for keeping the vivs square for glass etc 


















think the 3x18x18 cost me £30 and the 4x4 split cost me just about £50 glass is the dearest part


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## 16-BIT (Apr 17, 2006)

ur kidding on those prices for glass aint ya? laminated safety glass for a 6ft by 2ft viv is gonna near 200 quid


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## Guest (Feb 10, 2007)

no why would i be kidding ? thats 6mm normal glass and it depends who you know in the trade i suppose :smile: if i kept larger snakes then i would use 4mm laminated .your kidding at £200 surely :grin1:


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## Deano (Oct 26, 2006)

4mm safety glass for a 3ft x 1ft high viv cost me 15 pounds. So I'd expect 6ft x 2ft glass to cost around 60 quid???


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## martin day (May 18, 2006)

surely fixing blocks cant be that bad theyre used to build alot of premade vivs


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## Deano (Oct 26, 2006)

I just found they used loads of screws, were fiddely to fit, made sealing the viv a pain, and are hard to clean.

Just my opinion, yeah loads of people, and commercial vivs use em, but I found them hard to work with so will try something else next time.

I'll probably be back on here in a couple of months eating my words :lol2:


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## Graz (Dec 7, 2006)

has anyone got a viv building guide ? im planning to have a go in next couple of months ..... a small one to put ontop of a 3ft one


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

SteveL said:


> all mine are screwed together with fixing blocks the only problem is sealing round the buggers ,i used this method as its better for keeping the vivs square for glass etc
> 
> 
> 
> ...


looking good!


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

Graz said:


> has anyone got a viv building guide ? im planning to have a go in next couple of months ..... a small one to put ontop of a 3ft one


yer there some DIY sites for it! i seem to post evrywere you post, or you post were I post lol


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## Graz (Dec 7, 2006)

snakelover said:


> yer there some DIY sites for it! i seem to post evrywere you post, or you post were I post lol


stop being a whore!


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## Anthony (Mar 12, 2005)

Graz said:


> has anyone got a viv building guide ?


 
Two Leopard Gecko Vivariums


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## Graz (Dec 7, 2006)

ooo ty mate


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

thats the site I was tinking of! didnt have clue the url. I CANT HELP BEING A WHORE GRAZ! :lol2:


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## basky (Dec 11, 2006)

i priced up some safety glass for a wardrobe that was about the size your after and i was quoted £90. 
white conti board is the cheapest to btw.
also :smile: i'll have a black viv 6x3x2 (with safety glass) for sale very soon. just waiting for my viv stack to be built.


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## martin day (May 18, 2006)

i can only find 8ft long by 2 ft width sheets ,how do i make it 3 ft width is there a way of joining them together


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## BELIAL (Nov 10, 2006)

biscuits...lots of....and wood glue....lots of....
you may still have to reinforce from underneath though with a bit of 2x2..


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## martin day (May 18, 2006)

im going to have a look around for a 8ft by 3 ft if i cant it looks like lots of wood glue


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## BELIAL (Nov 10, 2006)

you will need to biscuit the join else no amount of glue will hold it...you can use dowling to make a biscuit...3 inch long ones should do the job..seriously a must!:smile:


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## basky (Dec 11, 2006)

i had that trouble its stupid. you could try travis perkins and jewsons. i know some wood places do 8x8 sheets but i'd imagine thats way to big :smile:


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## daddycool (Jan 22, 2007)

what do you use for vents in vivs....it needs to be fine guage as my viv is going to be for yemens....i want them to look nice!! my wife insists on it....what does she know eh??


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## BELIAL (Nov 10, 2006)

don't use soffit with yemens...get down to B&Q and get some big white vents that have the bit that slides across the front. take the front bit off and hey presto a big ole vent..:smile: just cut out a hole in the backing slightly smaller than the vent and glue the vent on...


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## basky (Dec 11, 2006)

martin day said:


> i can only find 8ft long by 2 ft width sheets ,how do i make it 3 ft width is there a way of joining them together


ive being sorting out my wood today for viv and ive come across some plywood thats coated in a plastic type sheet (like conti board but a lot lot better). the ply is waterproof so you dont have to worry about the wood splitting. the sheets come in 8x4 and are about £40.


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## martin day (May 18, 2006)

can you use plywood to build vivs too i thought it was just contiboard
what other types could i use


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## basky (Dec 11, 2006)

my bosc viv is built out of pine.
it isnt normal plywood btw it is coated.


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## BELIAL (Nov 10, 2006)

basky said:


> my bosc viv is built out of pine.
> it isnt normal plywood btw it is coated.


do you know what it coated with? is it plastic laminate stuff?


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## basky (Dec 11, 2006)

im pretty sure it's the same sort of stuff as conti board. the stuff looks the same but is alot harder wearing.


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## Johelian (Nov 25, 2006)

Martin, having had a tegu raised from juvie to adult in a melamine viv, I have a couple of words of advice 
1) Dont use contiboard. It isnt durable enough for subadult tegus, and if any amount moisture gets into the chipboard beneath the plastic coating the whole thing will begin to rot - which is liable to happen, as the coating prevents a sturdy grip from any sealant. We had our melamine tegu viv for about more than a year, and when we took it apart the joints were beginning to break down. It does look pretty Ill give you that, and is great for herps that dont have massive humidity requirements and/or are not as heavy and long-clawed as tegus (our beardie cage was made of contiboard), but chances are its not going to last long. Its also quite expensive.

2) Dont use plastic runners. Even with a cabinet lock on the door my tegu at 3.5ft was able to knock the doors out of the runners with ease and we ended up having to nail a strip across the doors to stop this from happening. They simply wont hold a big tegu. If you must have sliding doors, get some deep runners and screw them into place. Alternatively, build your own by recessing normal, shallow runner into the wood - bear in mind though that if you make it too deep you wont be able to hoover out any mulch that gets in there (and it will, trust me!) Or, make life a whole lot easier and put in hinged doors that can have bolts attached. 

3)Dont build a 6ft cage - go the whole hog and build the 8ft that will last a lifetime.

Our cages are built out of 1.8mm MDF, coated with a heavy duty pond paint (it dries with a cement-like texture, its really tough stuff) and sealed with copious amounts of aquarium sealant. 

Incidentally, both our tegu cages have 4mm plexiglas doors (the hardwearing stuff designed for shed windows etc), and they have never been so badly damaged that you cant see in  You can also take out shallow scratches with a quick lick of Brasso - obviously so long as you can keep the animal away from it while it airs after cleaning it all off!


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## tom1400 (Jan 21, 2007)

the best wood to use is melamime. that is what i am using. I wouldn't use perspex for the front becuase it will bow in the heat as i was goingb to use perspex. I just went to my local glass shop gave him the measurements, but he cut it ski whiff so got to go back there tomorrow. So far my viv cost me £33 for wood and sealent, £15 glass,


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## basky (Dec 11, 2006)

melamine isnt any good for species that need humidity. mine is about 2 years old and its split all along the front. as soon as a bit of water gets in it expands and splits. 
depends what you need viv for


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