# FIRST BUILD & FIRST POST! Go easy on me guys lol



## bilbo75 (Jan 10, 2011)

OK, Here it goes!


So for a while now ive been checking and searching on here everyday to try and find the best way, not only to make a vivarium background, thats looks good, but a pratical one that "Paula" the beardy will enjoy and use!

Soooo......long story short i eventually got round to pulling my thumb out of my A*** and registered.

Now the tricky part, trying to explain what i did and how i did it so others can see and perhaps learn, ( dont be put off trying this, i did but dam its worth it! and satisfying when you look at what you've created). ive read some bloody brilliant post on this topic but i was not expecting the results i got, infact far from it!

Ok.
So this is my little girl...











Right first off theres alot of things i feel i didnt do right but for my second build i can use my errors to my advantage!

i measured the inside of my viv, for depth, width and height. once i got the measurements i then knew how much materials i needed.

So climbed into the automobile and ventured to the local aqua centre!!! the have perfect poly boxes they use to transport live fish. These cost me nothing, just a bit of cheek!

once home i pulled out a thin sheet of flexiboard i had lying around just to keep some structure to my build in the early stages. i then cut out the desired pieces of poly and "no nails" them together creating my main frame!










as you can see i also did a little extra to the background at the same time i cut out some random shapes in the poly and again fixed them to the wall. (i found using cocktail stick through the poly also supports the structure ready for grouting)

i also made a small rest shelf with space for shade underneath and a large basking area with a small inclimb so "Paula" had ease of access.

after the "no nails" had dried enough i pulled out the bread knife, honestly i have never used this knife until now! (i live alone, lol).
holding both ends of the knife i scraped it down the poly so it plucked away the top smooth layer. this not only looks better when grouting but it give the grout more reason to hold.










Once this was done to the entire build i was eady to Grout! although messy its great fun.
so i did this in 5 stages! not all build will need this but i wanted a slight thicker background.

1) i bought a lil pack of grout from the nearest £ store (powder form)-(self mix) the reason for his was so i can get the consitency i required. i then coated the entire build with it, using an old paintbrush, making sure everything was covered.
it looks like bare poly but trust me it isnt! all i wanted was a thin coat to both help seal and be able to build upon it.










2) once dried i used some grout that was left over from doing my bathroom up! this was a ready mix and depsite people suggesting this was hard to brush on it worked best for me!

step 3) 4) & 5) where all the same process, obv leaving time to dry between them.



















this was the hard part over with.
no i could really start lol.

looking into colouring for my wall i found not many people where sure what paint was safe or sutibale, so i decided to use the sand option! yup sand!

this too got very messy veryy quickly!

in a bowl i mixed 50/50 pva glue and water, and added around a bag of sugar of sand! mixed it for 10 mins to make sure it was how i wanted it and hey presto i was ready to paint!

15mins later.....

the first coat of the pva/sand mix was done!



















i repeated this a further 2 times also to make sure once again everything was covered!

with this done i was ready to varnish. i used a water based clear matt varnish so it didnt give a shine in the light and also so it was "Paula friendly"!

i also chucked in a few bundles of fake grass/bush to see how it wud look!









i felt happy so it stuck there lol.

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a day past and everything was bone dry and ready to install so i started!!! this bit i lost my rag with, it had finally caught up with me. with everything going so well i forgot to check the simply things! 

lol.....i admit im stupid!

i moved "Paula" out for a while and she shuttled off under the printer!










obv mad a me for renovatin her house!

i pulled all the all stuff out and took of the door, brought the background to the viv and lined it up, just about to put it in when i noticed it wudnt fit!!!! i swore! quite a lot!
being quite mad with myself after taking so much care into this i gave up, for 7mins to be exact, then it occured to me! (light bulb) i'll take the roof of the viv off! so i did! 25mins later its in!

i fed in a couple of other bits e.g the drift wood slate and dish and added the sand! 










i also drilled a few tiny holes and stuck some tiny fake shrubs in.









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so with everything in i was ready to bring her home, i put her at the door of the viv and she cautiously moved on in. once under the heat that was it she was settled a little anxious as we all are in a new home, but never the less looked happy!










i sat down had a well deserved bru!

no sooner than i had sat down she was in full use of the viv sun bathing on the basking spot and using the ramp! ( this is very satisfiy to see that all that work has paid off )



















my viv was now complete, BRILLIANT.

I appreciate this is not the worlds best viv but im glad i did it and im quite happy with the results. below just a few extra pics, i think she likes the camera! lol


****oh i nearly forgot! i forgot to take out the temp gauge from behind the background, but because it was such a tight fit i cant get it out, dont make that mistake lol!





































please dnt hesitate to ask any questions, again im not an expert but maybe ive missed something out that you may be struggling with!

also id appreciate ideas for my next build, im going bigger and need ideas on both background and species to keep i want slight larger than a bearded dragon this time!


The next build i'll be using this custome viv!










thanks and happy building!
**Thanks for reading**

​


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## judy (Feb 12, 2009)

wow looks really good, well done!:2thumb:


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## jasont21 (Aug 25, 2010)

looks great! really need to make something from scratch for my geckos.... so many people are making some great stuff at the mo


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## bilbo75 (Jan 10, 2011)

**

yea im thinking of making a geko viv after the large ones done! really want a chameleon but dnt like the mesh topped vivs


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## Draig (Oct 4, 2010)

That really looks great, Im trying to build my wall at the mo (I may well pinch some of your ideas) thank you for the easy read guide :notworthy:


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

Looks awesome.... (and here comes the but)

Buttt...

It doesn't have any hides =(


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## bilbo75 (Jan 10, 2011)

*ah ha!*

this is true there is no hides, i was considering puting some in i even made one from an old large butter tub coated with grout and painted again but i used to have hides in her viv before the revamp and over 2 years have honestly never seen her in one, so to save room thought, nah lol, i may put it in though soon, cheers.

draig upload photos if you can, i think i have an obsession i like to look at others work


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

Fair enough!! Our beardie loves her hides, she's never out of them!

The best thing I think is to incorporate a hide into her basking area. That's the most natural thing for them. A warm rock they can sit on to heat up, then a dark warm hiding spot under it to get away from the heat without being too cold.


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## Draig (Oct 4, 2010)

bilbo75 said:


> this is true there is no hides, i was considering puting some in i even made one from an old large butter tub coated with grout and painted again but i used to have hides in her viv before the revamp and over 2 years have honestly never seen her in one, so to save room thought, nah lol, i may put it in though soon, cheers.
> 
> draig upload photos if you can, i think i have an obsession i like to look at others work





Hmmm I will see how it goes, iv been taking photos! But worried it wont go as expected.... Will see what I can do :2thumb:


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## Trice (Oct 4, 2006)

That actually looks pretty amazing. Even got me considering if i could do something similar in my vivs. they're longer, but less in height and depth. 

You mentioned your beardie as little girl. She looks far from little to me :lol2:

Welcome to the forums by the way.


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## Trice (Oct 4, 2006)

Willz0r2010 said:


> Looks awesome.... (and here comes the but)
> 
> Buttt...
> 
> It doesn't have any hides =(


Sorry to go slightly off topic here. But i don't use hides for my beardies either. Although one of the big bits of bark can be used as a hide they're never under it, even when asleep mine are generally laying against a bit of wood or something.


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

Fairy snuff. Our beardie loves her hide, but it's also her basking rock, so she gets that natural "get away from the sun" thing going on.

Having said that, there are definitely times that I've gone into the rep room at night and she's laid flat out on a rock, or hanging by her beard from the ceiling.

I'm old school, I guess. I think about incorporating hides first, so that I know they can get away from the world if they want!


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## Draig (Oct 4, 2010)

Hi 
Just while we're on the topic of hides! Im building my viv at the mo, what do peeps think about including it in the wall or seperate? 
By girls sometimes use them but not all the time, depends how busy the house is


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

I think if you can incorporate it into the wall it looks more natural (depending on your overall build style), plus you can possibly save floor space as well. If they don't use it that often, you don't want a massive hide taking up floor space!


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## Draig (Oct 4, 2010)

Thank you :notworthy: I was thinking that, but unsure how I can atach it safely. ( I dont mean a big log thing) Was thinking of making it out of poly!?


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

It's hard to say without seeing the rest of the build you're doing. If you have a look around the Habitat section you should be able to find quite a few pictures of the things people have done with incorporating hides.

Sorry I can't be more helpful!


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## Draig (Oct 4, 2010)

Thanks anyway, scared to do a thread on here incase I get flamed. Will go searching and steel more ideas :blush:


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

I just found this one at the top of the Habitat Pictures section

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat-pictures/628937-custom-viv-rock-background.html

It shows quite a nice poly build with hides built into both sides!


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## Draig (Oct 4, 2010)

That was bril thanks, I mite pm them to see how the have attached the bits to make them safe, most peeps seem to use no-nails


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

I'm a fan of using expanded foam from a can, shaped with sandpaper or a knife and then covered in brown silicone. Sand or eco-earth can then be pressed into the wet silicone and when it dries nothing will be able to unstick that stuff.

I think with the polystyrene builds, you get a load of sheets of polystyrene or "space foam" from somewhere like B&Q, cut it into increasingly smaller chunks to build up a pyramid, or hill etc, and stick the bits to each other using cocktail sticks and No More Nails. Once it's all dry, you cover it in layers of builders grout, sometimes mixed with sand to create a sandy desert rock texture, and once it dries it's as hard as... sandy desert rock!


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## Draig (Oct 4, 2010)

:no1: Thats what I was thinking, well trial and error! see how it goes

thanks for all your help :notworthy:


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## bilbo75 (Jan 10, 2011)

hi draig, i used no nails and cocktail sticks, works well when youve finally got it covered with grout, that seems to hold it in place although you may need to use a few layers, start off watery then get thicker as you progress through layers  hope it goes well...
oh and the making a thread thing, just do it. if people dont like it they should just not read it  lol


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## Draig (Oct 4, 2010)

bilbo75 said:


> hi draig, i used no nails and cocktail sticks, works well when youve finally got it covered with grout, that seems to hold it in place although you may need to use a few layers, start off watery then get thicker as you progress through layers  hope it goes well...
> oh and the making a thread thing, just do it. if people dont like it they should just not read it  lol


Thanks for that, I wil try the no nails just wasnt sure if it was safe. Thanks also for the tip about lots of layers hadnt thought about that. and the thread bit! I hate it when they flame you for doing something just cuz they dont agree with it.


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## bilbo75 (Jan 10, 2011)

well you get some people that claim they no everything when infact they no nothing lol im no expert dont get me wrong but thers a first time for everything


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## jlbyron2000 (Sep 20, 2010)

Look really good! My brother has been making a background with ledges for my chinese water dragon. He's had a problem getting the polystyrene to stick! We used no more nails.....any suggestions?


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## bilbo75 (Jan 10, 2011)

hi this was only a simple build, just wanted to see how well it turned out, currently in the process of building a double viv keep you eyes peeled for that post, i have a little surprise lol, how do u mean trouble sticking the poly? if its poly ontop of poly ther shouldnt be a problem just takes a little time, however i never glued it to the inside of the viv as i may want to take it out so i made it to size and slotted it in lol, cheating i no but its handy that way lol


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## GamerXDan (Aug 15, 2010)

Awesome build mate, one thing i would suggest is that UV lamp looks really high up, id lower it a fair bit if it was me, each to their own though :no1:


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## quizicalkat (Jul 7, 2007)

jlbyron2000 said:


> Look really good! My brother has been making a background with ledges for my chinese water dragon. He's had a problem getting the polystyrene to stick! We used no more nails.....any suggestions?


If you stick a load of cocktail sticks in it (or I use broken up wooden scewers) it makes it much firmer


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