# newbie-beardie viv full build with DIY background - PROJECT



## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

hi my name is george im new here and will use this thread to just quickly saying hello  as this should be an ongoing thread for the build process i took for my 4ft x 2ft x 2ft vivarium / background project  i have no reptile as yet but will very shortly have a baby beardie  so if theres any trusted breeders on here please PM.

i will be getting a bearded dragon soon but first i want to get her/his home completely finished and supplies bought before i do anything like bring him/her home. 

first of all i obviously needed to collect my materials for the viv so off i went to trusty BnQ. i bought :

- 8ft x 4ft x 10mm ply wood = £20+ 
- a 5 pack of small round vents (think ive changed my mind on actually using these as my vents)
- 2 x 8ft decorative beading
- 2 x 8ft 15mm wide plain beading 

which all came to a total of £47.odd plus the burger i bought  £50 

the good thing about BnQ if you don't already know which im sure most of you do but BnQ cut the wood to your exact measurements, which extremely time saving and will be true straight cut !!!

After messing about at BnQ i cracked on at home, building the planks of wood together. 















































Then i whilst searching ebay i discovered a vivarium background, so i thought wow i will have that, so i stopped building for a few days because i thought its going to alot easier if i fit this background with the lid off. WELL when it came in the post in a tiny ! tube i thought hang on this is defiantly not the 3D background unless is some blow up one haha ! anyway it was just a picture with a sticky backing, and i was gutted so because i had it in my head that i was going to have a 3D background i decided to have a go at making one my self  as you do 

so back to BnQ for some tile grout, polystyrene, and paints. but BnQ couldn't help me with these products so i went to wickes who had an 8ft x 2ft x 50mm for only £6.99 so i had one of them and then went to get some paints and grout and the prices were terrible soooo i went to a brilliant outlet place near where i live called brooklyn outlet and basically its all dented and dropped building, painting, decorating gear at amazing prices, and i got a bag of grout which covers 6.5square meters for £3.99 and to medium tins of paint both £3.99 each  sadly they dont have polystyrene because they only have "broken" products from bigger building stores like BnQ but in my opinion their products are perfectly fine and not! broken 

here are some pictures of starting the background / whole desert scene up until were i am now  basically i just chopped polystyrene up with a little imagination and progressed  









this image is showing the first step of how to get the texture and looks that i got  first cut your shape then cut off the straight edges (corner) of the shape which will be the front then i went over lightly with a lighter all around the edge then all over the top. hope this makes sense.


this is it for now thank you for looking please comment  thanks 

MORE TO COME SOON


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

couldnt fit all pics on one thread so heres the rest of my first thread carried on .....


















































































then after i had cut and shaped and burnt all my peices i stuck them together and to the viv with silicone any will do to be honest, i used a cheap silicone from work and it stuck as they say "shit to a blanket", the grouting needed doing .... all i did was mix some grout abit more watery than normall than covered the whole thing and i will do this for about another 3 coats.

pictures


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## imitebmike (Jun 22, 2008)

That is very very impressive 

one little thing though...no ventilation holes? :O


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## kay&Bert (Mar 24, 2011)

imitebmike said:


> That is very very impressive
> 
> one little thing though...no ventilation holes? :O


 
could possibly put the vent holes in the lid 

but looking good OP


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## br4m01 (May 16, 2011)

looking very good! just the kind of thing ive been looking for so will help me out alot!


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## Spot (Jun 15, 2011)

Love these viv-build threads!


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## kaleluk31 (Sep 6, 2010)

kay&Bert said:


> could possibly put the vent holes in the lid
> 
> but looking good OP


 yeah id do the same, 4 vents in roof, 2 at front 2 at back


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## imitebmike (Jun 22, 2008)

ahh, then all is well


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## Racheykins90 (Jun 2, 2011)

wow! I am impressed! very nice , what substrate are you going to use on the floor? 
Looking great so far!
: victory:


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## UnBOAlievable_Morphs (Feb 9, 2011)

looking good :2thumb:


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

hi thank very much for the comments and i will defiantly be putting vents in very soon but i think i might be just drawing a circle and drilling small holes with in that circle big enough to make a difference but small enough not to allow bugs out  

this project should move along fairly quickly but the next few will be no visual difference because it will just be layers of grout.

i serious stress to those who are thinking of doing this to DO IT, its so easy u just need a bit of imagination, this is my first time doing anything like this project and im really enjoying it. the way i have been thinking about this is ...... would your reptile like what shapes you have chosen to make would he use the space you have made because at the end of the day its your reptile that ha to live in there for the rest of his/hers lovely life 

i will be using calcium sand as my substrate many will disagree but i think it is the most realistic for my beardie which is what matters 

FOLLOW FOR MORE UPDATES AND IM HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT MY BUILD


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

Looks amazing. You have inspired me. Are you gonna paint it? What paint will you use?? What would you use to seal the paint in. I would do a lot of drybrushing on that to make it look realistic. Plenty of videos on YouTube about it. 
I might pva my one when i build it and stick sand to it all then drybrush it.


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## imitebmike (Jun 22, 2008)

Please consider using argos play sand instead  same sandy effect  and cheaper  £3 for 15kg 

just dont get the damn things into the glass runners


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

i will be using normal paint :/ simply because i have read and looked for safe paint but had no luck, i might be varnishing the paint afterwards to seal it with a flat matt plain varnish. i will defonatly be dry brushing after my base layer and hopefully it should get even better, im glad ive inspired you my advice seriously is GO FOR IT what is there to loose :/ i have only decided to do the background work within a few days and it seems to have worked out well. 

and as for the sand comment i think i will be going for the calcium sand only because at the end of the day im not looking to go the cheap way for my beardie i dont want to cut any corners  but thank you very much for the advice  

thanks again for the comments


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## Tasshu (Jan 20, 2009)

Very impressive fella


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

thank you


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## GeeUK (May 2, 2011)

Wicked, very well done.

Shows you don't have to go out there and buy stupidly expensive Vivs.

Love the fake rock look, keep it up.

My brothers bearded dragon has been on calci sand since it was a baby but it does clump together when wet and can still cause impaction.

Consider play sand or even tiles! Yours will look brill with a loose substrate though, I think loose substrates look great but didn't want to take the risk.

Awaiting more pictures


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## OliverW (Dec 8, 2010)

calci-sand is not cutting corners it can be more dangerous than play sand as it clumps together when wet which could cause impaction. This is why play sand was recommended. Anyway nice viv build.


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

hi just a quick update ive put my second thick coat of grout on and taken a few pictures no visual change to be honest just different angled pictures 
enjoy :





































this is the grout i have been using, the only reason i chose this grout was because it says its waterproof, rustic brown colour which is along the lines of my colour code which helps and it was cheap  pic :










i will be putting another layer on early afternoon and might start to give it a base coat of paint depending on how sturdy the grout has made the polystyrene


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## Chris18 (Mar 22, 2009)

OliverW said:


> calci-sand is not cutting corners it can be more dangerous than play sand as it clumps together when wet which could cause impaction. This is why play sand was recommended. Anyway nice viv build.


What do you think normal sand does? have you never been to the beach and made a sand castle? i'm pretty sure you didn't use dry sand as it wouldn't CLUMP TOGETHER unlike wet sand.
I do not agree cali-sand isnt the best product and shouldn't really be sold, you'll find you only get problems with calci-sand is if you don't have a decent dusting routine, they'll eat the sand to replace that, if they do have a decent routine then they'll feel no need to ingest it, so imo it's safe as long as you know how to dust properly.
Bearded Dragons are not from the desert, they're from arid area with HARD floor with a light dusting of dust where the wind and other things have eroded the floor. So OP if you want a realistic Viv then go for some Rock effect lino tiles with a light dusting of play sand or some of that excavator sand


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## Anu (Jun 8, 2011)

Hey, this looks amazing, this almost makes me want to build one, but what are you total costs reaching now? Also, about the polystyrene, uh, won't this like, I dunno, degrade with moisture and harm your beardie if he eats it? Also, I'm assuming the heat lamp will be on this polystyrene? Or? I didn't think polystyrene did that great in hot temps :s?


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

your right about everything about the polystyrene and thats why you HAVE to put grout on it  grout is a waterproofing, strengthening and heat resistance substance which makes it perfect for this kind of thing i will be hopefully applying a dull matt varnish after painting it so its even more water tight and my beardie shouldn't ruin it but hopefully no beardie should be able to ruin this because the grout makes the polystyrene strong  

my total costs are for the viv build it came to £47odd all from BnQ (and they cut the wood for your viv which makes all the cuts perfectly straight and will save you alot of time) then vents, srcews, 4 x 8ft decrotive strips 

8ft x 2ft x 50mm polystyrene sheet - £6.99
2 tins of paint (i have plenty in these tins) both - £3.99 each = £7.98
and a bag of grout which is more than enough for this background - £3.99 

background build total = £18.96 BARGAIN

hope this helps


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## Anu (Jun 8, 2011)

george98 said:


> £47odd all from BnQ
> 8ft x 2ft x 50mm polystyrene sheet - £6.99
> 2 tins of paint (i have plenty in these tins) both - £3.99 each = £7.98
> and a bag of grout which is more than enough for this background - £3.99
> ...


So, you still have what components to purchase? Glass? Substrate? Then the equipment for the beardie, right?


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

yep but i will hopefully be getting the glass cheap if not free from a friend who works with glass pane company  

substrate, lights, light fittings, thermometers and a plug timer (like an extension but it turns off the electricity at what ever time setting i set it to), food, then my beardie  

oh and ive decided to make my roof of the viv removable so i will have to buy more wood but, you can still build a normal viv from the prices and material ive already listed  deos this help ? :2thumb:


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## BCD (Dec 14, 2010)

I love love love this design i would love to do this but dunno how easy its gonna be to do in a viv already bulit :/ let alone finding somewhere for my beardie to stay mean while. buggering hell! Great job though!! :2thumb:


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

thank you for compliments mate, and ye i decided to put my viv building on hold whilst i built the scenery because its obviously miles easier  but still possible with a fully built viv


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## antiguaheat (Jun 21, 2011)

hello,

i've been genuinely inspired to build my own and will start probably next month, will you be sealing the inside of the ply as after years of working with ply i've found it "peels" a bit when used and heat/moisture causes warp but this is a certain project for me and solves the problem i had with finding room for another viv, bonus is i can build to fit a space:2thumb:


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

well as far as sealing geos all i will be doing it either afew good caots of PVA all aroung the inside or a dull matt vaenish all over the inside L/ im not entirely sure yet but im also thinking of custom building these for people / customers but im not sure yet  

hopefully there shouldnt be enough moisture to warp the viv even over a few years but if be sealing deosnt work and somehow my viv warps / seperates then i will probs build another  BIGGER one haha


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## antiguaheat (Jun 21, 2011)

nice one, this has been a very informative thread, thought about building before but didn't know where to start, best part is i can build into the vacant space in my living room that a commercial viv wouldn't fit into


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## bradly (May 13, 2007)

A to the mazing. Great job.


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

thanks again people  

i will be putting my first and maybe second coat of base layer paint on today 

UPDATE LATER PIC HEAVY


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## dinostore (Feb 23, 2011)

looks great so far:2thumb:




antiguaheat said:


> thought about building before but didn't know where to start


here you go...he's got loads of b/g designs
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat/713219-how-make-fake-rock-backgrounds.html
: victory:


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

hi everyone kind of big update but deosnt look as good as it will because ive only done the base coat and a tiny bit of dry brushing with only one colour just for a test 

pictures:









































































he felt left 










this is the small bit of dry brushing ive done but it should get better as i build up the dry brushing for the shading on the rocks and just general touching up 














































this last one shows the right hand side isnt dry brushed and the left hand side is dry brushed 











hope you like it


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## ch4dg (Jul 24, 2008)

looks awesome, you've pretty much perfected the drybrush tech
: victory:


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

thanks your comment means alot becuase ive seen some of the backgrounds builds you have made and they are amazing !!! 

should get better


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

another ***update***  

i was bored and i left my viv outside to dry and a few hours had past and its was still sunny :O so i went and finished the dry brushing  

i have gone abit heavy on the dry brushing because when i was doing it i really liked the heavier effect and i thinks its because of the colours ive chosen to use  

the pictures in my opinion dont do the drybrushing effects justice  
































































more updates soon as i have to finish this soon because i think ive found a beardie


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## antiguaheat (Jun 21, 2011)

that's looking superb, what are you going to do with the brick area?


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

the brick area will be base layered black and dry brushed with a little silver, and ive yet to do some shading to make the rest pop  not sure what colour to use for shading tho i now it has to be dark so im open to opinions on that  

thanks


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

Yeah don't mix black. People believe to darken a colour or lighten a colour you need to add black or White, but that just muddies or makes it look more of a pastel colour. Preferably you need a dark yellow and then add that to your lighter yellow. Using increased gradients Every layer. I wouldn't worry about shading cause it's gonna have its own natural shadow when the lights are all set up


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

thats very true  i never thought of the natural shading hmm  think il leave it then because i think it might be hard to find a darker yellow 

thnks for your advice


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

That's ok. I would do it that way cause I'm lazy and I'd be afraid I would ruin it if I kept adding more paint. I paint for a living and I used to paint warhammer so I know a little bit


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Bloody brilliant mate!! :2thumb: I'm loving it!!! You deserve a big bag of M&M's!! Seriously!! It goes to show that with a little patience as some imagination you can come up with anything! And you've done it mate.

Well done :no1:


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

And OMG!! That's what you call a knife!! On my videos I mention to use a craft knife not a carving knife you use on hog roast LOL. Your dangerous! LOL.


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

lol ino it was much easier tho and it gave it a rough cut so it all help towards the rough look  

UPDATE 

ok so ive now practically finished all the painting and dry brushing and i am varnishing it today  

last bit of painting done - the bricks 





































more updates later today


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

Yeah that's great mate. Nice touch on the bricks. I see silver worked a treat.


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Still loving it!! :2thumb:


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

thanks .... big updates tomoz and maybe friday cos its got to be completey finished on friday  

mission impossible haha


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

BIG UPDATE - NEARLY FINISHED !!

ok so finally ive got my uvb bulb fittings 

and ive got on with securing the bulb in the viv and screwing down the lid, varnishing and starting on my plexy glass runner system.

AND NOW THE VENTS ARE GOING TO BE FITTED IN THE LID ON THE COOL SIDE BECASUE HEAT RISES !

so first i wanted to attach the uvb bulb so i found where abouts i wanted it going then obviously screwed the fittings down but i had a tip from someone. to drill little grooves on the top of the back panel so the wires can get out of the viv without being in the way. this is why ive been back tracked because it was so much easier fitting the uvb bulb whilst the lid wasn't fixed. 

AND YOU CAN SEE HERE THAT THE LEFT SIDE IS GOING TO BE MY HOT SIDE AND THE RIGHT WILL BE THE COOL






























my idea for the plexy glass system is to have one whole peice and have that 1 piece to be lifted upwards, just like giliteen BUT obviously its not a giliteen hahaha.....

so what i need to do was fix side. bottom and top panels on the face of the viv which were 2 inch but the top one was 3 inch so it hides the uvb bulb a little more. then i had to fix a blank piece of beading, then on that a decorative peice of beading which was about half an inch wider than the blank beading, and once they were fixed i had a runner 





































then this is the decorative beading fixed to the blank beading showing you how i got the grooves for the plexy glass to sit in and you can see i have left the top with no blank beading this is because this is where the plexy glass will be lifted through.




























im going to finish this tomorrow when i get the big drop saw out so i can get true 45 degree angles


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

Hey mate that's a work of art. That is truly amazing. Just remember to thin the varnish a little bit cause several thin coats is a lot better then a couple of thick coats.


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

thanks mate its really coming along now, it needs to be finished by tuesday :/ so theres going to be more updates tomorrow and tuesday then ill do on in the lizard section with my new beardie in her home


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

Nice. Good luck cleaning the poo off the rough floor lol just thought about it after I cleaned my beardies poo. I've got loads of slate type stones. The worst idea I've had so far. I just throw the stones away with the poo as I got fed up with washing stones everyday. When there gone there gone lol. Tempted to tile his tank but it will be slippery for him


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

lol ye probs be annoying for him as never having grip todo anything .

im going to be using sand as the substrate but on the rocks ye probs wont be the easiest or pleasant tasks haha


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## GeeUK (May 2, 2011)

Very nice result, I'm inspired!

May I ask, what is trying painting?

Oh and did you grout the whole floor of the Viv?


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

*UPDATE** newb beardie viv build with diy background PROJECT*

NEARLY MY LAST UPDATE **** (just need the glass ive oreded now)

so today i got out the drop saw so i can get perfect 45 degree angles on the decrotive strips (main part of the runner system) the bottom and two side strips are nailed down but you will notice the top strip isnt this is because im going to be sticking this to the glass with no nails and it will act as a handle for lifting out the glass but when the glass is in place on the viv the top peice of decrotive strip will just appear to be apart of the other strips, and completing the decrotive strip all around. i did this because i wanted the glass to be in one peice and have no holes or handles attached. 

the pictures speak for themselves tbh 



































#





































here you can see the blank beading strip is missing thats because this is the top part and this is where the glass will be and stuck to the decrotive strip 




















TOMORROW I WILL BE COLLECTING THE GLASS AND STICKING THE TOP PEICE OF DECROTIVE STRIP THEN COLLECTING MY CITRUS BEARDIE -- ASTRID

CANT WAIT


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## kitech (Jul 9, 2011)

Nice, Looking good  - wish I had of done mitre joints instead of these lap joints.. having problems as only got a saw and a chisel (which I jsut dopped on my leg and cut open lol). Like the outer frame tho. How much you paying for your glass out of interest?


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

the glass is from someone who is buying it in so hes put his profit ontop and ive ordered it today for tomorrow 4ft by 2ft (near enough lol ) for £23 

thanks m8 ye 45 degree mitres for me is the only option .... may aswell do it correct first time round and how you want it instead of quick and easy route (that sentence has basically got me threw this build without making it look shabby lol )


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

i did have the option of hardened glass for £33 but i had to wait a week for that and i havent got a week lol


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## rayzas royals (Jan 30, 2011)

astrid will love it in there


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

Toughened glass?? That's just shatters instead of breaking into shards. Doubt you will need toughened for a beardie. How many mm thick is the glass??


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

the glass will be 4mm and its not for the beardies clumsyness :blush:

hahaha i would feel better if the glass didnt shatter becuase if for any strange reason atall the glass smashed not to mention the saftly hazard but the beardie would just leave her viv were as if toughened glass smashed it would still act as a door because it will stay as one peice which is still a hazard but a far safer hazard than shardes of glass everywhere


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## kitech (Jul 9, 2011)

£33 seems a lot for toughened glass.. I phoned two glaziers and they both gave me quotes od £21 inc VAT for 4mm toughened glass. If I were you i'd phone a few local glaziers before you buy, unless it's too late


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

the thing is i need the glass today because im collecting the beardie tomoz and i want it to be up and running tonight ready for the beardie to walk straight into plus ive put a deposit down ..... i will get either toughened glass or perspex another time


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## kitech (Jul 9, 2011)

george98 said:


> the thing is i need the glass today because im collecting the beardie tomoz and i want it to be up and running tonight ready for the beardie to walk straight into plus ive put a deposit down ..... i will get either toughened glass or perspex another time


Fair, I was considering perspex and I think it would be ok for a snake but I think it would get scratched by something with claws, plus it's not quite as clear as glass.


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

Being not as clear as glass can be a good thing. My beardie can see his reflection and sometimes head bobs to it and then jumps up the back of his viv to try and hang on the uv light to escape it


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## kitech (Jul 9, 2011)

violentchopper said:


> Being not as clear as glass can be a good thing. My beardie can see his reflection and sometimes head bobs to it and then jumps up the back of his viv to try and hang on the uv light to escape it


lol, I suppose each has its pros / cons


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

FINALLY FINISHED just got wait gtill tomorrow for the calci sand 

heres a few pics of the final glass door system and astrid my citrus famale beardie





































THANKS FOR EVERYONES REALLY NICE COMMENTS FINALLY MY VIV IS DONE AND IM PRETTY SURE ILL BE DOING ANOTHER ..... AND A SMALLISH ONE FOR BABY BEARDIE IN THE FUTURE


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## Joel_Hanna (Jul 30, 2010)

thats f**king awesome! Nice job!


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## RedDragonPixie (Apr 12, 2011)

Awesome job


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## george98 (Jun 26, 2011)

thanks people it took some effort but i got there and it was all worth it !


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