# Vivarium vents



## DeanJ (Jun 8, 2011)

Hi guys, im new to the forum, and been reading up a lot of what people have been saying and everything has been a great help so far. I have decided to build my own vivarium for a bearded dragon to save on some money, and thought it would be a nice little project. But it occurred to me that i will need to put some vents in. I knew i had to have some, but im not too sure where they should go? Also ive heard people use circular ones, some use rectangular ones. What do you guys recommend? what size will be best? How many should be used in the viv?

Thanks for any help you can give

Dean


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## kitech (Jul 9, 2011)

How big is the viv you're building?


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## DeanJ (Jun 8, 2011)

It is roughly 3ft6 x 1ft8 and 1ft5 high


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## Pendragon (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi mate,

It's a bit small, but if you insist on building it then put in more vents than you think. The reason is you have to get a 35f drop in temps between the basking spot and the cool end, and with only about 24" to play with this will be hard.

I would have a vent running right accross the top back about 3" high. And then at least one 70mm vent at either end of the viv at the bottom. If you want to use round vents for all the ventilation then have at least 4 running accross the back.

You can easly get the correct temps in the viv with high wattage spotlights, or by moving the lights closer to the animal. But it is nearly imposible to reduce the temps in a viv that is over heating, so more ventilation is better than less. : victory:

Jay


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## DeanJ (Jun 8, 2011)

Thanks for the reply. I have a gap on my desk which looked massive so i thought that would have been plenty of room to build one, obviously not the biggest like the 4x2x2 people have been building, but a good enough size.
Im not too fussed about using the circular vents, as its easier to cut a square than a circle. But thanks for the advance, ill sticks lots of vents in to the viv lol. Im planning on having everything setup and tested for a week or two before i purchase the little guy so i know that everything is working exactly how it should


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## Pendragon (Dec 8, 2008)

DeanJ said:


> Im planning on having everything setup and tested for a week or two before i purchase the little guy so i know that everything is working exactly how it should


Sounds like a plan : victory:

Jay


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## DeanJ (Jun 8, 2011)

Another quick question about the vivarium. I was just about to order the runners for the glass, but i wasn't too sure which one would be best.
On eBay i have seen the runners come in different thicknesses for the glass, 4mm and 6mm. Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on this? which one would be better to get? How easy is it to get 6mm glass compared to 4mm glass or vice versa ?

Thanks for any help

Dean


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## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

DeanJ said:


> Im not too fussed about using the circular vents, as its easier to cut a square than a circle.


Its actually easier to cut a circle than a square. Get a holesaw, whack it in your drill ............ brrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!! and your through perfect circle to the dimensions of your viv 

look at my new thread custom ackie build and look at the vents I cut, these are using a holesaw that cost me £8


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## Pendragon (Dec 8, 2008)

DeanJ said:


> Another quick question about the vivarium. I was just about to order the runners for the glass, but i wasn't too sure which one would be best.
> On eBay i have seen the runners come in different thicknesses for the glass, 4mm and 6mm. Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on this? which one would be better to get? How easy is it to get 6mm glass compared to 4mm glass or vice versa ?
> 
> Thanks for any help
> ...


4mm is all you need : victory:

Toughened safty glass if you have the money.

Jay


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## DeanJ (Jun 8, 2011)

SuperSpeedyWheels said:


> Its actually easier to cut a circle than a square. Get a holesaw, whack it in your drill ............ brrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!! and your through perfect circle to the dimensions of your viv


Guess i was proved wrong 
Ill just get some circular vents then.




Pendragon said:


> 4mm is all you need : victory:
> 
> Toughened safty glass if you have the money.
> 
> Jay


Cool, ill get that ordered then. Thanks very much


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