# Insulating a Viv



## rimonex (Dec 21, 2010)

Was wondering whether anyone ever has insulated a vivarium and if so how they did it? Thinking about building a viv, but being green minded (kind of) was thinking about trying to insulate the viv and make it look pretty...

Any heating would be on a thermostat


----------



## igmillichip (Feb 7, 2010)

2 inch expanded polystyrene sheets from the DIY store.

OK....so having lumps of white stuff stuck everywhere may not look great, but a bit of creativity with a heat gun and some non-toxic paint might yield a nice 'stone-look' outside.

Obviously, you still have to allow for air circulation.


----------



## rimonex (Dec 21, 2010)

Hadn't thought of that. :2thumb:

I was orginally thinking of some sort of loft insulation and covering it with something like 2 ply..


----------



## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

if you want to insulate it to retain heat then you'd probably be better to double skin it. Build a timber frame with insulation between each skin. Fake rock walls don't do a great job of insulating


----------



## rimonex (Dec 21, 2010)

I thought as much. Any ideas as what to use as insultaion? Would something like a roll of loft stuff work or would polystrene be better?


----------



## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

if you're double skinning it then loft insulation would probably be ok... or kingspan. If you use kingspan you might have enough left over for a rock wall as well.


----------



## Lotus Nut (Jan 7, 2008)

What will the viv be housing?, in reality you will gain very little from insulating a viv as much of the heat is lost quickly through ventilation, glass doors and gap between glass doors.


----------



## volly (Mar 6, 2009)

Lotus Nut said:


> What will the viv be housing?, in reality you will gain very little from insulating a viv as much of the heat is lost quickly through ventilation, glass doors and gap between glass doors.


 
Was thinking the same myself to be honest


----------



## rimonex (Dec 21, 2010)

Lotus Nut said:


> What will the viv be housing?, in reality you will gain very little from insulating a viv as much of the heat is lost quickly through ventilation, glass doors and gap between glass doors.


:whistling2:
Fair enough, that solves the issue. I was thinking of doing a tall viv for whites tree frogs


----------



## paul k (Apr 15, 2007)

as meko said, i built a double skin viv and insulated it using just 50mm cetotex cavity insulation. the viv is 5' x 2' x 2' and i heat it with a 500 watt ahs. it maintains temp perfectly and i hardly ever catch the red light on the heater on. so i would say its well worth insulating if you can be bothered with the extra effort.


----------

