# vivarium glass



## kerrithsoden (Dec 6, 2009)

if i was to build my own vivarium, where would i get the glass from and does it have to be special toughened glass?


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## kerrithsoden (Dec 6, 2009)

btw the glass would be for sliding doors


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## callumcook (Oct 23, 2008)

a local glazier maybe??
or you could just use perspex??
it dosent have to be toughned eiether : victory:


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

Whether or not you use standard glass very much depends on the circumstances, I use standard glass in my vivs, but then they're in a home with two careful adults and no young children, large dogs, crazy cats etc..., so the chances of breakage are minimal.

If however you live in a house where breakages are more likely, or if the panes are particularly large, then you might want to use something other than standard glass.

I know lots of builders use toughened glass, this can be quite expensive, and the problem I have with it is that it can still be broken accidentally, and when it does it shatters into tiny pieces, the pieces are not particularly sharp but you're left with no glass in the viv! 

I would use laminated glass in preference, it's usually a bit cheaper than toughened, and if it does break it stays in one piece thanks to the tough plastic laminate layer, so with luck you won't have animals escaping all over the place while you madly try to sweep up thousands of tiny bits of glass!

Any decent local glazier will be able to supply standard, toughened, or laminated glass.

I wouldn't use Perspex (acrylic) as it scratches too easily, just cleaning it will cause minute scratches which eventually make it dull and cloudy, heat will also cause it to deform and buckle in a fairly short time, and because it's slightly flexible stronger animals can sometimes pop it from the runners.


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## kerrithsoden (Dec 6, 2009)

Graham said:


> Whether or not you use standard glass very much depends on the circumstances, I use standard glass in my vivs, but then they're in a home with two careful adults and no young children, large dogs, crazy cats etc..., so the chances of breakage are minimal.
> 
> If however you live in a house where breakages are more likely, or if the panes are particularly large, then you might want to use something other than standard glass.
> 
> ...


thankyou very much brill advice


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

Commercial Vivs are now classed as furniture cabinets and as such any glass in cabinets needs to comply with a british standard which in a nutshell means toughened glass.

For home use, a DIY viv can use standard float glass, especially if as one of the other posters mention, there is no risk of small children or animals smashing the glass panels. However I seen one really nasty wound from float glass where in reaction to a strike the owner elbowed the viv's glass door which shattered. Yes toughened glass is safer in that respect, but it is more expensive and you have to get your measurements right as it can't be ground down once treated.


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