# Bearded Dragon's Fake Rock Vivarium



## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

Hi, thought I'd share photos of my beardies new viv. Its a work in progress as my two 'females' bred and laid 28 eggs last week, I've had to buy another viv to seperate them! The eggs were given to my local reptile/pet shop, he's gonna incubate them but he said they were pretty small and it was her first clutch (is that the right word?) so may not be fertile.
Anyway, Rolf and Skippy are still in the same viv but I'm keeping a close eye on them. I'm determined to get the new viv (48" x 21" x 18.5") as I want it before splitting the happy couple.
Female on top shelf. Lady boy below! :lol2:










It was secondhand but like new and for just £50 off the Preloved website! I cleaned and disinfected it (just to be sure) and removed the base before running a bead of silicone around the edge and refitting.
Then I got some waterproof Tile Grout, a load of polystyrene bits, some No More Nails, wooden skewers, a Soldering Iron and some copper wire (didn't have any to hand so stripped a bit of TV Ariel or Coaxial cable for the thick centre wire).
The Soldering Iron is a 100Watt and the 'tip' can be removed by undoing two screws.










I replaced the tip with the length of copper wire which heats up when the trigger is pressed and it slices through the polystyrene blocks easily.
I stuck pieces together to make rock formations with the No More Nails using a wooden skewer pushed into the polystyrene for strength.

Almost ready for grouting...










This is the result after three coats of Tile Grout thinned with water.




















Next job is the paint....:2thumb:


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## DannyDee (Nov 5, 2008)

Nice work, I'll be attempting one of these myself soon. I want to a coat of sand to the grout before it dries though. Not really sure how it will look but I'm hopeful it will look good.


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## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

Thanks! I plan to add sand to final coat of sealer.


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## Fuzzybear (Dec 16, 2011)

This look's pretty smart to be honest.


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## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

Fuzzybear said:


> This look's pretty smart to be honest.


Thankyou! 
Three coats of acrylic paint was put on, starting at 8am this morning and final coat finished 10 hours later!
Happy with the dark reddish sandstone colour, and the way the paint looks - would have preffered it a little lighter, but frightened if I add a lighter colour now, I may ruin the effect I've got.
Would like to know what you guys and gals think? Too dark or OK?

What do you suggest I should get to seal everything with?


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## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

I have been unable to find (locally) that 'dead flat' sealer/varnish I have seen mentioned on here and on you-tube vids by the wonderfully artistic 'beckywheeler' so found some 'Blackfriers' Duratough clear varnish in clear Matt. It is water based so quick drying and almost odourless. When I get the last coat on and add a bit of sand, I'll post more pics.


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Bit late now seeing as you have varnished it you could have lightened it using a lighter colour and the dry brush technique. That way you would have lightened it and if anything improved the effect. However it is still very nice. I am currently in the process of a viv build myself and am going to steal your copper wire soldering iron idea! Cheers for that :2thumb:

I've got a fair few pics of my current build and will upload a teaser in a min, that is of course if you don't mind? I'm not going to start a thread until nearer completion. 

Tom.


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## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

Don't mind at all! Love seeing pics of other peoples vivs!


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Ok, cool, I'll sort one now, just a teaser though, I don't want to give too much away!










There ya go!


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

tomcannon said:


> Ok, cool, I'll sort one now, just a teaser though, I don't want to give too much away!
> 
> image
> 
> There ya go!


Think I see where you're going with this.....and if it comes together it'll be massively impressive  May steal a few ideas  Did you use sandpaper to get those grooves done?


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

WolverineX said:


> Thankyou!
> Three coats of acrylic paint was put on, starting at 8am this morning and final coat finished 10 hours later!
> Happy with the dark reddish sandstone colour, and the way the paint looks - would have preffered it a little lighter, but frightened if I add a lighter colour now, I may ruin the effect I've got.
> Would like to know what you guys and gals think? Too dark or OK?
> ...


Thisa is looking awesome!! :no1:


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

my_shed said:


> Think I see where you're going with this.....and if it comes together it'll be massively impressive  May steal a few ideas  Did you use sandpaper to get those grooves done?


Cheers pal, it really is coming along nicely. I've got the rear and side walls all prepped and ready to start sculpting from tomorrow. Steal away, my build(s) would be nothing if it weren't for this forum. I did use sandpaper mate, fine wet and dry to be precise. Anyway, I don't want to hijack this thread, I'll have a thread started within the coming weeks.


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## Revobuzz (Nov 8, 2011)

The soldering iron idea is GENIUS!


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## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

Cheers Revobuzz - the soldering iron was giving off a nasty smell by the time I had finished!
Latest pics after third coat of sealer sprinkled with sand...


















It looks more red than it actually is...only by getting close can you see more of a true colour (the normal household bulb temporarily in there is playing havoc with the phones camera lens)


























I'm glad I didn't lighten the colour now as the sand would have hidden it anyway, and the colours I did use are dark enough to show through in places. Very happy with it, just need funds for the Arcadia T5, Tube, Ballast and Reflector bundle which I saw at a good price from a Pet Supplies shop in Surrey! :whistling2: 
Probably be start of next week as its payday! :2thumb:


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice mate. Looks really good!


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## masterofinsanity (Aug 13, 2012)

that is awesome!!! :2thumb:


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## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

masterofinsanity said:


> that is awesome!!! :2thumb:


Thank you!
I have had the basking lamp on everyday in an attempt to get rid of the smell of the varnish which appears when it's warmed up.
The T5 system arrived from Surrey Pet Supplies and was very well packed, I was worried about the 46" tube coming via courier, but all was good. The tube was inside bubble wrap, in a cardboard tube, in a box, taped to another box as a 'splint', as I've said I am very pleased with S P Supplies' service. Off to get a digital thermometer and some sand substrate tomorrow and wondering what fake plants would match the rocky desert theme?


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

WolverineX said:


> Thank you!
> I have had the basking lamp on everyday in an attempt to get rid of the smell of the varnish which appears when it's warmed up.
> The T5 system arrived from Surrey Pet Supplies and was very well packed, I was worried about the 46" tube coming via courier, but all was good. The tube was inside bubble wrap, in a cardboard tube, in a box, taped to another box as a 'splint', as I've said I am very pleased with S P Supplies' service. Off to get a digital thermometer and some sand substrate tomorrow and wondering what fake plants would match the rocky desert theme?


I find the best plants and such I have seen for deserts are grasses. For example. 

Beach grass

Bear grass

Just google them, some on eBay too.


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## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

Ok, this is the penultimate stage of my beardies vivarium, because of two things, I needed to seperate them quickly, as the female has layed her second clutch of eggs, and I have ordered a viv from Volly and it'll be a while before he gets round to making my order.
The fake rocks in this, will fit snugly in the Volly viv so I'll just transfer everything when it arrives.
I added some fake Onion Grass type green plants from Dunelm Mill (59p each!) and a Digital thermometer (Pets At Home £11). I would have preferred a reddish brown plant, but the green does contrast nicely.
I had the thermometer directly under the basking light which consistantly gave 114F. A hole was drilled on the back wall of the viv about 8 inches from the basking lamp and the probe pushed through with a bit of silicone securing it in place.
A few days with all lights/heating going through their timed cycles and I'm getting 92-94F so in went Rolfie boy...he sulked for two days, and comforted himself by eating his greens with gusto! Now he seems to love it and is climbing all over the place!

So...although i'ts been a bit rushed and isn't quite how I'd like it, both Rolf and me are happy! The final 'build' post will be all set up in one of Volly's Vivs and may change slightly. Feedback and suggestions welcome!


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks cracking mate, one lucky beardie! I see what you mean about the green grass but it looks good. :no1:


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

:Looking ace!


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## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

Thanks Guys!
Forgot to add, to fit the plants I drilled a hole just big enough for the plant, through the grout into the polystyrene about an inch deep, filled it with No Nails and pushed the plant into the hole, then after wiping off the excess pressed a bit of the viv's sand into it so it wouldn't show up white.


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## Bennewell (Apr 5, 2012)

Mate that looks mint, I want to do this for reps but not artistic in the slightest! Do you know around about price it cost you to do this?


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## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

You mean whole setup or just fake rocks? In total the bits were...
Viv £50 off Preloved
46" T5 light, ballast and reflector £70 from Surrey Pet Supplies
Thermometer £11 Pets at Home 
Sand substrate £7 local from Chrysalis Pets in Buckley, N. Wales
Grout £15 B&Q
No Nails £6 B&Q
Polystyrene from TV/Appliance hire shops skip (with permission!)
Plants £0.59 each from Dunelm Mill
...pretty cheap really! Already had the Beardie, basking light and food bowl.


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## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

Oh...and the paint, I use all acrylics. I get them from Hobbycraft or any art and craft type shop in small plastic bottles for about £2 each. I think I used about 4 bottles on these fake rocks so thants another £8 in total.

Not the same brand, but same size bottles (59ml).


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

I think the fake rocks look great :2thumb:


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## Bennewell (Apr 5, 2012)

Ment just the fake rocks but thanks for replying.already got vivs and beardies.going to build something out the viv then add it.


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## Poodles (Sep 7, 2012)

Really like this.. Giving me ideas and much cheaper than what I've been planning on buying


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## WolverineX (Apr 23, 2011)

Bennewell said:


> already got vivs and beardies.going to build something out the viv then add it.


That's what I did, its actually in 3 parts , 4 if you include the 'cave'. Fortunately I haven't fixed it to the viv, so when the new viv arrives I'll just transfer it over and fix it all in place. 



Poodles said:


> Really like this.. Giving me ideas and much cheaper than what I've been planning on buying


That's the spirit! :2thumb:

Although dimming thermostats are next on the list for my vivs, which kinda bumps the total cost a bit!


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## Bennewell (Apr 5, 2012)

Good to know you built it out the viv seems everyone does all the grouting when it's in the viv.bin and picked up a load of polystyrene this morning for free my sisters fellas parents own a t.v shop. Got some ivory grout left over from a job last week.let the build commence!


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