# My custom build (pic heavy)



## Fargle (Aug 8, 2013)

I had a large mass of viv's stacked on top of each other and looking rather a mess so when someone put a custom viv stack up on the RFUK classified I snapped them up. The viv's were a little run down and in need of some TLC. There had also been used as a ferret hutch at some point in their past so had dirty great holes in the side that needed to be patched.

Here's the picture from the advert


And here's what it would be replacing




To end up looking like this




I started off by sanding down all the gloss paint on the outside of the panels and trying to patch up the holes. The panels are MDF so I obviously used a mask and was careful about how far down I went when sanding. The holes were backed with tight ClingFilm and then had expanding foam sprayed in to make the main body of the plug. The foam was sanded down and Fibreglass car body filler was smoothed over the top. This took a little bit of practice to get right and try and get a smooth finish after sanding.







I used a cheap fibre board for the back as the MDF was solidly put together so the back was just to stop the animals escaping, rather than having any actual structural role. I opted to go for ventilation across the whole of the top of the backing rather that cutting holes. Mainly for aesthetic and ease of build reasons but also as the viv's will be housing desert species so ventilation needed over humidity. 

I used a standard pack of B&Q's loft insulation polystyrene boards to start the theming. You'll see a glue gun in the picture although that quickly went out the window when I realised the glue coming out of it was so hot it melted the polystyrene!! 
Just using layers of thinly cut bits of polystyrene I build up a back and side areas for theming, leaving the middle open for floor space. My end goal was to look like a muddy dried river bed. Any indents in the polystyrene were just carved out with a coarse sandpaper. 








Next the viv got some light fittings and a lick of paint. The fittings are just the ceramic holders that I bought off ebay and wired together myself (having an electrician mate check them out!!). The paint is just standard houshold mat emulsion from B&Q. I then did some trials with various bulbs to see which gave best temperature gradients. The winner was 100W.





Now comes the fun and get very messy and very time consuming part. Using the ZooMed Excavator Clay Substrate to make the viv look muddy. I used this over going straight for a grout as I'm not artistic and was worried about the painting and colouring phase of the build, this stuff is already coloured nicely so I thought I'd cheat........it backfired quite nicely!
I used the clay with slightly more water than suggested in order to get a sloppier consistency that was easier to mold. This is not the recommended use for this stuff but I saw it and thought I'd give it a try. It's great for horizontal or slightly sloped edges but a pig to get to stick to vertical surfaces. I had to push lots and lots of small nails into the polystyrene and use them as a framework for the clay. I used 7 bags of this stuff and it wouldn't have covered all the walls and the floor so I opted to grout the higher areas where the animals will never go. I used a standard grout and then a Cementone colourant to get it to go redish brown.


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## Fargle (Aug 8, 2013)

I moved onto the grouting when I realised the time, difficulty and expense of trying to coat the whole thing in the clag. First I mixed up a really thick, playdough like batch to smooth out the edges of the polystyrene and then a thinner, normal batch to paint on in a couple of layers. When the last layer was freshly on I threw handfuls of my last bag of clay at it. This nearly killed me the first time when I wasn't wearing a mask and the clay got into my lungs and started to set. My breathing was shot for about 3 days!! The whole of the inside got a couple of layers of a spray varnish and the "high traffic" areas had another couple of thick layers of painted varnish. After a couple of weeks to vent all the fumes I moved everyone in.









And here's everyone at home and exploring once the lights and stat had been added. Since the top and middle viv are the same size, with the same level of theming and using the same bulbs for the same animal species, they're on the same stat that has been drilled through the wall and pinned to the front runner of the top viv. The beardies are currently on T8's as they have around 6 months left in the tubes but will be on T5's next refresh.
The bottom viv housing the hedgehog didn't need heavy work, just a lick of brown paint and some green highlights to make it look like a hedge row. Then some fake grass offcuts and a sand/soil mix.









I hope you'll like it. Its taken around 3 months and at my estimate around £170 to complete, baring in mind the viv was free, I just had to collect it, and I already had the stats/lights/rocks/animals!

Any questions just ask.


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## skilzo (Mar 16, 2013)

It looks great done an amazing job on transforming it :2thumb:


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## SublimeSparo (May 1, 2013)

Great work :notworthy:

I don't know why I am surprised, but I didn't know anyone kept hedgehogs as pets- whats the care like for them?


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## Fargle (Aug 8, 2013)

She's an African Pygmy Hedgehog, not a European one (that would be illegal). Basically like keeping a big spiky hamster! She didn't get enough attention from the people we got her from so she's a little huffy and nervous but she's coming round. I've seen videos on YouTube of them being very friendly.


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## GECKO MICK (Jun 6, 2012)

They look awesome.Nice job.:2thumb:


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## SublimeSparo (May 1, 2013)

Fargle said:


> She's an African Pygmy Hedgehog, not a European one (that would be illegal). Basically like keeping a big spiky hamster! She didn't get enough attention from the people we got her from so she's a little huffy and nervous but she's coming round. I've seen videos on YouTube of them being very friendly.


Haha, awesome 'spiky hamster' love it!
I genuinely do learn something new on this forum every day! 
Why is it illegal to keep European hogs? are they endangered?

Looks cute, are they tricky to handle? What sort of things do you feed one? worms/ livefood? veg?

I didn't realise how little I know about hedgehogs!


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## Fargle (Aug 8, 2013)

There's some laws about regarding keeping wild animals as pets, European hedgehogs aren't endangered but they are wild so would be wrong to bring them in. Plus they are usually riddled with fleas and ticks.

She is tricky to handle, you have to scoop from underneath and be gentle around the spikes, they do hurt. Staple diet is cat biscuits with some fruit/veg and dried mealworms to bulk it out and give variety. 

They're fairly common as pets, look in the "Exotic mammals" section of RFUK and there's loads on them as well as caresheets and breeder info.


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## mitsi (Feb 1, 2012)

vivs look great mate, job very well done.


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