# DIY Vivarium Project



## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

Hi and :welcome: Ladies & Gentlemen

Over the past Month I have been looking into the fabulous world of reptiles, in particular bearded dragons, 

now i have been researching and researching until I had care sheets coming out of my earholes :lol2:, I have never kept a reptile before as a pet but I used to look after my Friends when he went on holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it, now has come the time I managed to persuade the mrs to let me have one of my own for my "sons" Christmas present :2thumb:

I decided over the last two weeks that I was going to embark on building my vivarium completely from scratch including a custom DIY background and exterior after getting plenty of inspiration from quite a few threads on thIS marvelous website.

Now I should mention I have literally *ZERO* DIY skills and even manage to :censor: up any ikea product that gets put in front of me, to say the mrs wasnt impressed with my decision was an understatement.

So This thread is going to be my journey through the entire process from beginning to finish and I'm hoping if you have read this far that you may subscribe and follow me on this sure to be eventful Project. :2thumb:


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## Dave1986123 (Oct 11, 2014)

You will be fine there is lots of people on here that will help you I'm new on here to and got a tiny bit of knowledge on how to build Vivs from all the help on here bearded dragons are a largely kept species so you will get lots of tips on here if I can help let me no


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

*Step 1 (The Frame Build)*

Ok so Yesterday I received my starting materials, I ordered 18mm Plywood cut to size, lucky for me I have a friend that works in a Timber yard so for a few pints I had my wood sorted,

The Dimensions are 4ftx2ftx2ft which should be plenty big enough.































So as the pictures show all I did was line all my pieces up, Glued them together last night with some Unibond grab adhesive and then went over it with the drill to secure it with screws easy peasy. Next up Is the custom background and I have 6 sheets of polystyrene coming tomorrow.......Wish me Luck :eek4:


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

Dave1986123 said:


> You will be fine there is lots of people on here that will help you I'm new on here to and got a tiny bit of knowledge on how to build Vivs from all the help on here bearded dragons are a largely kept species so you will get lots of tips on here if I can help let me no


Cheers mate Glad to have you on board :2thumb:


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## Dave1986123 (Oct 11, 2014)

You should give it a varnish before you do anything else to it yacht varnish ,Bnq home brand , clear varnish that will waterproof it and preserve it a bit more for ya then silicon clear from fish shop black one is more expensive and your gona need ventilation of some kind on my rankin dragon tank it is the hole length of the viv top back wall like a fly screen about the width of a ruler


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## Dave1986123 (Oct 11, 2014)

Or you can just drill holes all the way at the top then screen it


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

Dave1986123 said:


> You should give it a varnish before you do anything else to it yacht varnish ,Bnq home brand , clear varnish that will waterproof it and preserve it a bit more for ya then silicon clear from fish shop black one is more expensive and your gona need ventilation of some kind on my rankin dragon tank it is the hole length of the viv top back wall like a fly screen about the width of a ruler


I have some marine silicone on route and also a hole cutter for the vents, I was planning on 4 at the back and 2 lower left side for the cool end, I did wonder if I should seal the plywood first, do you suggest both outside and in or just inside, I covering the outside anyway so not fussed about a varnished look outside ?


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## Dave1986123 (Oct 11, 2014)

Iv only done the inside on my one ,give a good 2/3 coats of varnish letting them dry in between coats it will stink for a week or so until it cures ,1cut the holes, 2varnish then 3silicon I'm not sure about the bottom holes you might wana check up on that I got my dragon tank from the shop already made and it ain't got no holes in the side just double check first


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

Ok cheers buddy,

Iv ordered some Rustins exterior varnish with Uv protection(eco safe) and some brown marine grade sealant, so will get that done drill holes for vents and then start on background, thanks for your help mate, really appreciated.


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## Dave1986123 (Oct 11, 2014)

No probs it was me a month ago lol


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## bigd_1 (May 31, 2011)

you putting a top plinth to hide the lighting?


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

Yes mate but I havnt fixed them in yet so couldnt take pic of top one in lol, Im going for a middle east lost jungle type theme mangrove tree/buddah etc, just want it a bit different as I think the desert themes all look much the same, and going for green reptile carpet as the substrate, Iv got a fair bit of size to play with so should look good once done. (hopefully):lol2:


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## herpcraze15 (Jul 31, 2014)

Looks promising, I think I might do a copycat job


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

herpcraze15 said:


> Looks promising, I think I might do a copycat job


Sounds Good Buddy :no1: we can compare notes:lol2:


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

Ok so last night and today I started to have a go at the modeling and sculpting of the polystyrene for my custom Vivarium project, me and the mrs are going for a "lost jungle,temple" type of theme with a Big Buddha for the centerpiece.

The actual temple has a tunnel behind it and the top section will be removable for cleaning, the hide is on the left hand side which will be the cool end, and the stairs lead up to the basking area, we have left this low on purpose as we are not sure of temps yet, we have made other plinths to go on top to raise and lower it depending on how hot it is once we get the lights in there and set up. 

Alot of the floor will be cut away once we have got all the bits exactly how we want them and then we will put green reptile carpet down.

We have also cut out a circle for the feeding dish which is a nice size 50 mm deep plastic dish which the dubia roaches wont be able to climb out of and are going to make it into a pit theme for our new dragon , This is the progress so far :2thumb::2thumb::2thumb:


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## Dave1986123 (Oct 11, 2014)

Looks very good mate :2thumb:


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

cheers buddy, the main construction is about done just a couple of bits to finish, all the parts are removable at the moment so we are going to grout all the behind and underneath and then put them back on the frame and into the viv and then finish off all the surface grout when all installed to seal it all into the background then chop the floor space away, then on to painting and plant placement :2thumb:


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## herpcraze15 (Jul 31, 2014)

Looks great!
Also, I'm sure you're tired of hearing about care, but supposedly reptile carpet isn't the best substrate for clawed lizards, because it can snag and possibly damage their claws.
Still, I used it for a few months with Winnie, and it was fine as long as I kept her claws trimmed. It also made it easier to handle her, what, without the little knives they have as claws digging into my skin:lol2:


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

To be fair I hadnt heard of reptile carpet to not be a good substrate :gasp: All of the surfaces that are to be grouted are going to have sand in them so hopefully this will aid in keeping the nails short


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

*Varnishing*

Ok So I have Just finished the varnishing, 3 coats of a water based polymer low voc environmentally friendly Varnish (mouthful).

Next on the list is to drill Vent holes and and then silicone all the edges with a marine grade silicone


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## Dave1986123 (Oct 11, 2014)

Your getting there looks good : victory:


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

Dave1986123 said:


> Your getting there looks good : victory:


Cheers mate, going to get as much as I can get done today.


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## HOTPD (Oct 20, 2014)

Ok so today I drilled out my 5 vents 4 along the back and one at the cool end which will be within the hide hole, also sealed with silicone and varnished the fresh cut holes, and then layed on my first layer of grout on the sides and back of the background frame :whip:.

Will take pictures tomorrow now as all is drying but have been very busy :bash:


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## mikepb123 (Jan 23, 2014)

This looks amazing so far, im gonna be making my background in the new year. Did u grout the back panels first before your sticking them down? And will it all be permanent or is it all removable?


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