# The Alchemy viv project



## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Hiya guys & gals!,

This is project no.5 and i've named it The Alchemy viv and your see why!. I have uploaded a step by step part 1 on you tube. and here's some progress pictures.

Go to link:
YouTube - How to build a custom vivarium background 01

And heres some progress pics.....The end result is gonna be totally awesome!


























































*Part 2 will be up very soon! *

You can also see my previous projects......

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/habitat/384239-pimp-my-viv-making-rock.html

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/habitat/415620-another-skully-background-anyone.html

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/habitat/234113-making-vivarium-rock-background.html


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

looking good becky


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Thanks hunny!! :flrt: I went to homebase today and got some more grout so will carry on doing the viv tomorrow as most of my time today was spent putting up the christmas tree and decorations.


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## Superfreak (Mar 10, 2009)

looks good so far, can't wait to see the finished result


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Good news! the grouting side of things is now finished!

Gave the background a good thick 2nd coat of grout and with wet hands went over the walls to smooth it all out. The floor is also grouted and again i've gone over with wet hands to smooth it out.

Now i've just got to wait for it to all dry out and the painting starts!!!!

Will post up pics of the working progress later today. My hands are sore


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)




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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

*ok here's the update*

I looked at the viv this morning and was not happy with the grouting on the right side of the viv. So i've added another layer of grout and smoothed it out with water.

The shelf on the right side is not strong enough so I have made another post and siliconed it under the shelf. Once it's dry I can add a couple of layers of grout and smooth it out with water.

The 3 crosses have had 2 layers of grout, sanded down and painted black.

So still have to put 2 layers of grout on the new post, silicone the crosses to the platform and paint the whole viv black and let it dry out and then lightly dust a grey ontop with a dry brush.

This is hard work people! and the largest/craziest viv background i've done so far and i'm nackered!. I keep getting more ideas as I go along and adding more cool features and now it's doing my head in! but I WILL FINISH!.

I'm still making a part 2 step by step movie so please bare with me as it's taking me ages to sort out.


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Ok here's some progress pictures! Remember! it's nowhere near finshed yet!


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## wee grant (Sep 6, 2009)

looking well : victory:


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## Superfreak (Mar 10, 2009)

looking really good Becky, can't wait to see it finished


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Thanks hunny. I started this project on 30th nov and i'm hoping to have it completed by next friday. 

Tomorrow my plan is to paint the whole viv black let that dry out and then go over lightly in grey. During the week i'm going to finish off those crosses and silicone them to the pillars. Then the final part is varnishing! it's a long process that needs to be repeated over and over again. The more layers of varnish the better it's protected!. Don't drown the viv in varnish! light coats on every layer you apply! that way it drys quicker!.


Fingers crossed I get it done soon xxx


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## alexwilliamsreptiles (Mar 29, 2008)

what's going in it?


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

My boa Pandora :2thumb:


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## Superfreak (Mar 10, 2009)

that'll be one lucky snake


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Well bit of a laugh in the Wheeler household this morning!!.

Picture this folks!........Woke up feeling very tired and started painting the Alchemy viv in black. Husband made me a nice cuppa and stuck it inside the viv next to the cup of black paint!. Becky goes to take a mouth full of tea only to notice it's not tea! its :censor: BLACK PAINT!. I had a black smiley face ON MY FACE! :lol2:. Anyway after I cleaned up my face! PMSL! I carried on painting the viv in black and it's now finished and waiting for it to dry so I can dust it in grey.

My husband and kids were very supportive and could'nt stop laughing! :bash:


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

A part 2 video on you tube should be up by tonight! Will post a link once it's uploaded...


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## makeitandskateit (Jun 15, 2008)

just watched the video, it's looking really good!! Loved the end bit and the cool speed-up music!!!


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Thanks hunny :2thumb:

Part 2 is now on my you tube site!

YouTube - How to build a custom vivarium background 02


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## xander1796 (May 25, 2009)

why cant i have friend like you? i'd pay to have a viv like that...


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## KarlW (Oct 6, 2009)

Wish i had one, although not sure what my beardies would make of the skulls.



Maybe you ought to start making and selling custom vivs professionally?: victory:


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Awww Thank you hunnies :flrt:
Well the viv has had two coats of black paint and is now dry. The crosses which were painted black are now having a dusty coat of grey and then a VERY light dusty coat of white. This gives it a old/stone effect.

Tomorrow the whole viv will be painted lightly in grey and then a white for highlights to give it the stone effect.

Once dry the crosses will be siliconed onto the pillars and left to dry for 24 hours. On tuesday the viv should be ready to varnish!!.

Here's the lucky lady! She's currently in a 3ft viv that I made about 3 months ago but she's growing so fast!.


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## Superfreak (Mar 10, 2009)

Becky Wheeler said:


> Well bit of a laugh in the Wheeler household this morning!!.
> 
> Picture this folks!........Woke up feeling very tired and started painting the Alchemy viv in black. Husband made me a nice cuppa and stuck it inside the viv next to the cup of black paint!. Becky goes to take a mouth full of tea only to notice it's not tea! its :censor: BLACK PAINT!. I had a black smiley face ON MY FACE! :lol2:. Anyway after I cleaned up my face! PMSL! I carried on painting the viv in black and it's now finished and waiting for it to dry so I can dust it in grey.
> 
> My husband and kids were very supportive and could'nt stop laughing! :bash:


 


HaHaHaHaHa.....that sounds like the sort of thing i would do!


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Ohhhhh you should see the viv now! OMG! it's not finished yet but OMG!! LOL.

Will get some pics up tomorrow.


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

The crosses are now finished! Just need to glue them to the pillars and finish off the rest off the viv.


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Well the whole viv has now had a dusting of grey ontop of the black and the crosses have been glued to the pillars and will take a day or two to dry.

Once thats dry I can start varnishing the whole thing!!. and then tidy up the light/heat lamp cables in the viv.

Decorate the viv with plants etc and wait for the temps to stablize before Pandora moves in.


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

The Alchemy vivarium is now finished! Just got to wait for those crosses to dry fully and then start varnishing!!.

































A video will be uploaded by the end of the week.


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## xander1796 (May 25, 2009)

amazing! jaw dropping! some sppoky :censor:! i love it, please do us all a favour and do this as a business but i must get 1st dibs being one of the ones who suggested it lol

i'll be watching for the video to be uploaded with your wee one in her new very stylish digs:notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:


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## Superfreak (Mar 10, 2009)

WOW....again, well done Becky.............looks amazing :no1:


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## mythicdawn07 (Jun 18, 2009)

truly amazing i love themed viv's!! you are very talented :2thumb:


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Awwwww!!:blush: Now i'm blushing!! I love you guys 

Well hopefully I can render the video footage tomorrow and get it uploaded to you tube!. I'm thinking of doing something funny at the end?? (no i'm not drinking black paint again! LOL). We shall see! Now i'm finishing off i'm feeling silly:crazy:

The Alchemy viv has had it's first coat of varnish! and it can have another one tonight as this varnish dries pretty quick if your careful and spread it thin all over.

I'll probably put 4 coats on this viv to give it extra strength. And holy hell the viv now weighs a ton!! LOL. It's fine were it is!! LOL.

Just need to buy some orchid bark subtrate and start baking that! The house always smells of burnt wood! LOL.


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## Reptilerescueden (Jan 2, 2006)

Becky that viv is amazing!!! Very impressed, well done! :2thumb:


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Thanks hunny!

The viv was completely dry after having it's first coat of varnish so I have added a 2nd coat and will now leave it til tomorrow to add more layers.

And to top it off! Pandora is going to shed! so not a good time to move her in me thinks :whistling2: But that does give me time to set it up properly and make it all homey for her.

I still can't believe it's only taken me 7 days to do the background! I was giving myself a target of 2 weeks! cos normally the more complicated designs take that long!.

I have been working my bum off though on this project. Every spare minute was given to the viv.

I've got a 6x2x2 to do next! But i'm gonna start that in the new year.


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

A 3rd coat of varnish has gone on and it's rock soild! later I will apply the last coat of varnish and then the fun part starts.....adding plants etc!!!!.


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## Superfreak (Mar 10, 2009)

what sort of theme are you planning for the 6ft viv?


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## reptilesruel!!! (Jul 14, 2009)

if only you made one for me


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## excession (Apr 11, 2009)

That is really good. Nice work !!


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

*Thanks hunnies!

Part 3 is now on you tube!! part 4 will be up once the viv is setup properly and Pandora has moved in.

YouTube - How to build a custom vivarium background 03*


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Superfreak said:


> what sort of theme are you planning for the 6ft viv?


well the 6ft was originally going to have the Alchemy theme but I decided to do it in the 4ft viv. Sooooooo.......as for the 6ft viv I have no idea yet but i'm sure I will come up with a design soon. It won't be a skull theme this time but something completely different.


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## Jellyman (Sep 22, 2009)

Wow, thats very cool :2thumb:


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## Steveokernow (Aug 1, 2009)

Becky Wheeler said:


> Husband made me a nice cuppa and stuck it inside the viv next to the cup of black paint!. Becky goes to take a mouth full of tea only to notice it's not tea! its :censor: BLACK PAINT!. I had a black smiley face ON MY FACE! :lol2:. Anyway after I cleaned up my face! PMSL!



PMSL I did a very similar thing today, except I dipped my brush in the coffee cup instead of the varnish lol

I've actually got your old skull stack Becky!! When I saw it up for sale recently I just couldnt resist, well done amazing job, again!!

I ended up ripping out the middle 2 backgrounds and starting again on them and am just in the process of varnishing the 2nd and 3rd vivs before starting on the bottom one. The skull is staying forever tho!! lol


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Steveokernow said:


> PMSL I did a very similar thing today, except I dipped my brush in the coffee cup instead of the varnish lol
> 
> I've actually got your old skull stack Becky!! When I saw it up for sale recently I just couldnt resist, well done amazing job, again!!
> 
> I ended up ripping out the middle 2 backgrounds and starting again on them and am just in the process of varnishing the 2nd and 3rd vivs before starting on the bottom one. The skull is staying forever tho!! lol


Fantastic news mate!! Me and my husband love the skully viv as a lot of work went into that one


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## bonbons (Dec 9, 2009)

Sorry but i ave 2 say that is really amazing:mf_dribble::mf_dribble::mf_dribble:


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

bonbons said:


> Sorry but i ave 2 say that is really amazing:mf_dribble::mf_dribble::mf_dribble:


LMFAO!!! Thanks hunny:flrt:


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Sorry it's been so long! What with christmas around the corner and work I did'nt have that much time to finish off the alchemy viv.

Well here it is!! all finished and waiting for Pandora to move in.


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## Yazyaz1 (Oct 12, 2009)

Becky Wheeler said:


> Sorry it's been so long! What with christmas around the corner and work I did'nt have that much time to finish off the alchemy viv.
> 
> Well here it is!! all finished and waiting for Pandora to move in.
> 
> image


i would...

buy that, that is.


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## Ash33 (Sep 22, 2009)

Wow, that's amazing  May have to steal it when my royal grows up lol.


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Pandora is very excited!! And has been exploring for hours!! She's already christened the viv with the biggest poo ever!! LOL


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

The final part is now on you tube! click on link:
YouTube - How to build a custom vivarium background 04 (final)


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Thought it would be a good idea to bump this up incase anyone needs ideas or help.


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

I have another project currently in the making so check it out!!

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat/503834-gothic-vivarium-background-project.html


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## cbarnes1987 (Feb 2, 2010)

i have just discovered the joys of a hot-knife and a load of poly :lol2:
made a few crappy hides... nothing on this scale... amazing!

what varnish did you use... want to make my corn something like this but his poos are less like droppings and more like splattings so i thought id have serious cleaning issues:lol2:
im sure the answer im after is on your youtube vids but my laptop is sssssllllloooooowww atm thanks


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Hiya mate,

I used polyvine. But you can use any sort of clear varnish from your local diy store. The secret is to paint thin layers and make sure it's dry before applying the next layer (I apply 4 layers over 48 hours) do not drown the viv in varnish as it will never dry properly and your have white runs everwhere.


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## cbarnes1987 (Feb 2, 2010)

Becky Wheeler said:


> Hiya mate,
> 
> I used polyvine. But you can use any sort of clear varnish from your local diy store. The secret is to paint thin layers and make sure it's dry before applying the next layer (I apply 4 layers over 48 hours) do not drown the viv in varnish as it will never dry properly and your have white runs everwhere.


right, since seeing your inspirational vivs i am going for it :lol2: 
Glass is removed from a 3x2, cleaned out and poly is on the way from ebay. Just 2 questions though... I see you are using a basking lamp but is it at all possible to use a heat mat? (Through wood and poly?) Also how are the snakes with only realy having one hide? thanks again beckie and i swear il leave your thread alone now and stop being a threadjacker :lol2:


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

cbarnes1987 said:


> right, since seeing your inspirational vivs i am going for it :lol2:
> Glass is removed from a 3x2, cleaned out and poly is on the way from ebay. Just 2 questions though... I see you are using a basking lamp but is it at all possible to use a heat mat? (Through wood and poly?) Also how are the snakes with only realy having one hide? thanks again beckie and i swear il leave your thread alone now and stop being a threadjacker :lol2:


LOL Your not being a pain hunny ok!! 

Right using a heatmat instead of a basking lamp. I'm not to sure on this one so you might want to put up a thread and see if anyone has actually done it but my thoughts are because poly is an insulator and your going to grout over the poly the heat from the heatmat might not reach the surface if that makes sense?? lol not to mention this could be a fire hazard.

Also if your heatmat stops working and needs replacing you won't be able to get it out cos is sealed into the background. 

What I would do is make your background and then drill a hole through it and remove the plug from the heatmat and run the cable through the hole and reconnect the plug. And then just chuck some subtrate over the mat to hide it.


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

*So so sorry hunny *

sorry can you delete


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## cbarnes1987 (Feb 2, 2010)

Becky Wheeler said:


> sorry can you delete



Who that for?


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## Swain86 (Jan 23, 2011)

I am sure this is not the first time i have seen this one, its awesome


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