# New Zoo Displays, Commercial Project



## acromyrmexbob

This is a post to start the coverage of a contract to redesign and install a complete Tropical Display in a UK zoo. The work started today and will be completed by end March. There are 36 separate enclosures ranging from Communual tarantula displays to a Dwarf Crocodile enclosure to house a pair of 50 year old dwarf crocs. In addition there will be a 20ft x20ft aquarium which we call a square do-nut. As it sounds the public can walk into a room and the fish tank is on all four sides, the fish can swim entirely round the sides and back to where they started. The brief from the client is to produce a series of unique displays using animals already in the collection and the addition of new species at our descretion. I have complete autonomy as to the design, layout and installation of the Exhibition and plan to use this thread to show progress, discuss problems, ask for input and generally get feedback from everyone who follows this here. I think there is a collective of expertise which I can possibly tap. 
The theme of the exhibit is 'Habitats of the World'. Its a working title but it needs to be sexier by the time its finished. The visitor will walk through the rainforest habitat where ther will see rainforest animals, feel the humidity, see everything in colours of greens and hear the sounds from the tropics. Then through the Swamp Zone, the aquatic zone and into ther Desert Zone. That will complete Phase 1. Later next year, Phase 2 will add the nocturnal zone and the Arctic Zone.

A rough plan is as follows.










If you follow the solid green corridor through the grey, the dark blue and into the orange corridor, this is the path the public will take through the exhibit.
The animals that are going into the cases are as follows.

1 Treefrog2 Marine Toads3 Poison Arrow Frogs4 Mannophrynne trinitatus (Trinidad Stream Frog)5 Leaf Cutting Ants6 Communual Tarantulas (Avicularia)7 Ball Termites8 Forest Scorpions9 Orb Spider10 Preying Mantis11 Chameleons12 False Water Cobra13 Red Footed Tortoise14 Land Crabs15 Stick Insects16 Green Tree Python17 Iguanas18 Large Snake Retic / Anaconda19 Dwarf Crocodiles20 Turtles / Terrapins21 Mangrove Snake22 Archer Fish23 Water Dragon24 Pipa Pipa25 Mudskippers26 Communual Fish Tank27 Electric Catfish28 Moray Eel29 Piranha30 Leopard Gecko31 Monitor32 Desert Kingsnake33 Locusts34 Mexican Rad Legged Tarantula35 Desert Horned Lizards36 Bearded Dragons

The numbers correspond to the tanks. So today we started on displays 1-4, just as the public walk in, to the left. These are principally the Amphibian displays. Each one will be approximately 120cmx120cmx120cm.
The space where these will go had two large turtle tank in place.










As you can see the background has had some kind of mural painted on it in the past. The tanks were removed and the area cleared to prepare the way for the start of the unit construction.










As a matter of interest one of the tanks contained 2 Alligator Snapping Turtles.










Tomorrow the plan is to install the timber frame to accommodate the units themselves which will be build on site.


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## SeanEK4

look forward to watching this come together, and then to visiting to see the finished artical!

Sean


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## zekee

Look forward to seeing this thread develop


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## wezza309

I and I think most on here will look forward to seeing how a professional builds a zoo enclosure mainly cause we all wish we could do the builds too so good luck and keep the pics and info conning thanks :2thumb::lol2::no1:


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## JPalmer

Agreed! I hope your going to do a proper build thread like your other ongoing project! Lol
Good luck!
Josh


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## philipniceguy

well I look forward to seeing this thread more than most as I plan to do a "zoo style" enclosure for a few of my larger stuff, and need to learn the tricks of creating faux stuff :lol2:


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## my_shed

philipniceguy said:


> well I look forward to seeing this thread more than most as I plan to do a "zoo style" enclosure for a few of my larger stuff, and need to learn the tricks of creating faux stuff :lol2:


Same here  


Incidentally........Any chance of a job going, it sounds like the perfect job :2thumb: 

Dave


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## bothrops

subscribed! :2thumb:


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## JonnyFrilledDragonLawson

awesome, im totaly jealous you get to do this for a living! looking forward to seeing it and which zoo is it? i wanna see it when its done


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## the_viper

Subscribed, can't wait to see more as I want natural setups at home


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## acromyrmexbob

Today started on the faming which will hold the first 4 units.










The horrible background will be changed later. 

The frame was then assembled to create the 4 spaces for the displays.



















Then the bowfront shape for the Trinidad Stream Frog display (which will be open fronted, was formed.





































Tomorrow we will line these units with board and start to clear ther site for Displays 6-12.


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## zekee

Impressive, looks so simple, but I bet it takes quite a bit of skill to do what you do. Love your threads and updates


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## the_viper

coming together now can see some rough sizes for the enclosures


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## Terrarium Supplies

I made a few racks out of that stuff, granted I probably didn't have the right tools for the job but took me the best part of a weekend to cut and screw it all together. I bet you knocked that frame up in a few hours!


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## acromyrmexbob

Did some wiring today, the corridor along the back is not for access to the enclosures, it will be for access to equipment, lights etc. All of these units will access from the front.










Units 6-12 will be started on Friday. First of all we have to remove the old display tanks and the old 'prep' room. This picture shows the old setup prior to removal.










I am in meetings tomorrow so on Friday all of the structure shown in this picture will be gone. The tanks and animals were all moved today so the old units can be ripped out and disposed of. Next post of pictures will be Friday, pm. This will show a lot of progress. The actual tanks will be built next week.


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## acromyrmexbob

Check the photo above and now, today, its gone.










The frames from Wednesday are now lined so we can build the glass vivs inside them.




























And the wiring is now complete.


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## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> Check the photo above and now, today, its gone.
> 
> image
> 
> The frames from Wednesday are now lined so we can build the glass vivs inside them.
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> And the wiring is now complete.
> 
> image
> 
> image


Very neat and tidy job so far, look forward to seeing how you do your glass builds, I line my vivs with glass but don't see many others and will be nice to see how a pro does it.

Dave


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## oakelm

Looking good, random question is the grotty carpet not coming out?? Surely you want to cut that away before adding more weight to the structure? Or is it just painted concrete I can't tell??

Once complete you will have to let us all know the name of the place so we can come and see your handy work in person :2thumb:


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## Nel5on

Great work, very neat!


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## rexob

you have an awesome job, look forword to the updates.


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## gecko lady

subscribed! what an awsome job you have very jelous! cant wait to see how it looks when finished


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## the_viper

hows it going, dying away here need updates lol


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## acromyrmexbob

Okay, back on site today. The area for the next displays needed to be cleared of rubbish. 










This area will have 7 displays in a U shape so the first stage is to build the timber frame. This will be the base for the glass and plastic vivariums to fit into. These vivariums will be built in situ.



















There will be an access corridor around the back of these units. This will not be for getting into the displays themselves but will be to access the life support systems. All of the 36 displays will have behind the scenes maintenance areas.




























The floor to ceiling gap in the displays facing is not a doorway. This is going to be a very tall vivarium which may hold a colony of Avicularia Tarantulas. Still thinking about this.










And this shot (above) starts to show how these new displays will fit into the look together with the ones already built.

Tomorrow I am planning to line some of these new ones with MDF, and possibly start one or two of the glass builds.

I have posed a question in the Lizard section relating to the Chameleon display which I am keen to get opinion on. 
Do you think that displaying Chameleons on a very large plant (maybe a Ficus) without an enclosure around them (ie there is nothing keeping them in) with a dry moat around the base to prevent escape, is a viable possibility for a public display. In this situation the public will be intriged and amazed that they can see the animals without a barrier separating them. Your thoughts would be appreciated.


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## Jb1432

acromyrmexbob said:


> Okay, back on site today. The area for the next displays needed to be cleared of rubbish.
> 
> image
> 
> This area will have 7 displays in a U shape so the first stage is to build the timber frame. This will be the base for the glass and plastic vivariums to fit into. These vivariums will be built in situ.
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> There will be an access corridor around the back of these units. This will not be for getting into the displays themselves but will be to access the life support systems. All of the 36 displays will have behind the scenes maintenance areas.
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> The floor to ceiling gap in the displays facing is not a doorway. This is going to be a very tall vivarium which may hold a colony of Avicularia Tarantulas. Still thinking about this.
> 
> image
> 
> And this shot (above) starts to show how these new displays will fit into the look together with the ones already built.
> 
> Tomorrow I am planning to line some of these new ones with MDF, and possibly start one or two of the glass builds.
> 
> I have posed a question in the Lizard section relating to the Chameleon display which I am keen to get opinion on.
> Do you think that displaying Chameleons on a very large plant (maybe a Ficus) without an enclosure around them (ie there is nothing keeping them in) with a dry moat around the base to prevent escape, is a viable possibility for a public display. In this situation the public will be intriged and amazed that they can see the animals without a barrier separating them. Your thoughts would be appreciated.


Possibly, obviously you still need to maintain a thermal gradient and the humidity. The concern i would probably have most is stress from human interaction. The other thing would be how you'd feed them?


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## bothrops

The build is looking excellent. Thank you for sharing this with the forum. :2thumb:




acromyrmexbob said:


> I have posed a question in the Lizard section relating to the Chameleon display which I am keen to get opinion on.
> Do you think that displaying Chameleons on a very large plant (maybe a Ficus) without an enclosure around them (ie there is nothing keeping them in) with a dry moat around the base to prevent escape, is a viable possibility for a public display. In this situation the public will be intriged and amazed that they can see the animals without a barrier separating them. Your thoughts would be appreciated.


I know of a collection that had a free roaming Meller's in their reptile house using a similar set up. However this was in a college animal unit and not open to the public. A regular dowse from a mister and a couple of waterproof basking lights providing a choice of basking spots and live food chucked into the tree was a successful husbandry technique.


However, in a public display in the space you're dealing with I would be very worried about two things.

1 - Public stand off barrier. - stopping the public being able to physically reach the animal (animal welfare, security and zoonotic risks)

2 - Stress - if the animal is on full view to the public, then the public are on full view to the animal. Chams are not known for their extrovert personality!



It might be possible to have an area where such a display could be set up on a temporary or rotation basis where a particularly friendly cham could spend a couple of hours on display with a keeper on hand to 'protect' it.


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## acromyrmexbob

I think it would be a nice thing to do but I think its not really an option. Chameleons are quite reclusive, the location I was thinking about would be busy. Just trying to make every exhibit in this display a new and innovative approach but the location is not good for this concept. 
Thanks for your thoughts.


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## MrFerretman6

Hi there

Avicularia are not a communal tarantula. They may put up with each other but unless the enclosure is massive, I think you're going to run into problems. 

I really think you should look into a commune of Poecilotheria. They have a very high tolerance of each other and will even share food. 

I'm not sure of your knowledge on tarantulas but it's not a case of buying a load of adults and putting them in a large enclosure. They will need to be raised together from the same eggsack. You may be able to purchase someones commune but I don't think they are that available. 

Done correctly this could look amazing. The genus comes from India and Sri Lanka and have been found in the wild sharing layers together. Species wise I would look at striata or regalis. Cheaper then the others in the genus and from what I have read, people get good results. You can keep any of the genus communally but people seem to have problems with ornata and rufilata.


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## Jb1432

MrFerretman6 said:


> Hi there
> 
> Avicularia are not a communal tarantula. They may put up with each other but unless the enclosure is massive, I think you're going to run into problems.
> 
> I really think you should look into a commune of Poecilotheria. They have a very high tolerance of each other and will even share food.
> 
> I'm not sure of your knowledge on tarantulas but it's not a case of buying a load of adults and putting them in a large enclosure. They will need to be raised together from the same eggsack. You may be able to purchase someones commune but I don't think they are that available.
> 
> Done correctly this could look amazing. The genus comes from India and Sri Lanka and have been found in the wild sharing layers together. Species wise I would look at striata or regalis. Cheaper then the others in the genus and from what I have read, people get good results. You can keep any of the genus communally but people seem to have problems with ornata and rufilata.


I agree. Regalis have been found co existing in the wild and they are a pretty easy species to keep.


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## acromyrmexbob

> Avicularia are not a communal tarantula. They may put up with each other but unless the enclosure is massive, I think you're going to run into problems.
> 
> I really think you should look into a commune of Poecilotheria. They have a very high tolerance of each other and will even share food.


At this stage I have got a concept for each exhibit, still to do a lot of the research. This is exactly the reason I am posting stuff here. Great info, PLEASE keep it coming. This display will be amazing thanks to everyone who contributes information throughout the process. When I really get into the installation and the big enclosures are being done I will rely on the collected knowledge found here in areas I am not an expert in. Titling the spider display the Communual Avicularia display was a working title, I will look into the species you suggest. Thanks again.


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## acromyrmexbob

Today we started to line the new wooden cubicles which we built yesterday.





























And we started to paint the original rack.










and the new ones also.










Next visit I will start on some of the glass vivariums. These will be built on site, in situ.


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## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> Do you think that displaying Chameleons on a very large plant (maybe a Ficus) without an enclosure around them (ie there is nothing keeping them in) with a dry moat around the base to prevent escape, is a viable possibility for a public display. In this situation the public will be intriged and amazed that they can see the animals without a barrier separating them. Your thoughts would be appreciated.


In the States a lot of people free-range their chameleons in living rooms, reptile rooms, etc. It's an idea that is worth looking into in my opinion, but I believe ultimately it will depend very much on the individual chameleon. Some are extremely happy to be around people, my panther cham Geoff was a good example. The minute he saw someone in the room he was waving to come out, never feared anyone and would happily hang on the curtains, sofa etc with any number of people around. However, the Panther I have now is at the other end of the scale, extremely reclusive, defensive if you reach toward him, etc.

I think it would be an awesome exhibit, and is certainly possible to acheive, but there are many inherent risks that would need assessing and controlling.

It may or may not be viable in terms of space needed to maintain a distance between the viewing public and the animal, but I like the thinking behind it, good inovation.

Dave


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## acromyrmexbob

The other problem is people nicking them! I think for a combination of reasons I will ditch this and come up with something else. Shame.


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## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> The other problem is people nicking them! I think for a combination of reasons I will ditch this and come up with something else. Shame.


Damn!! Saw through my ruse! And there was me thinking I could add a new cham to my collection for the price of a zoo ticket  :lol2: Good point though, not really worth the risks

Dave


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## acromyrmexbob

my_shed said:


> Damn!! Saw through my ruse! And there was me thinking I could add a new cham to my collection for the price of a zoo ticket  :lol2: Good point though, not really worth the risks
> 
> Dave


Dave, your card is marked, my friend. I will be watching!:naughty:


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## chrism

I have have confused termonology, but for the trinitatus, you put open fronted? Are you not worried about escaping? 
When I bred them removing a top lid was hard enough- they're like bullets!


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## acromyrmexbob

> I have have confused termonology, but for the trinitatus, you put open fronted? Are you not worried about escaping?
> When I bred them removing a top lid was hard enough- they're like bullets


This will be my fiendish design :crazy:
All will be revealed, but I think I can pull this one off.mg:


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## JonnyFrilledDragonLawson

i dont think its possible they can be nicked if the moat is big enough so people cant reach to the end of the otherside of the moat nevermind to were the chams will be

say arm --->....... Chams
----------\..... /
-----------\.../


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## Lacerta.

I used to regularly visit then consequently volunteer/work at a small zoo which had chameleons displayed in this way. They used mellors which seemed happy and healthy, they where feed by throwing winged locust onto the tree and sprayed twice a day. There were 3 MVB to provide basking area and a certain amount of thermal gradient. 

You also said this exhibit will act almost like an immersion exhibit so that the visitor will feel the temperature humidity of the rainforest ect, it may be possible to make these temp humidity levels correct for your chosen species of cham too.


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## acromyrmexbob

Unfortunately I think I would have to chain them to the tree to stop them getting nicked. Might cause some stress!


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## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> Unfortunately I think I would have to chain them to the tree to stop them getting nicked. Might cause some stress!


Gives us an idea of the expected clientele!!

Dave


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## AraCyanea

http://troll.me/images/monitor-lizard/i-will-be-monitoring-this-thread.jpg


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## CameronJames

already the space feels much better arranged, with a great flow. Will be nice to see finished, can't wait to see the process.


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## nickcradd067

Where is it?


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## acromyrmexbob

Don't really want to give the location until the project is finished. The pictures should be a clue to anyone who has visited though.


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## acromyrmexbob

Just starting to play around with this design on a new programme which I will be using to prepare pictures of the design for clients. Its only a few hours in so there is not much detail but the general shape is there. See what you think.....










Starting on this job in real ernest on 7th Jan with a team of 4 people so progress will be quick!


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## Nel5on

Looks great, can't wait to see things progressing further.


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## jacko1

whats going in the encolsure with the pond


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## acromyrmexbob

jacko1 said:


> whats going in the encolsure with the pond


Two 50 year old Dwarf Crocs.


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## Donnie76

Looking great so far, can't wait to see it all done. When are you estimating it to be completed? 
I hope this is not too far away from me so I can see it in the flesh


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## acromyrmexbob

All of this type of work is to be completed by the start of the season, which in this country is always Easter weekend. We have around 6 projects starting and finishing between now and Easter.


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## bigd_1

man love to have a job like your : victory:


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## Iguanaquinn

Epic thread! Is this in Scotland?


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## Jb1432

acromyrmexbob said:


> Just starting to play around with this design on a new programme which I will be using to prepare pictures of the design for clients. Its only a few hours in so there is not much detail but the general shape is there. See what you think.....
> 
> image
> 
> Starting on this job in real ernest on 7th Jan with a team of 4 people so progress will be quick!


I'm nearly excited as you on seeing the final results, hope you can finish your own project by summer :2thumb:

Also in regards to the enclosures, are the doors going to be on the front of the displays like in the draft? Can the enclosures be accessed from the back? It looks more presentable and realistic.


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## acromyrmexbob

Jb1432 said:


> I'm nearly excited as you on seeing the final results, hope you can finish your own project by summer :2thumb:
> 
> Also in regards to the enclosures, are the doors going to be on the front of the displays like in the draft? Can the enclosures be accessed from the back? It looks more presentable and realistic.


The smaller enclosures will all be front access, although there is access to the back for servicing equipment and filters etc. The large enclosures are accessed by a service corridor running the length of the rear. There will be a prep room with a public viewing window. This is, I always think, the most exciting area of the reptile house and it is good for a number of reasons that the public can see it. Mainly it will force the staff to keep it in very good order. These service areas can quickly become messy and a dumping ground. There will of course be a blind which can be lowered if there is anythin going on which the public should not see. 
I hoped to have my own project finished by Christmas, the delay will only mean some extra weeks so well before summer, yes.


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## targonne

Awesome work, Cant w8 to see more pics.


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## Atticus22

Looking really good so far, can't wait to see it when it's all finished.


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## Sammyb

another problem i just thought of not saying it will happen but could with having an 'open' display would possibly be D!CK heads trowing stuff at the cham. i have seen first hand people banging on the glass of vivs in a pet shop right in front of me and people trying to poke an iggy through a large mesh inclosure?? :bash:


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## acromyrmexbob

Maybe a little confusing, jumping back and forth between topics on this one thread but today I started the big waterfall and stream in the otter display at a zoo I am doing work for and thought I would post some progress pics here. On monday I am back on the big reptile house conversion but this time I have my team with me so its all guns blazing next week.

Today we started to lay rubble in the rough shape of the river.










Then continued to lay pieces of brick etc up the planned path of the river.










until the shape started to come together.


















and then we put cement along the base and sides to tie the rubble together.





































We also placed a ring of rockwork around the top of the preexisting mound of soil and rubble to form a platform which will be seen later.










and then started to add the final layer of cement to form the rocks.




























and then starting to work the cement with the brush. Due to time constraints today I only was able to start a small patch of waterfall. The main finishing work on this exhibit will be done next week.



















and thats the progress today. Will post some more Monday.


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## acromyrmexbob

Quite a few things going on today.
Firstly the strip down of the old department continues in earnest.




























The enclosures were part of a nocturnal room and the animals were caught and rehoused elsewhere in the zoo. These included a spring hare....










and a Pygmy Mongoose and a Yellow Mongoose.....










Meanwhile, outside at the Otter enclosure, the wall progresses at pace.



















The river started out as a cement and stone foundation










and today I formed half of it into rockwork. Once the cement was down I dusted with red powder










and then with darker powder and worked into a rock shape.....




























back inside and the start of the building of the vivariums. The bowfronted one is first. Because this will house frogs living under a waterfall, I want to hide the pump in the base, under the ground level, and have the water return to the hidden reservoir. This means access to the water will be from the back so a little innovation in this build to create a rear access.

This is the build from the front..










and the access from the rear










We will build the frames for the other vivariums in this row tomorrow.


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## tdbexotics

starting to look great...looks like a lot of work but looks like a job id love....jelous much!!!!:2thumb:
cant wait to see the finished product


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## Nel5on

All looks awesome! Can't wait too see finished pics. Might even make the 600 mile round trip to see it.


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## Adams Corns

WOW! Looks really good! Gotta check back here for updates


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## Dragon-shadow

I am loving what you are doing and am extremly jealous. Thank you very much for letting us all see what you are creating, I can't wait to see more


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## acromyrmexbob

OK, outside the rockwork proceeds apace.










The wall is starting to take shape also. All of the landscaping will start in earnest when the rock and wall is finished.

The picture below shows some of the squad building the wall.










Today we are concentrating on the river portion of the build for the Otters. We formed one of the sides with a more pleasing colour so we plan to recolour the other also.










If you look at the picture that follows you will see 3 colours which were our experiments to see which the client preferred. We decided on the middle, tan coloured one so now to change the rest to suit and finish the job!

Back inside and the carnage continues. 



















And on to the glass work where we had built the outside casing for one of the vivariums destined to house the amphibians.

The guys put the backs on for another two vivariums.



















Meanwhile something bizarre is happening in the Trinidad Stream Frog exhibit....










starting to fit the vertical supports for the reservoir...










and now the background glass is stuck in. Because all of this glass is simply to support structures and won't be seen, neatness is not an issue.



















Now its back outside for some more rockwork.


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## acromyrmexbob

Real progress made today. We will be outside for the rest of the day and tomorrow to try and finish this exhibit, weather permitting.




















You can see the river sides are complete, the recolouring is finished and now progress is being made around the outside.




























The whole exhibit is starting to take shape, I think.


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## tomcannon

I have been watching but haven't commented. I just have to say what a great thread this is, puts all the vivs to shame!


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## acromyrmexbob

Thanks very much, I also enjoy your builds, very inspirational. 



tomcannon said:


> I have been watching but haven't commented. I just have to say what a great thread this is, puts all the vivs to shame!


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## vukic

Its all looking amazing, definitely gonna have to make a road trip to see the end result, once I.find out where it's too.. Lol.

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## rexob

fantastic work and epic thread, i agree with tomcannon.


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## n3crophile

good read and simply awesome :2thumb: :grin1: :2thumb: :grin1: :2thumb:


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## targonne

Looking very nice.


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## Kimora

What you and your team are doing is really impressive :2thumb: looking forward to seeing updates and for it to be completed :no1:


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## acromyrmexbob

Todays progress.

Wall is nearly finished, and one more day on the rockwork. 

We lined the bottom of the river with sand coloured cement.










This is a whole new section at the rear just done today.










So we have completed round to the rear as follows










I think you can get the general feel for how it will look once the substrate and plants go in.



















We will hopefully start the landscaping this weekend, I will post as it develops but I think we will be switching the river on soon and the otters should be in residence within the next two weeks.


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## SeanEK4

excellent update as usual. keep them coming, i love checking in every day and seeing it progress


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## switchback

Love watching for updates on this thread!

I know your v.busy with this, have you managed to do anything with your home build? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk and technology


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## acromyrmexbob

> I know your v.busy with this, have you managed to do anything with your home build?


 
I am actually planning on cheating a little and bringing the team down to the house on Wednesday afternoon so we can cement the floor of the pond and river.


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## fatlad69

Nice work!


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## ReptileGirl91

This looks amazing can't wait to see the otters in their enclosure and to see the reptile house completed.


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## switchback

acromyrmexbob said:


> I am actually planning on cheating a little and bringing the team down to the house on Wednesday afternoon so we can cement the floor of the pond and river.


Ahh great! 

Can't wait for some more updates !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk and technology


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## acromyrmexbob

Inside we have finished clearing the area earmarked for the very large displays.










The props are to keep the ceiling up!

The following photo is of the crocodile display showing the pond marked out with black paint. We will be building this tomorrow.










Next you can see the area where the big square donut shaped tank will be build. The central area will be a room where the walls are a fish tank. Tomorrow we will be building the base for this.










The tank is the area marked out by the lengths of wood so a fish can swim completely around in a circle and reach back to where it started.

One of the existing residents waiting on its new home.....










Outside the wall is finished!

Here the wall meets the bridge..










A viewing window is fitted in the far side for the kids.










The way in. A gate way is left in the wall. The old Porcupine house will form the warm area for the Otters.....










In the pool a small wall is built with natural stone to form a barrier which we will fill with gravel and plant reeds. The water from the waterfall and stream will flow through this and hopefully we will have nice clear water in the spring.










We started to add soil and plant the low, ground covering plants. The top platform is filled with soil and we will plant some taller plants for effect.










Nearly ready for the main substrate to be added but there is actually a days worth of rock making to go round the back before we can finish the exhibit and add the final dressing. We have also decided to glaze the bridge so the sides are see through. This will be a good feature.









Will post again tomorrow. One thing to ask you. I don't want to clutter this thread up with too many ongoing stories but we have also, in the same zoo, started a Lynx enclosure, a Prarie Dog enclosure, a Porcupine / Mongoose enclosure complete with fake African Termite mound, we are building a rock platform in the Meerkat exhibit and we are working on 6 new Monkey exhibits. Will I keep things restricted to the projects I am writing about now or do you want me to tell the whole story. Just don't want to ruin what I am doing here by confusing the issue. The Tropical House will progress rapidly and there will be 4 people working full time on it from tomorrow (two up until now) so there will be lots to write about. I don't really want to start a new thread for the other displays (not sure if anyone would be interested in that here either) so it would be a series of updates about the others each day also. Let me know what I should do. Thanks.


----------



## dubs

Would like to see anything you have to say


----------



## bothrops

From my point of view, a thread for each enclosure/area would be great, but I can see how that might be more difficult and time consuming for you!


To be honest, as long as we get to see as many pics and builds as possible, I'm happy for you to do whatever is best for you!

:2thumb:


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## Exzhal

Looking really cool so far, can't wait to see more!


----------



## my_shed

Stick to one thread, i think you' d be surprised how many of your ideas for other sorts of enclosures we' 'll all steal for our reps enclosures, and maybe making different threads would dilute it somewhat. And of course it' 'll be far easier for you to do it all on one 

Great work so far!!

Dave


----------



## targonne

please keep them coming, and you can show them all. 

we can all learn from each others experiences, and although most of us wont have the opportunity to build a big cat enclosure, we all look at your pics and me specially, and wonder why did you use that type of joint, or why you making this and that. maybe i can use it for my next build and incorporate it one of your ideas.



Your an inspiration, keep up the good work.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Thanks for the feedback, I'll keep it to one thread and mention them all then. Please let me know if it gets confusing.

Otter Enclosure:

Final parts of rock work, round the back, were done today. One of the new guys did this so I think it looks great.










It was snowing really heavily today, frost in the cement is a real problem, we are monitoring the rockwork to see if any has cracked. In the next photo you can see the natural stone wall we built to retain the gravel. So the water from the river will flow through this before entering the pond.



















Porcupine / Mongoose Enclosure:

This is the very start of a 3 week build to rehouse the porcupines and mongooses'.

Here the wall is started.










Snow and ice, again, a real problem.










Once the wall is built the main feature of this enclosure will be a fake African Termite mound. The porcupines will live in the base and the Mongooses will have an entrance burrow higher up, mimicking what happens in the wild.

Prairie Dog Enclosure:

Start of a new enclosure.
A 10 foot trench was dug with an excavator and lined with mesh to prevent them tunneling out. Then the trench was back filled with tar scalpings and compressed.




























Hopefully we will get the wall started within the next week.

Tropical House:

Built the Crocodile pond today. The block work will not be seen once the lining is formed. 



















The front panel will be an underwater viewing window to see the Dwarf Crocs when they are in the water. The filter tank will be situated at the rear.


----------



## Exzhal

can I have a job like yours please?


----------



## acromyrmexbob

> can I have a job like yours please?


You might notice that this job is a lot like a builders job. There are lots of times when you are setting up enclosures and laying them out but there are loads and loas of times when your just building sh*t, sticking sh*t together, pulling sh*t apart and basically doing sh*t jobs. Today I was a brickie. Making rocks is working with cement. Sometimes you feel so far away from the animals that got you into this job in the first place that you have to pause to remember what you are doing this for. Just, now and then, give me a 3 foot tank to set up for goldfish!!


----------



## Exzhal

Must be great to go back to things like this a few months after they're completed to see them in action too though :2thumb:


----------



## Theevilreddevil

why can't i get a job doing this, great stuff :2thumb:


----------



## JonnyFrilledDragonLawson

cant wait to visit this place when its done! (hopefully its not too far away lol)


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Last couple of days we have been driven inside because of the weather!
Its baltic!
We started the brick plinths for the huge square donut walk through aquarium!










If you can follow the picture, the plinths are arranged in a large square. These will form the basis of the stand for the tank. 





































Once these pillars have set we will shutter them and pour self levelling cement compound into the entire stand, reinforced with steel, to for the base cabinet.


----------



## CameronJames

acromyrmexbob said:


> You might notice that this job is a lot like a builders job. There are lots of times when you are setting up enclosures and laying them out but there are loads and loas of times when your just building sh*t, sticking sh*t together, pulling sh*t apart and basically doing sh*t jobs. Today I was a brickie. Making rocks is working with cement. Sometimes you feel so far away from the animals that got you into this job in the first place that you have to pause to remember what you are doing this for. Just, now and then, give me a 3 foot tank to set up for goldfish!!


I think this is what a lot of people don't think when they see your job. Your definitely right, there is a lot of building work here, much more than what I would have anticipated. I personally think that's due to the size of your jobs, in comparison to most people setting up a space not larger than 2ft.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Today the weather drove us indoors. We left the bridge over troubled otter waters bereft of its rails, waiting to be glazed. We have to cut laminated glass to fit the curved panels, this can be tricky, watch this space!










We fitted the reinforcing steel today prior to pouring the base and sides with cement to finish the pond.



















And our joiner has finally recovered from a chipped bone in his arm so we will see progress now on the structure. The walls of the croc tank are started......



















To the untrained eye (and probably the trained eye as well) this looks like a scene of carnage! It should start to make sense within next week of so...










More updates tomorrow.


----------



## Nel5on

Awesome progress, starting to really take shape!


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Today we continued with the croc enclosure. The surrounding walls were completed.




























More metal goes in.




























More tomorrow.


----------



## Nel5on

Looks great, what is the big metal mesh stuff for? Sorry if its already been stated.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Nel5on said:


> Looks great, what is the big metal mesh stuff for? Sorry if its already been stated.


We pour cement over if and it becomes metal reinforced concrete which is very strong and won't crack / leak


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Around the back of the pond we have started to form the supports which will hold the land section. 










The next picture is of the old display unit which is exactly where the walk way into the Aquarium room needs to be.










so we took it away...










with the supports added all around the pond we can start to place the wood on. This will be used to pour the cement onto to form the bank.














































Meanwhile, the first 4 units we built before Christmas are now being worked on.

The glass supports for the rockwork are glues in place.




























Tomorrow we will start to build the backgrounds in these tanks.


----------



## fatlad69

Can't wait.

Adam


----------



## tomcannon

Looking forward to watching those tanks transform!


----------



## acromyrmexbob

So...
Starting to fit the wire mesh to the backs of three of the units today.

The Poison Arrow Frogs will have a river flowing along the back at the top. This will fall down a waterfall into a small pool around half way down the back panel and then flow along the back the opposite way before falling into another pond near the base. It will then go back along the back and fall down into a pond on the base before being pumped back to the top.:blah:










The glass supports now hold the wire in position. We use glass because its very quick to cut and does a good job. While we are working at this stage we use thin strips of Gorilla Tape to hold netting in place.










The top river and the cascade take shape.

In the next picture you can see the three rivers starting to take shape....










The Marine Toad Cave with cockroach filled cave walls is, in the same way, shaped glass strips with heels which support the wire. Here we are looking for a rock wall effect so the wire is shaped to give this effect (hopefully)




























The Trinidad Stream Frog Tank will be a central waterfall into a pool at the bottom. In the following picture its the one in the middle.










Meanwhile, in order to save costs we used some old laminated glass we had taken out of the reptile displays when they were dismantled to cut the panels for the sides of the bridge over the otter display.

To cut laminated glass you must first score both sides and crack the glass.










Then, in order to break the cut and remove the offcut it is necessary to pour methylated spirits onto the glass and light it. This melts the plastic interlayer and the glass separates.



















The croc pond is now fully covered around the banks and the steel is in position ready to be poured with cement.










and the big square donut is getting lined with wood, again this will be poured with reinforced concrete and then the tank will be built onto this.
More tomorrow.


----------



## yuesaur

this project is the highlight of my day!

*returns to lurking*

any chances of some free passes? :whistling2:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Sorry, this picture should have been on the end of the last post, following on from the comment.....'and the big square donut is getting lined with wood, again this will be poured with reinforced concrete and then the tank will be built onto this.'


----------



## SeanEK4

excellent updates again! love reading them.

looking forward to visiting then this is all done. anyone know which one this is yet and would like to PM me it?


----------



## acromyrmexbob

So we started to fit out the invert section of the display. 

Firstly we screwed the remaining panels in place.....










then we painted them...










and placed the glass bases in position










We also completed the top table of the fish tank stand.



















In this last picture you can get an idea of the square donut shape of the tank, the stand goes round 360 degrees so fish can swim around the entire circumference back to where they started. Entrance into the room formed by the fish tank will be via an archway through the tank on the panel to the right in this picture, which we have not yet built:










More tomorrow.


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## vukic

It's all looking awesome.. :-D 

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## snakefreak007

INCREDIBLE! I never seen anything like it. I think everyone of us want a job! haha Good luck...really enjoying your posts! SnakeFreak


----------



## acromyrmexbob

The Prairie Dog enclosure starts to get its wall



















The Porcupine wall is very nearly complete and waiting for dressing up. This is where the termite mound will go.




























Last night the new Lynx arrived...



















Back in the Tropical House, we built a tray of wood around the fish tank base to hold the cement and placed wire reinforcing in the space created.



















and then started to pour the cement...























































Posting more in next post now.....


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Meanwhile the Otter display outside is starting to move forward again with the milder weather.

Gravel is put into the filter bed. Soil in the borders. And the bridge is painted ready for the glass.























































In the reptile house the timber frames for two of the tropical reptile tanks are made.










We have started to cover the wire mesh with cement to fill the holes prior to a final layer which we will colour and seal.










and today we built the glass cases for the invert section, prior to dressing them.



















If I can persuade the boys tomorrow we will pour the crocodile pond base. Thats a BIG job, lots of mixing. We'll see. Also we will try to complete one or two of the backgrounds in the Amphibian section.


----------



## cold blooded beast

Are you shooting/spraying. . .or troweling the mixture on the chicken wire?. . . .can't get enough of this thread. . .been silently watching til now: victory:

Marcus


----------



## SeanEK4

also, whats the man power, timescale etc like on a build like this? as there is quite a few different style of housing going in


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Hi, we are 'smearing' the cement mix onto the wire on the first coat to fill the holes. This is as rough as possible. When this has set we throw a wet mix onto the surface. Before this dries we dust it with the colour hardner and then spray with water and use a dry brush to texture the surface and blend the colour.

Below is the cement with the powder on it for the Cockroach / Marine Toad cave.










and during brushing the colour starts to come up. We are looking for a greenish slate colour.










It will dry a different shade. Hopefully this looks something like a cave effect.
After this we added the front glass panels at the top and bottom.










To the left of this unit is the Tree Frog Tank which we have yet to start dressing. To the right Cheggy is fixing the wire to the Trinidad Stream Frog Tank prior to first coat tomorrow.










In the Poison Arrow Frog tank the first, smeared coat is applied and left to dry until tomorrow when it will be final coated and coloured / textured.










Prior to final coat we will fix the hose and some plant pots to the rock face. The screws in the following picture are the anchor points for the hose.....










In the inverts section the carcass for the Nephila spider tank is formed.










Over by the fish tank the frame which will hold the Archer Fish tank is built.










The shuttering comes off the concrete on the large fish tank base to reveal the base onto which polystyrene will be fitted and then the tank will be built.










and finally, in the tropical reptile section the door is fitted to the new section of units which will lead to the preparation area behind.


----------



## Exzhal

Probably already been said somewhere but far too many pages to go through  what zoo is this at? Would love to visit it once everything is finished and open to the public : victory:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

In fairness to the owners I would rather reveal the location wherer we are working once it is finished and the zoo is opening.


----------



## Exzhal

That's fair enough, I've been checking back here every day anyway guess I'll see it eventually when you let us know : victory:


----------



## PhillyDee

Really interested in the vivs! Do you seal the cement with anything after brushing the surface? Can you link to the products you use like "colour hardener"? Would love (as would many others) to give this a go in the home! Is it just standard aquarium sealant to join the glass panels? And as above, would love to know where, and when it opens!


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Cement is sealed with a waterproofer but the colour/hardner renders the surface of the cement 2.5 times harder than untreated cement so after a couple of weeks the rocks are harder than the real thing! I will dig out the links for the stuff I use and post when I get the chance.

Today I decided to start on the Forest Scorpion tank. It was a real RFUK day because we were all working on tank backgrounds. On an impulse I decided to make the forest scorpion tank into an Inca / Mayan pyramid. Thought it would make an interesting feature if this pyramid emerged from vegetation and had scorpions of some description all over it. Should make quite an impact. I think polystyrene or foam would not withstand years of keeper abuse so I fell back on what I know best, glass! 

The empty tank.....










The pyramid was formed in a few minutes with 3 pieces of glass....










Working to the picture taped to the back of the tank, the stair frame is added.










The the steps. Because I will paint this with some form of coating the steps can be rough and not precise...





































When dry we will add the front steps and a shelter unit at the top.

Also today we were working on the Poison Arrow Frog exhibit.

Firstly we added some half pots so we can plant some climbers etc later.










At this stage we have added no colour to the cement. Next we add red and tan colour. I want the rock to contrast with other exhibits around it both in terms of style and colour.










Then we spray surface with water and work with brush and sponge as usual.










Rock looks very red, maybe too red. Can't remember seeing any red rock like this in rainforest. It may dry duller but I think the contrast with the plants and the frogs will be impressive.

We painted two of the tropical reptile units also today.










Will do more work on these tomorrow.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

The Trinidad Stream Frog Exhibit.
As usual we added the base coat and shape in cement










powdered it










and textured it. Its the centre one in the following picture.










Once the sealer is added and the plants and other decor are in it should look good. I am trying to avoid similar colours when vivs are side by side.

We also started the cave cricket display. This will be a horizontally split display with normal land (above ground) on the top and a cave shown under ground. The crickets will be in the cave lit by a black light (UV). Should be interesting.










The partition was added to the Nephila Orb Spider Tank 










we will also display a ball termite colony in here from Trinidad.

Outside the planting and landscaping is being fitted in around some horrendous weather.



















We are going to drain the pond and paint it sandy colour. Meanwhile the cement border has been laid.


----------



## tomcannon

I love this thread! I've seen it being asked so sure its already been answered so I apologise but where is this? Planning a trip across the river in the summer so may have to swing by depending on location.


----------



## bothrops

tomcannon said:


> I love this thread! I've seen it being asked so sure its already been answered so I apologise but where is this? Planning a trip across the river in the summer so may have to swing by depending on location.


Five posts up on this page! :whistling2: :Na_Na_Na_Na:



acromyrmexbob said:


> In fairness to the owners I would rather reveal the location wherer we are working once it is finished and the zoo is opening.


----------



## tomcannon

bothrops said:


> Five posts up on this page! :whistling2: :Na_Na_Na_Na:


But yours was the first post of this page?!! :Na_Na_Na_Na:

Seriously though, cheers!


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## pirez

I know where it is, can't wait till it reopens!


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## vukic

pirez said:


> I know where it is, can't wait till it reopens!


Your going to get mobbed for the location now... Lol..

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## bothrops

tomcannon said:


> But yours was the first post of this page?!! :Na_Na_Na_Na:
> 
> Seriously though, cheers!



Doh!....dammit.:blush:


:lol2:


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## Jb1432

pirez said:


> I know where it is, can't wait till it reopens!


As do i, so keep quiet until its finished.


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## popeye92

fantastic work dude :2thumb:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Been filming with BBC this week hence no updates. Was on site yesterday.
The backgrounds for the amphibian tanks got their first coat of lacquer.

The rock cave....










The Stream Frog Waterfall......










At the same time we also fitted the back of the pond which will be concealed in the final version. Each small panel of glass is raised to allow water to pass through, underneath to the pump behind.










Thats not a colour change half way down, its just the flash from the camera.

And the Dendrobate Stream Face










It always amazes me how adding lacquer changes the ball games with regards to how it looks.

We used some of the old facing wood to refit onto the new units. Once they are painted they will look perfect, they look a bit rubbish just now...




























With the final colour in the amphibian tanks and only the decorating and planting to go (as well as the equipment, lights etc) it is possible to get a better idea of the finished look.



















The Cave Cricket tank now has a lot more form. We have added more cement and the frame work for Stalactites and Stalagmites. (I asked one of the workmen if he knew the difference, he said '...tites' always come down!)










After someone saw a bear in my waterfall in the Greenhouse project I am expecting a few obvious comments regarding mouth and teeth! Try to restrain yourselves, its not finished yet!










One or two other things, the glass is in the bridge on the otter enclosure...










the grass is down around the pond...










The procupine enclosure is nearly finished...










and a whole host of other works proceeds apace!


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## gekonide

one word: WOW


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## SeanEK4

excellent progress! 

love seeing this come together!


----------



## Rammy

I've just spent the last hour or so reading through this whole thread. Absolutely amazing work by you and your team. Can't wait to see the exhibits get finished one-by-one but don't want the thread to end!
Great work!

Dave


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## Salazare Slytherin

Freaking awesome! so ermmm yeah, come and do me one when your finished! :blush:


----------



## Praying_Mantis24

it all looks great keep up the good work


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## Exzhal

Just caught up on the last few pages since I was last on here, still looking absolutely amazing.

If I ever get rich you can design my reptile room :whistling2:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

The strange glass structures you can see in the bottom of this Trinidad Stream Frog set up are a quirky idea to return the water to the sump which is hidden at the rear of this tank. The water passes under the glass which in turn stops the rock from sealing the pond from the sump. That might not make much sense but it will once the thing is running.



















The door posts are fitted.










(thats the untreated wood in these pictures)










and in the Chameleon tank, as well as the door posts, a thin background layer is added to the wire mesh frame so we can put a very basic decoration here.










In the stick insect and cave cricket displays the door frames are made. They may look a little chunky just now but they will disappear when the colour and lighting is cranked up.










In the Toad / Cockroach cave display the vivarium roof is fitted in glass. The strips of glass you can see are temporary supports to hold the top panels in place while the silicone dries.










Similarly in the Treefrog display the roof is fitted and the background started.










More tomorrow


----------



## acromyrmexbob

If you look at the bottom of the new rock we made today in the Waterfall exhibit you will see the gap for water to flow underneath this towards the filter.









This rock completes the rockwork in the Trinidad Stream Frog Display.










and once it has been shaped it is coloured and worked as usual.



















Work starts on the Cuban Boa tank with the pond in the base. This will be fitted with a drain and an automatic top up system.










The doors and more framework are added to the invert section.









cement work is added and coloured to the cave cricket enclosure.










In the Chameleon display the background is added. I wanted this to be multicoloured so the Chameleon will change depending on where it sits. Although you cannot see it from this shot we have left lots of pockets in the background for planting.



















We sat a good candidate log in the Indian Ornamental Spider Communual Tank. We will work this shortly.










and we used some reclaimed panelling to board up the end of the invert section.










More to follow.


----------



## targonne

Looking very good.


----------



## tom93

not commented but I have been following the thread and I'm very impressed. Nice to see how it has progressed and coming together. Keep up the good work :2thumb:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

The lower waterfall rock is treated with lacquer.










The Treefrog Tank background is completed and coloured.....










the Chameleon Tank background is Lacquered.....










a rock pool is built in the bottom of the Cuban Boa tank. This will be fitted with a plug for draining.










the door frames for the first 4 units are attached....










the end panels of the invert unit are nailed in place and the undercoat of the Scorpion pyramid is applied....










Tomorrow is a big day, we will start to paint the tropical section.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

This might get a bit boring today, just pictures of paint drying!


----------



## em_40

Nice work, I love your threads!


----------



## Meko

that's looking the nuts.. Although I prefer the wood over the green, on the frames.


and somebody spelt 'praying' wrong :whistling2:


----------



## my_shed

Meko said:


> that's looking the nuts.. Although I prefer the wood over the green, on the frames.
> 
> 
> and somebody spelt 'praying' wrong :whistling2:


Glad I wasn't the only one to notice :lol2:

Dave


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Preying?:banghead:
The reason the frames are green is because the ground here will be brown. The doors will be a darker shade of green as will be the ceiling. And the walls will match the frames. So everything should blend away to uniformity. Then the displays will be lit and all the focus will be on them. The public area will be dark but I will pick out areas with light from projectors which will show rainforest images projected onto the green walls. I am looking for the forest floor impression, together with sounds of the rainforest and high humidity in this area. The important thing here is that I am creating an experience and the colour of the frames is designed to eliminate them from the picture you will experience when visiting. Having brown frames in a rainforest scene is counter intuitive. The background has to be different shades of vibrant green.


----------



## Boa Buddy

have you thought of putting live plants around the walkway, like ferns etc to give the illusion they are walking in the rainforest..... Just a thought really


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Boa Buddy said:


> have you thought of putting live plants around the walkway, like ferns etc to give the illusion they are walking in the rainforest..... Just a thought really


Yes, I would love to do this, only problem is that these would need sufficient light to thrive, not sure I want to sacrifice the impact of each display by flooding the area external to the exhibits with light. May introduce some planted areasto the side of the displays, though. Thanks for the suggestion, I really appreciate ideas and would be happy to incorporate any into the design.


----------



## Lermy

fake plants could be an idea in that case then


----------



## Boa Buddy

what about UV lighting, they had it at another zoo , can't remember if it was blackpool or chester but it seemed to make a good impression, they had it for a bat cave where the bats flew around and also in the aquatic area., that way you have decent light in the habitats and enough light for the plants, as it doesn't need to be a white light.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

> that way you have decent light in the habitats and enough light for the plants, as it doesn't need to be a white light.


Not sure thats correct. I think the spectrum and intensity (in lumens) is important and UV is not any more important than light from te other parts of the spectrum, including the red end which stimulates flowering. I might be wrong about this but I think bright light, close to the spectrum of the sun, is required for plant growth. If there is a way round this I would love to know. 



> fake plants could be an idea in that case then


Artificial plants........:war:


----------



## Boa Buddy

Original LED PANEL grow light 90W found this, i know certain light colours can aid growth whilst others can't..Again like your self i'm not 100% certain but it might be worth while finding out tbh.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...ow light 90W&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13609648862242


> Original LED PANEL grow light 90W found this, i know certain light colours can aid growth whilst others can't..Again like your self i'm not 100% certain but it might be worth while finding out tbh.


http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...ow light 90W&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13609648862242

That light looks really good, but the price is ridiculous. On the page your link goes to it says...



> The LED is many times over the highest powered LED grow light available.
> It can be used by itself for all cycles of plant growth (covers 9 square feet), can be combined with fluorescent lighting, or can be used to expand your current indoor garden.


I suspect the "current indoor garden" they are referring to is probably of the 'weed' family and hence the exorbitant price!


----------



## Boa Buddy

i was mainly looking at the light colour, i know certain colours won't help like green, but mainly blue's, red's and yellows work well enough, would a black light work???? the only other thing i could suggest is seeing if the zoo has a horticulturist (think that's how it's spelt) and having a natter with them.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

We started to drill the hole on the bases of all the displays to fit drains and overflows.










then in some fitted simply plug units so ponds can be drained without the need for keepers to siphon or aquavac!










view from below prior to connection to main drain...










In others we used the holes to fit an overflow pipe. These will carry water to a sump so it can be pumped back into the tank via a misting system or rain system. All of this will be automatic on a timer.










Today we started to permanently fix the doors.










the ceiling got a coat of paint to start the effect of forest canopy










and the doors were painted.










I think things are starting to look nice. The rest of the week is going to focus on setting up the displays in this section.


----------



## Spikebrit

acromyrmexbob said:


> Not sure thats correct. I think the spectrum and intensity (in lumens) is important and UV is not any more important than light from te other parts of the spectrum, including the red end which stimulates flowering. I might be wrong about this but I think bright light, close to the spectrum of the sun, is required for plant growth. If there is a way round this I would love to know.
> 
> 
> Artificial plants........:war:


you are correct light for plants needs to be between 6000-8000 lumins for best growth. Depending on the wavelength this often means the light gives a pink hue, but can also be clear. 

Uv does nothing for plants over then burning leaves. 

You can get UV units that aid plant growth, but i've never had great success with them unless you spend a lot of money. The cheap chinese one's just don't work. 

You can get low light loving plants, such as wondering jew, pothos, inch plant, heatleafed climber and spider plants which thrive off low lights so could work well around the vivs externally. I;ve seen those grown externally to vivs at west-midlands zoo. Depending on the glass used (if its opti white) then depending on how close the plants are to the viv then they may get enough lighting through the glass to grow. 

jay


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## Antherina

Impressive. No wonder you have no personal time. You'd need to clone yourself several times to fit in all the stuff you do!


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## Moonmoth

acromyrmexbob said:


> Yes, I would love to do this, only problem is that these would need sufficient light to thrive, not sure I want to sacrifice the impact of each display by flooding the area external to the exhibits with light. May introduce some planted areasto the side of the displays, though. Thanks for the suggestion, I really appreciate ideas and would be happy to incorporate any into the design.


You could perhaps try plants that wouldnt mind the lack of light, I think common polypody- Polypodium vulgare will put up with deep shade, maybe Fatsia japonica and Asarum europaeum also would give you a nice tropical style of planting? Aucuba japonica is worth a try too


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## acromyrmexbob

> You could perhaps try plants that wouldnt mind the lack of light, I think common polypody- Polypodium vulgare will put up with deep shade, maybe Fatsia japonica and Asarum europaeum also would give you a nice tropical style of planting? Aucuba japonica is worth a try too


Thanks, will look into these.......

We formed a lowered section in the crocodile bank today which will be filled with sand so there will be a nest site for the pair of dwarf crocs which lay eggs each year.










this is in the rear left corner far away from people










Now we started to lay the concrete mix into the base of the pond.










working our way forwards towards the front










until there is a 120mm thick layer of reinforced concrete in the base.










ready for the shuttering on the sides to be fitted.










In the Treefrog tank the drain is covered with a grid and then a layer of gravel is added.










then fine mesh is laid over the top










followed by a layer of compost. The log decoration is wrapped in sphagnum moss and then plants are added, both to the log and the soil.










Plant species are a little rubbish just now until I get to Trinidad but for now greenery is the mantra!










some plants are added to the Poison Arrow Frog display


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## acromyrmexbob

The Trinidad Stream Frog display has a couple of plants added, temporarily.










the communual spider tree starts to take shape.










the lighting gear is fitted in strategic locations. These units switch 6 strips on and off at once. Each one is 1500mm and is 58W. 










and last, but not least, the Inca Gold Forest Scorpion Pyramid is coloured for the final time.


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## fatlad69

Looking good.


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## cjd12345

Looking forward to seeing pics with some animals in the enclosures.


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## Paul112

Looks great. Interesting idea wrapping the logs in sphagnum. How do you attach it without posing a risk to the animals? The obvious solution seems to be securing it with thread or fishing line but I'd be concerned about animals getting tangled.

Best,
Paul


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## acromyrmexbob

Okay, first order of business today!










Communual Spiders get more stuff in what will soon be home. 










We apply a background which is basically varnish with sand and colour / hardner in it. Bit of an experiment but I was getting the results I wanted with this mix.










In this pramid tank the idea is that the golden pyramid rises out of the rain forest and on its surface are huge scorpions. So I want to put some low plants but want to avoid providing the scorps with somewhere to hide so they are visible on the gold. 

Not sure the context of the next picture is clear but I have formed a new tank inside the Green Tree Boa tank which turns the Boas tank into an L-shape.










In this picture the frame on the new tank still needs colouring.

I fitted the front on the Trinidad Stream Frog display. The water in the front pond, at the base of the waterfall, will stand against this front glass. So do you think they will get out with a half height front? If so I may hide a spray bar around the front top lip and cascade water down the front to prevent climbing. This would give a nice effect and hopefully keep them in. We'll see.

We've painted the pond in the Poison arrow frog tank with pond paint.










Started to dress the Chameleon tank










some lights in the Cuban Boa tank










so lots going on today, much work in progress,










I have a lot of animals here and have to go to Trinidad for some more before Easter.


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## acromyrmexbob

As part of the necessary submissions and applications relating to building warrants etc we require to prepare lighting plans for the area which will be accessed by the public. Where the visitors will walk I do not intend to have much in the way of light so there must be emergency lighting which will come on in the event of an emergency. This lighting has been planned in the following diagram.










which is also shown as follows










The light which is broadcast by these lights is shown in the following way










The light green and green colours show light intensity at between 100 and 200 lx, as the colour darkens to brown so the coverage of light drops. 

In addition to this we will have some green lights on in the rainforest section and red lights in the desert area.


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## acromyrmexbob

Just a quickie today. Did a lot of stuff today like wash gravel and wiring which is not photogenic. But we did turn on the waterfall in the Trinidad Stream Frog Tank...



















Just thought you would like to see the first tank up and running. The plants are not the ones I will use, they are what I had. I am thinking something climbing up the waterfall.


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## Bradley

Looking good! How is uv being provided? Will guards be put over some bulbs? The chameleon will try and get on that bulb when he goes in.


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## acromyrmexbob

> How is uv being provided? Will guards be put over some bulbs? The chameleon will try and get on that bulb when he goes in.


The section with the bulbs will not be visible or accessable in the final setup. I am fitting a cover which will mean the lights cannot be seen from the front and that the animals cannot access them. UV will be sorted when the actual bulbs are fitted that will be used when the animals come. I also have to fit strip lights above the ventillation vents which will provide UV also.


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## Jb1432

Are you bringing over wild caught animals from Trinidad?


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## PhillyDee

Don't forget, you will need glass or perspex that allows UV to penetrate.


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## acromyrmexbob

> Don't forget, you will need glass or perspex that allows UV to penetrate.


Light will pass through mesh. Actually you need to be careful in assuming that these new types of glass will allow UV to pass through. Pilkingtons have Optiwhite, other makes such as Starbright are available, they are rated as allowing UV to pass but I have not seen any info that relates to what portion of UV is allowed to pass. I think it is risky to assume that UV light will reach your subjects in the correct proportions after passing through any material without seeing the product spec in terms of UVB and UVA and exactly how it performs. I used this glass when it first came out as covers over fragging coral marine tank and they did not do well. Maybe someone has some info on this.


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## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> Light will pass through mesh. Actually you need to be careful in assuming that these new types of glass will allow UV to pass through. Pilkingtons have Optiwhite, other makes such as Starbright are available, they are rated as allowing UV to pass but I have not seen any info that relates to what portion of UV is allowed to pass. I think it is risky to assume that UV light will reach your subjects in the correct proportions after passing through any material without seeing the product spec in terms of UVB and UVA and exactly how it performs. I used this glass when it first came out as covers over fragging coral marine tank and they did not do well. Maybe someone has some info on this.


I saw recently some information that optiwhite does allow some penetration of UV due to it having a reduced amount of iron, however it does still reduce the UV penetration noticeably. 

Cannot remember the exact facts and figures, however if I come across it again I'll post it up for reference.

UV transmission loss in mesh is governed by the size of the mesh in relation to the size of the holes, for example if the solid parts of the mesh are 25% of the whole mesh, then 75% of UV is allowed through, or in other words a 12% tube above a mesh that has a 25% mesh to gaps ratio, it'll allow 9% UV through.

Hope this helps

Dave


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## acromyrmexbob

> Are you bringing over wild caught animals from Trinidad?


I have a house over in Trinidad and I keep many species of local reptiles and amphibs over there. I will bring back a large Marine Toad and a group of Trinidad Stream Frogs from there. Each time I go to Trinidad I bring around 80-100 colonies of Leaf Cutting Ants back with me and pretty much supply everyone in Europe who has Leaf Cutters for sale. These are collected by local farmers who traditionally poison the colonies before planting their crops but I pay them not to do this and to keep the nests for me. It works well all round.
I never touch anything thats endangered and always have full paperwork with everything. I also never import anything to sell. I normally bring stuff back for people who want to breed them because there is nothing ever brought out of Trinidad commercially so lots of stuff from there is rare and not available normally.


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## Jb1432

acromyrmexbob said:


> I have a house over in Trinidad and I keep many species of local reptiles and amphibs over there. I will bring back a large Marine Toad and a group of Trinidad Stream Frogs from there. Each time I go to Trinidad I bring around 80-100 colonies of Leaf Cutting Ants back with me and pretty much supply everyone in Europe who has Leaf Cutters for sale. These are collected by local farmers who traditionally poison the colonies before planting their crops but I pay them not to do this and to keep the nests for me. It works well all round.
> I never touch anything thats endangered and always have full paperwork with everything. I also never import anything to sell. I normally bring stuff back for people who want to breed them because there is nothing ever brought out of Trinidad commercially so lots of stuff from there is rare and not available normally.


Sorry if that post sounded harsh, it's a good system you have. Do you ever bring back DWA animals like Lanceheads?


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## Spikebrit

acromyrmexbob said:


> Light will pass through mesh. Actually you need to be careful in assuming that these new types of glass will allow UV to pass through. Pilkingtons have Optiwhite, other makes such as Starbright are available, they are rated as allowing UV to pass but I have not seen any info that relates to what portion of UV is allowed to pass. I think it is risky to assume that UV light will reach your subjects in the correct proportions after passing through any material without seeing the product spec in terms of UVB and UVA and exactly how it performs. I used this glass when it first came out as covers over fragging coral marine tank and they did not do well. Maybe someone has some info on this.


I posted above, i've been using optiwhite for a few years now. I'm actually writing an article on it. 

I've got two planted set ups identical (all things considered) one is standard float glass and mesh the other optiwhite and mesh. Lights are placed in the same positions in identical situations (UV and plant grow bulbs. . The plants in the tanks with optiwhite had flourished whilst the others are growing well but the growth is no where near the same. 

Annoyingly I dont have a UV meter, but a friend previously has looked into this and without digging out the figours as I can't remember where they are, but about 85% of the UV from the bulb passed through. 

Jay


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## my_shed

Spikebrit said:


> I posted above, i've been using optiwhite for a few years now. I'm actually writing an article on it.
> 
> I've got two planted set ups identical (all things considered) one is standard float glass and mesh the other optiwhite and mesh. Lights are placed in the same positions in identical situations (UV and plant grow bulbs. . The plants in the tanks with optiwhite had flourished whilst the others are growing well but the growth is no where near the same.
> 
> Annoyingly I dont have a UV meter, but a friend previously has looked into this and without digging out the figours as I can't remember where they are, but about 85% of the UV from the bulb passed through.
> 
> Jay


Pilkington themselves state a transfer of 83% in the UV range. I should imagine there is some fairly extensive testing that goes into this, although I believe that is a test across the whole UVA and UVB range (I doubt UVC is included) I use optiwhite myself on a couple of tanks, and will be utilizing it more now as I will be building a number of "euro style" vivs (as the yanks are fond of calling them ) with optiwhite for the tops. 

On your two vivs mentioned do you have the lights over the glass or partially over the glass and partially over the mesh? And do you have any data on animals reactions to the differing tanks? I'm curious, as plants don't utilize much, if any UV (not teaching you to suck eggs Jay, more typing my thoughts as they occur :blush , so I'm curious as to noticeable changes/differences?

As I said, I use optiwhite myself and will from now on, anything that gives better light into my vivs has got to be a priority, I just enjoy both the science and the anecdotal evidence surrounding the benefits of it.

Dave


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## Spikebrit

my_shed said:


> Pilkington themselves state a transfer of 83% in the UV range. I should imagine there is some fairly extensive testing that goes into this, although I believe that is a test across the whole UVA and UVB range (I doubt UVC is included) I use optiwhite myself on a couple of tanks, and will be utilizing it more now as I will be building a number of "euro style" vivs (as the yanks are fond of calling them ) with optiwhite for the tops.
> 
> On your two vivs mentioned do you have the lights over the glass or partially over the glass and partially over the mesh? And do you have any data on animals reactions to the differing tanks? I'm curious, as plants don't utilize much, if any UV (not teaching you to suck eggs Jay, more typing my thoughts as they occur :blush , so I'm curious as to noticeable changes/differences?
> 
> As I said, I use optiwhite myself and will from now on, anything that gives better light into my vivs has got to be a priority, I just enjoy both the science and the anecdotal evidence surrounding the benefits of it.
> 
> Dave


the lights are partially over both (mesh and glass) as these are the ent style vivs. The occupants in each tank are different so i would find it difficult to draw overarching comparisons. But i do find the animals basking more in the tanks where the tops are optiwhite and they are generally more active. However, this could be due to various species more then anything else. 

The comment on plant growth was in relation to the plant grow bulb use rather then UV as a whole. We all know the wavelength require for plant growth and i was surprised at the difference more then anything. Float glass does reflect a lot of useful light this is common knowledge, but i had never thought about this in terms of wavelengths suitable for photosynthesis, but i suppose i haven't really sourced it out either. From my own, unscientific observations, I would also suggest float glass is reflecting some of the usable light for plant growth. So the opitwhite is allowing for a wider spectrum of light, inclusive of UV to pass which will has potential benefits. I am a massive fan of optiwhite from my own experiments. 

jay


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## my_shed

Spikebrit said:


> the lights are partially over both (mesh and glass) as these are the ent style vivs. The occupants in each tank are different so i would find it difficult to draw overarching comparisons. But i do find the animals basking more in the tanks where the tops are optiwhite and they are generally more active. However, this could be due to various species more then anything else.
> 
> The comment on plant growth was in relation to the plant grow bulb use rather then UV as a whole. We all know the wavelength require for plant growth and i was surprised at the difference more then anything. Float glass does reflect a lot of useful light this is common knowledge, but i had never thought about this in terms of wavelengths suitable for photosynthesis, but i suppose i haven't really sourced it out either. From my own, unscientific observations, I would also suggest float glass is reflecting some of the usable light for plant growth. So the opitwhite is allowing for a wider spectrum of light, inclusive of UV to pass which will has potential benefits. I am a massive fan of optiwhite from my own experiments.
> 
> jay


I agree entirely with you, I've found improvements with optiwhite (as a legal disclaimer we should probably mention other low iron float glass suppliers are available: whistling2 over both mesh and normal float glass. The data sheets i've found suggest a 2 to 3% increase on light transferrance, with a substantial reduction in absorption, but i've been unable to find anything regarding specific wavelength transferrance. I believe it must be quite significant in the wavelengths suitable for photosynthesis too, the results speak for themselves.

edit: apologies to the OP for the hijack.........i'm not sure this is where you wanted the thread to go!
Dave


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## 66921

Just had a look through this whole thread and it's pretty jaw dropping! I cannot wait to see the desert vivs being done!!!


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## acromyrmexbob

> Do you ever bring back DWA animals like Lanceheads?


I do not bring stuff back commercially but if anyone is after anything specific I can look into it. Cannot sell anything like this so it could only be for a bona fide breeding project with publications that can be sent to the Wildlife Authority in Trinidad.


Re Optiwhite, I have been selling Optiwhite and other types of this glass since it came out, as far as I am concerned I am skeptical about it and the quantifiable benefits derived from its use. I will make a point of getting Pilkingtons Data Sheet for this product and post the exact spec for it, now that I come to think of this I possibly should have done that a few years ago!:biteme:

Today we started on the Python tank. This is a very large enclosure for a very large (14ft) Burmese Python. This is one of the animals already in the collection which we are going to use but wouldn't if I had the choice!
So how to display this animal in an interesting way?
Well I did a little research on them. They are generally found down burrows dug by other animals. Because they just generally sit around most of the day I thought I could use this as a feature of the display.



















As you can see the enclosure needed stripping back to the framing and all old timbers replaced.

This display will have an above ground section and an underground section which will have a window into the burrow where the snake will be.










As you can see we have lined the enclosure, build a box as the underground burrow and cut a viewing window which we have glazed.

Also today we finished the rockwork on the Otter display



















tomorrow we will complete this work by applying a final coat of concrete preserver to the surface to protect it from the weather.

The cuban boa tank started to get its branches today also.










for effect I built a platform which will sit below the basking light. Rather than the snake hanging on a branch it will be able to coil on a natural platform. The branches are held together with cable ties.

More stuff is added to the Chameleon tank.










The glass for the viv fronts will be on site tomorrow so we will complete section 1 shortly.


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## my_shed

Awesome work, it's nice to see the level of innovative thoughts going into this, how to present the animals naturally and interestingly. :2thumb:



acromyrmexbob said:


> I do not bring stuff back commercially but if anyone is after anything specific I can look into it. Cannot sell anything like this so it could only be for a bona fide breeding project with publications that can be sent to the Wildlife Authority in Trinidad.


How much would I like the opportunity to try a breeding programme with Phyllodytes Auratus, beautiful little frogs and so vulnerable to habitat destruction. Ahhh dreams :lol2:

Dave


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## acromyrmexbob

> How much would I like the opportunity to try a breeding programme with Phyllodytes Auratus, beautiful little frogs and so vulnerable to habitat destruction. Ahhh dreams


Dave, Pyllodytes auratus occurs in only two locations in Trinidad, the cloud forest at the top of Mount Tucuche and the Heights of Aripo. Whilst I do not think they are Cites listed (or weren't when I last checked) they are the one species in Trinidad that the Wildlife Authority are absolutely obsessed about protecting. So its not illegal to bring them into UK but it sure as hell is illegal to catch them in Trinidad! I have a very good relationship with the Trinidad authorities and even I could not budge them on that species. But if anyone wants to come over to Trinidad I will take you to the Cloud Forest and show you the colony of frogs, its stunning. On the way up the mountain you pass an area full of giant (up to 1200mm long) earth worms which make a very loud sucking noise as thay pull back into their burrow as you pass.


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## colinm

One thing that has struck me is the size of the exhibit for the leafcutting ants in comparison to some of the other exhibits.What is the reasoning behind this?

Perhaps an exhibit with Anoles,Gonatodes and Stream Frogs would look good?


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## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> Dave, Pyllodytes auratus occurs in only two locations in Trinidad, the cloud forest at the top of Mount Tucuche and the Heights of Aripo. Whilst I do not think they are Cites listed (or weren't when I last checked) they are the one species in Trinidad that the Wildlife Authority are absolutely obsessed about protecting. So its not illegal to bring them into UK but it sure as hell is illegal to catch them in Trinidad! I have a very good relationship with the Trinidad authorities and even I could not budge them on that species. But if anyone wants to come over to Trinidad I will take you to the Cloud Forest and show you the colony of frogs, its stunning. On the way up the mountain you pass an area full of giant (up to 1200mm long) earth worms which make a very loud sucking noise as thay pull back into their burrow as you pass.


Yeah, I'd read up a bit and saw how protective the Wildlife Authority was over them, hence why it's a dream :lol2: I do think it may be a good decision in a way though, the environment looks like it would be difficult to fully simulate, and I'd imagine that their limitation of range to just those two areas is probably symptomatic of how specific the conditions need to be for them to survive and breed. I just hope that their habitat is successfully protected, I've also read that it is under threat from plant collection.

Trinidad is somewhere I've always been interested in visiting, I enjoy the contrast between itself and Tobago, and the rest of the Caribbean in terms of flora and fauna. If things go well for me over the next few years I'll definitely take you up on the offer of a guided tour, the frogs would be amazing, and metre long earthworms!! That'd be something to tell the grandkids for sure! (Just an expression, there's no grandkids on the horizon for a while yet!)

Dave


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## acromyrmexbob

> One thing that has struck me is the size of the exhibit for the leafcutting ants in comparison to some of the other exhibits.What is the reasoning behind this?


:no1: Leaf Cutting Ants rock!:flrt:


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## Jay9098

acromyrmexbob said:


> :no1: Leaf Cutting Ants rock!:flrt:


I agree the few exhibits I have seen of them (amsterdam zoo maybe??) are amazing. Make sure you get plenty of branches parallel to the glass, I love watching them walking along all carrying chunks of leaves


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## acromyrmexbob

Sorry guys, having problems with Photobucket, waiting for a server error to be fixed, got an update to post, soon as problem fixed.


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## acromyrmexbob

Still cannot get Photobucket back 100%! Very frustrating. Half my pictures seem to be missing. Hopefully these will be OK.

Just one or two to get things started again. The Otter enclosure is now more or less complete. Just some finishing up jobs. The waterfall is running



















and the otters are in as we finish off last bits and pieces.










If these pictures work OK I will post a big update tomorrow.


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## Luke

acromyrmexbob said:


> Still cannot get Photobucket back 100%! Very frustrating. Half my pictures seem to be missing. Hopefully these will be OK.
> 
> Just one or two to get things started again. The Otter enclosure is now more or less complete. Just some finishing up jobs. The waterfall is running
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> and the otters are in as we finish off last bits and pieces.
> 
> image
> 
> If these pictures work OK I will post a big update tomorrow.


As a carp fisherman this is where i like to see Otters....CONTAINED :lol2:
I appreciate the whole cycle of life thing, but its heart breaking to see a beautiful specimen of big carp end its life so tragically.


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## joe1981

It's tomorrow, where is the update :lol2:
Lovely seeing the Otters in their new home.


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## targonne

+1 to what hoe said!!


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## acromyrmexbob

> As a carp fisherman this is where i like to see Otters....CONTAINED :lol2:
> I appreciate the whole cycle of life thing, but its heart breaking to see a beautiful specimen of big carp end its life so tragically.


mmmh! Don't really know what to say. Firstly, they're Asian Short Clawed Otters, from, I assume, Asia. If your carp are getting bother from them then they took a wrong turning somewhere and Asian Short Clawed Otters are probably the least of their worries. 
Secondly I'm not really sure what the difference is between a carp and the Salmon or trout we all eat by the million. Its just a fish and its just another meal by another type of fish eating animal other than us. 

Back to the work in hand. You might have noticed that we are focussing on this little section of 14 tanks. This is because we are opening this by Easter and then working on the other bits after this.

Firstly I have a scenario which I would like to ask for comment on. So I want to display a Nephila Orb Web spider. Quite simply a 2" spider sitting in the middle of a 3ft web. Good and interesting. But I was trying to think of something I could do to make things more interesting. Given that I have full authority to design this in any way I want (which is rare for a customer to give these days). So, randomly I thought I would do the tank in a bizarre colour, what about Red?










What do you think. I will make a square of branches and the spider will spin its web in the middle of this. The spider is black with tan on its abdomen, so it will contrast very well against the red background. The reason I am asking for your opinion is that there is no other reason (other than I think it will look smart) for doing this. Do you think it will lessen the impact if people are standing trying to work out why its red or do you think they will just think its really beautiful?

OK, the village!










I am going to build a model village in the top section. In the middle of the village there will be a well. Down below the cave will be full of cave crickets, cockroaches and all manner of fiendish nightmarish creatures:devil::jump: The sign for this display will read, roughly, 
"Little did the villagers know but underneath their sleepy hamlet lived a host of strange, hideous creatures that climb up through the village well every night and roam the streets in search of food. It was many years ago that anyone could remember seeing a dog or a chicken alive in the village, the only sign they had ever been there was some hair or a few feathers in the morning. Noone ever went out of their houses after dark!"

Or something like that. Should give the kids some nightmares. The point is I am trying to entertain as well as educate. I think zoos take themselves too seriously and signs should engage the public and be part of the experience rather than a normally ignored dull list of facts. Just a thought.

The Golden Aztec pyramid is now lit up....










The glass is on the doors as are the locks.










The brown floor paint arrived today and we will paint the floor tomorrow.










(the snakes you can see in the picture above are only temporarily in this tank because we are painting their tank)

Tomorrow we are at the local botanic gardens picking up the bulk of the plants for the display and in the afternoon we will do the floor.


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## Nel5on

Looks great!


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## Jb1432

Not really a fan of the red background in the spider tank. I think green would be more suitable. Maybe some simple foliage and a couple of branches with a moss covered floor?


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## fatlad69

What about a Matt black background. Then you will be able to see the web in all its glory.


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## my_shed

fatlad69 said:


> What about a Matt black background. Then you will be able to see the web in all its glory.


Hmmm, just the way my mind was wandering, but with a slight refinement. I was thinking matt black background with blacklights behind the front plinths, so the web is fluorescent purple. No idea if this would have a negative effect on the spider or not, but damn it would look cool. Also, I don't know about these specific spiders, but some arachnids are known to be fluorescent too, so if that was the case with theses it would look incredible!!

Again I must point out I've no idea if there would be harmful effects from this, or if there are ways of reducing these effects, but it'd be great to look into!

Dave


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## Jay9098

/\ that is exactly what I had in mind, maybe swap it's day and night and light it with some blue moonlight


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## wezza309

my_shed said:


> Hmmm, just the way my mind was wandering, but with a slight refinement. I was thinking matt black background with blacklights behind the front plinths, so the web is fluorescent purple. No idea if this would have a negative effect on the spider or not, but damn it would look cool. Also, I don't know about these specific spiders, but some arachnids are known to be fluorescent too, so if that was the case with theses it would look incredible!!
> 
> Again I must point out I've no idea if there would be harmful effects from this, or if there are ways of reducing these effects, but it'd be great to look into!
> 
> Dave





That sounds so cool if it all works like that .makes me want to try that my self if i get a spider some time :notworthy::notworthy:


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## my_shed

wezza309 said:


> That sounds so cool if it all works like that .makes me want to try that my self if i get a spider some time :notworthy::notworthy:


Me too, although for my chile rose it'd just look like the whole floor is glowing blue, i think he has web diarrhoea!! My Cobalts viv would look wicked though, a glowing blue tunnel into his substrate!

Dave


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## PhillyDee

All I can say is - Christ you are damn good at your job!

Those exhibits are phenomenal and the amount of detail in every little thing is brilliant. I love the village idea .


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## SeanEK4

village idea is great!


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## acromyrmexbob

> I was thinking matt black background with blacklights behind the front plinths, so the web is fluorescent purple.


That sounds amazing. Do we know if the web flouresces. I wonder if the light might affect the geometry of the web during building. If so I may do this set up and use normal light until the web is up. There is quite a lot of light spilling in from other displays now though, this may affect the look of the flourescing web. Nice though.


----------



## Jb1432

acromyrmexbob said:


> That sounds amazing. Do we know if the web flouresces. I wonder if the light might affect the geometry of the web during building. If so I may do this set up and use normal light until the web is up. There is quite a lot of light spilling in from other displays now though, this may affect the look of the flourescing web. Nice though.


According to wikipedia..

"The name of the golden silk orb-weavers refers to the colour of the spider silk, not the colour of the spider itself.
Yellow threads of their web shine like gold in sunlight. Xanthurenic acid, two quinones and an unknown fourth compound contribute to the yellow color. Experimental evidence suggests that the silk's color may serve a dual purpose: sunlit webs ensnare bees that are attracted to the bright yellow strands, whereas in shady spots the yellow blends in with background foliage to act as a camouflage. The *spider is able to adjust pigment intensity relative to background light levels and colour*; the range of spectral reflectance is specifically adapted to insect vision"


----------



## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> That sounds amazing. Do we know if the web flouresces. I wonder if the light might affect the geometry of the web during building. If so I may do this set up and use normal light until the web is up. There is quite a lot of light spilling in from other displays now though, this may affect the look of the flourescing web. Nice though.


I don't know, I just assumed it would, being white, but honestly have no idea. Even if it didn't fluoresce, i'd guess it'd show up pretty well against a dark background, matt black wouldn't show up at all, so I would have thought the web would stand out quite well. No solid data though i'm afraid, even google let me down!

Another option would be perhaps contained LED strips, so the beam is directed almost straight up from the bottom, and from both sides and the top downwards, say a 20 degree beam from all four angles, then hope it catches the web and spider, maybe if they were adjustable so final position could be organized once the web was in place. If anchor points are pretty defined for the web before the spider is introduced, would this be possible?

May be barking up entirely the wrong tree, but you never know 

Dave


----------



## Antherina

So looking forward to the grand opening. Well impressed.:notworthy:


----------



## jb92

Great build. has given me a load of ideas for some of my new enclosures!
JB Owens


----------



## Paul112

Looking great so far!

Best,
Paul


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Just a quick couple of pictures with the floor painted




























I think it looks good with the dark colour on the floor.


----------



## maarup

acromyrmexbob said:


> I think it looks good with the dark colour on the floor.


indeed it does:2thumb:


----------



## popeye92

absolutely fantastic job well done :2thumb:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

*Planet Ants, BBC4, 9pm, Tuesday12th March*

Can't actually remember if I mentioned this already but this Tuesday on BBC4 at 9pm is the programme I spent 6 months working on last summer. The first few minutes is me digging up One Million ants and finding the queen, then bringing them back to UK. Prior to this I spent 2 months building a huge studio set to house the ants. I set up all of the shots during the programme. Did a lot of filming but not sure if any of it was used. Just thought you might be interested in giving it a watch.


----------



## Nel5on

It all looks phenomenal, kudos! Will stick a reminder on that program, will be cool to see.


----------



## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> Can't actually remember if I mentioned this already but this Tuesday on BBC4 at 9pm is the programme I spent 6 months working on last summer. The first few minutes is me digging up One Million ants and finding the queen, then bringing them back to UK. Prior to this I spent 2 months building a huge studio set to house the ants. I set up all of the shots during the programme. Did a lot of filming but not sure if any of it was used. Just thought you might be interested in giving it a watch.


Set to record  Look forward to putting a face to a name! :lol2:

Dave


----------



## vukic

Damn I'd love.to see that that but don't.have access to any BBC channels.. :-( damn Digital....

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Donnie76

vukic said:


> Damn I'd love.to see that that but don't.have access to any BBC channels.. :-( damn Digital....
> 
> Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


I am sure it will be on BBC iPlayer soon after : victory:


----------



## maarup

link to the program?


----------



## Meko

link to the proramme?

it's on the telly box in two days time at 9pm on BBC 4. And judging by the TV it's called Planet Ant: Life inside the Colony.


----------



## Meko

acromyrmexbob said:


> Just a quick couple of pictures with the floor painted
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> I think it looks good with the dark colour on the floor.



it does indeed. The green looks a lot better with the dark floor than it did when it had just been painted.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Meko said:


> it does indeed. The green looks a lot better with the dark floor than it did when it had just been painted.


Thanks Meko, these colour combinations are really a matter of experimentation but the logic behind it was simply that in the rainforest the ground is dark and the view in any direction is green. When we build the other areas such as the desert section then the colours will be very different. 

'my_shed' wrote



> Look forward to putting a face to a name!


You might wish you hadn't when you see it!


----------



## cold blooded beast

Meko said:


> it does indeed. The green looks a lot better with the dark floor than it did when it had just been painted.


just back from holiday in time for that!!!. . .cheers for making it easy to find. . .:2thumb:


----------



## Meko

acromyrmexbob said:


> Thanks Meko, these colour combinations are really a matter of experimentation but the logic behind it was simply that in the rainforest the ground is dark and the view in any direction is green. When we build the other areas such as the desert section then the colours will be very different.


to be honest it probably looked alright when you first did it, but as i scrolled down the pictures i liked the wood and then it turned green and i was all :gasp: where'd the wood go.


----------



## yuesaur

Meko said:


> to be honest it probably looked alright when you first did it, but as i scrolled down the pictures i liked the wood and then it turned green and i was all :gasp: where'd the wood go.


back to the 18+ section meko


----------



## targonne

I like the dark floor, but i prefer the wood on dark varnished tones, oak or smt similar.

Giving it a look of ancient and endurance, then on the ceiling it could have green or even a camouflage net with dry leaves?

so you would have dark floor tree trunks and green on top


----------



## Paul112

For anyone wanting the ant program on BBC that was mentioned:
Planet Ant: life inside the colony

Very cool stuff, must have been amazing to work on! I loved the digging bit, finding the queen looked like a heck of a job!

Best,
Paul


----------



## Nel5on

The ant program was fascinating, very very clever creatures.


----------



## Spikebrit

acromyrmexbob said:


> Can't actually remember if I mentioned this already but this Tuesday on BBC4 at 9pm is the programme I spent 6 months working on last summer. The first few minutes is me digging up One Million ants and finding the queen, then bringing them back to UK. Prior to this I spent 2 months building a huge studio set to house the ants. I set up all of the shots during the programme. Did a lot of filming but not sure if any of it was used. Just thought you might be interested in giving it a watch.


I actually sat watching it last night and thought it might be you. 

it was an awesome program thoroughly enjoyed watching it. 

jay


----------



## targonne

Cant watch it outside the uk.


----------



## Modj

That programme was just what i needed while i was in my bnb room after work, gt the other half to record it so i can watch againlol , but i was thinking how sore it would be if any of them ants got in their wellies lol, thanks for the heads up about it.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

targonne said:


> Cant watch it outside the uk.


BBC make programmes often with money from overseas from sources such as The Sciencve Channel of America or Discovery. So, once they finish filming he UK version presenters from USA arrive and reshoot the studio segments of the programme. So Planet Ants will be shown all over the world but with different presenters. The sections away frm the studio will be the same though. So you will be able to see it even if you are overseas.

Today we fitted doors to the open ends of the corridors behind the units.










and we hung the rope for the Leaf Cutting Ant colony to walk along from the nest to the feeding table. This stretches around 30 meters and is hanging from the ceiling by fishing line.










Special thanks to Dave (my_shed) for his excellent suggestion of rainforest wallpaper and the link to a seller on ebay. I bought some and here it is!



















Finally I'd like to thank everyone for their comments regarding the Ant Programme shown last night. They were much appreciated.


----------



## Jb1432

Looks great Bob, the leaf cutting ants walking along rope suspended above head height is interesting. People over the height of 6'4 will have to be careful :lol2:


----------



## joemeatsix

subscribed, love this thread! wish i could do something like this when i'm a bit older :2thumb:


----------



## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> BBC make programmes often with money from overseas from sources such as The Sciencve Channel of America or Discovery. So, once they finish filming he UK version presenters from USA arrive and reshoot the studio segments of the programme. So Planet Ants will be shown all over the world but with different presenters. The sections away frm the studio will be the same though. So you will be able to see it even if you are overseas.
> 
> Today we fitted doors to the open ends of the corridors behind the units.
> 
> image
> 
> and we hung the rope for the Leaf Cutting Ant colony to walk along from the nest to the feeding table. This stretches around 30 meters and is hanging from the ceiling by fishing line.
> 
> image
> 
> Special thanks to Dave (my_shed) for his excellent suggestion of rainforest wallpaper and the link to a seller on ebay. I bought some and here it is!
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> Finally I'd like to thank everyone for their comments regarding the Ant Programme shown last night. They were much appreciated.


Wow, that wallpaper looks incredible in there! Hmmm, now i wonder how the missus would feel about recreating that around my house...

Got the programme recorded by the way, will be watching it on Sunday when there's never anything on  Looking forward to it.

Dave


----------



## Paul112

Looking excellent. Do you have to use Fluon type stuff to stop the ants just climbing up the fishing line?

Also, how big a colony will you be starting with for this zoo?

Best,
Paul


----------



## 39761

looking very good well done to you and your team:2thumb:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Paul112 said:


> Looking excellent. Do you have to use Fluon type stuff to stop the ants just climbing up the fishing line?
> 
> Also, how big a colony will you be starting with for this zoo?
> 
> Best,
> Paul


The ants are unable to climb the fishing line. The colony we have installed here at the Zoo I am working in is the actual colony and the actual set up from the BBC documentary Planet Ants. Numbers are down a bit from when they were collected due to the various moves but the queen Attas can lay up to 25000 eggs per day so things will get busy very soon.

Here's some pictures taken during filming 'Planet Ant' in Trinidad

On the way up to the nest on the day of the dig we spotted a Ball Termite nest in a tree.










They build covered tunnels down the trunk to the ground where they forage on bits and pieces.

We also spotted a line of Army Ants (Eciton burchelli) crossing the road so the crew wanted to get some shots. Thats me with my truck which I bought in Trinidad to help build my house. Its a Foton Forland, you don't get them here, I think its Chinese or something! I had just been into the bush to find the Eciton bivouav which was around 100 yards down the hill. The cameraman climbed down the hill to film them and was attacked.










This is the nest site before we started digging. You can see the citrus trees up on the bank that the ants were decimating and why they were about to be poisoned.










Planning the dig with my workers. Where to start. Normally we would choose a spot in the heart of the colony and go straight for the queen and then work out to get numbers. But the Director wanted to take advantage of the fact that this colony was on a bank and we worked in from the outside taking sections at a time so the shape and distribution of the tunnels could be seen.










One of the bigger chambers










What you don't see on film, the blood!










Once the colony was removed we filled in the holes and repaired the bank.










then the colony starts its journey back to the UK.










and its new home....


----------



## zekee

I watched this program today, it was brilliant! I found the ants so fascinating. Top work!


----------



## bothrops

Incredible programme - absolutely fascinating.

Congratulations on being the lynch pin!

:2thumb:


----------



## ReptileGirl91

I watched the program yesterday, it was really interesting, so many things that i never knew about ants, that i know now


----------



## SeanEK4

documentry is top notch! a great watch!


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Bit of an experiment here, interested in your thoughts. Stick Insects are a problem because when you come to clean them out you have to sort through the leaves in order not to throw any stick away. In a zoo environment, where keepers time is money, what often happens is the stick do not get cleaned out often enough because of this and as a result you get ugly tanks full of dead leaves. I have been giving this some thought and think I have an idea which might get round this problem, both in the commercial environment and in the hobby at home, saving time and effort.

The sides of the enclosure are fitted with two mesh doors as follows










When opened they reveal a narrow water receptacle.










Into which leaves are placed.










and then the door is shut and clipped closed with a catch










This is repeated on the other side










and then a branch with no leaves is placed in the centre. Just to illustrate the point I have put Eurycantha on the branches but the actual species will be 20 adult Macleays Spectres which aren't rubbish like these.










The stick insects are easy to see and when they want to feed they migrate to the sides and feed through the mesh. At cleaning time the dorrs are opened which pulls the insects away from the leaves which can be replaced. What do you think?

We released some cockroaches into the cave display










there is a Chameleon in there










and we planted some plants at the base of the pyramid.










Many of the displays are being occupied with livestock which is not the permanent display and these will be replaced as the actual target species is obtained.

This coming week we will start to work on the other exhibits, the bigger ones. Things should start to gather pace soon. One thing which may hold things up a little is we had an engineers report done on the ceiling and we need to strengthen it with beams and pillars. So this work will go on side by side with the redevelopment work.


----------



## skilzo

I was at the zoo a few weeks ago I can't wait till this is finished looks amazing great work :2thumb:


----------



## Antherina

Is the programme being broadcast on Discovery? Any time soon?


----------



## HowseR21

*Again....WOW*

I love the idea for the stick insect enclosure. As long as when the doors are pulled away for cleaning the stick insects themselves don't end up losing limbs for hanging on too tight :bash: 

Would save a hell of a lot of time with such a large collection : victory:

Also I have to add my congratulations, I just watched the ant documentary on BBC I player and I loved it, absolutely amazing to watch. Only down side is that I missed the football (Sunderland v Norwich) but as I'm an Arsenal fan I feel that is a sacrifice I'm happy to make.

I love your threads, your work is incredible and I can't help but subscribe to them all. Congratulations on all your success and hard work, long may it continue :no1:


----------



## 39761

Antherina said:


> Is the programme being broadcast on Discovery? Any time soon?


 its on bbc iplayer


----------



## 39761

HowseR21 said:


> I love the idea for the stick insect enclosure. As long as when the doors are pulled away for cleaning the stick insects themselves don't end up losing limbs for hanging on too tight :bash:
> 
> Would save a hell of a lot of time with such a large collection : victory:
> 
> Also I have to add my congratulations, I just watched the ant documentary on BBC I player and I loved it, absolutely amazing to watch. Only down side is that I missed the football (Sunderland v Norwich) but as I'm an Arsenal fan I feel that is a sacrifice I'm happy to make.
> 
> I love your threads, your work is incredible and I can't help but subscribe to them all. Congratulations on all your success and hard work, long may it continue :no1:


and the spuds lost:2thumb:


----------



## Antherina

BBC iplayer only works in the UK!


----------



## acromyrmexbob

If anyones interested, Wednesday, BBC4, 9pm, 'Insect Dissection, How Insects Work' is a documentary about dissecting insects (clue's in the name!). I set up all of the shots, acted as consultant on the programme and helped build the set. The American who is presenting it is a Tom Cruise look alike, he has doubled for Tom Cruise in the past. He's also an expert on Mosquitos. Some of the filming techniques are absolutely stunning and will take your breath away. We used brand new techniques to film the insects and also got a scanning electron microscope from France which needs none of the preparation of the old style Electron Microscopes. Very nice piece of equipment. Have a watch, see what you think.


----------



## Jb1432

acromyrmexbob said:


> If anyones interested, Wednesday, BBC4, 9pm, 'Insect Dissection, How Insects Work' is a documentary about dissecting insects (clue's in the name!). I set up all of the shots, acted as consultant on the programme and helped build the set. The American who is presenting it is a Tom Cruise look alike, he has doubled for Tom Cruise in the past. He's also an expert on Mosquitos. Some of the filming techniques are absolutely stunning and will take your breath away. We used brand new techniques to film the insects and also got a scanning electron microscope from France which needs none of the preparation of the old style Electron Microscopes. Very nice piece of equipment. Have a watch, see what you think.


I will take you up on this, planet ant was one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time. Thanks for contributing so much recently, I'm sure a good few of us have been inspired on how to provide more naturalistic environments for our animals and have fun whilst doing so. It is genuinely much appreciated : victory:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Jb1432 said:


> I will take you up on this, planet ant was one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time. Thanks for contributing so much recently, I'm sure a good few of us have been inspired on how to provide more naturalistic environments for our animals and have fun whilst doing so. It is genuinely much appreciated : victory:


Thanks very much, your comments are appreciated. 
Today I drove 5 hours to Ashby Exotics, Ashby De La Zouch, and set up their Leaf Cutting Ant display. You should check them out at their Facebook page, _www.facebook.com/pages/*Ashby*-*Exotics*/413888395371326?_
_The shop is well worth a visit once it opens this Saturday. Another quality Exotic outlet is always a welcome addition. They've got a dwarf croc on show and, of course, a very large Leaf Cutter set up. Chuffed to have been involved. Just got in from a very long, snowy drive back._


----------



## Rammy

Thanks for the link. Not too far away from me here in Derby, so may be worth a visit. The ant display looks awesome!


----------



## MaMExotics

Have you done any work in scotland?


----------



## skilzo

MaMExotics said:


> Have you done any work in scotland?


Yes they have  

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


----------



## tomcannon

MaMExotics said:


> Have you done any work in scotland?


And there's more in Scotland to come!


Sent from my iPad using my iPad and fingers.


----------



## Nel5on

Would you be able to pm me with any information on best place to get a start up leaf cutter ant colony? I want to make a big display in my reptile room.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Nel5on said:


> Would you be able to pm me with any information on best place to get a start up leaf cutter ant colony? I want to make a big display in my reptile room.


I will have stock available from end April. To my knowledge I am the only person commercially importing Leaf Cutting Ant colonies in Europe. I send colonies to a store in Germany which sells them all over. Most people who advertise Leaf Cutting Ants are selling colonies that originally were imported by me.



> Have you done any work in scotland?


We are based in Scotland.

Up at the zoo today we started to strip out the old snake tank



















and the enclosure next door, where the python will be moved to, progresses little by little.


----------



## Nel5on

Can you put me on a mailing list to be notified when you get any available? If only want a small starter colony, 50-100 workers. 

Great progress, can't wait to see it all finished!


----------



## HowseR21

I in no way want to divert from the sheer
Magnitude of this project by turning this thread into a classified adds but I would also love to be on a waiting list for leaf cutter ants, can't seem to find any nowadays.

Love this thread, jealous of the skill and
Lifestyle but it is just soo awesome to watch it come together bit by bit :2thumb:


----------



## skilzo

when do you think that this will all be finished I can't wait to see it all done :2thumb:


----------



## Wolflore

skilzo said:


> when do you think that this will all be finished I can't wait to see it all done :2thumb:


Life is about the journey, not the destination :whistling2:


----------



## skilzo

yeah but I want to see it done


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Nel5on said:


> Can you put me on a mailing list to be notified when you get any available? If only want a small starter colony, 50-100 workers.
> 
> Great progress, can't wait to see it all finished!


Hi, probably not the place for this but from 26th April I will have stock of both Atta and Acromyrmex. You can contact me then if you like.

We spent just about the entire day moving soil from the old snake tank. Must have moved 30 wheel barrows of soil. The substrate was around 450mm deep! Not sure why but its out now. Unfortunately my picture of the progress we made today looks less well ahead than yesterdays one. But I promise you it was hard work.










the new snake tank is now fitted with the pond and some of the floor. By the weekend we will start to build the waterfall.



















At the rear of the croc enclosure we have started to form the maintenance walkway to access all of the enclosures from behind the scenes. This will also be the area where the prep room with the public viewing window will be situated.



















Finally today I started to build the top section of our cave monster display.










not a very good picture, sorry, only took the one.


----------



## Wolflore

Are you using cement for those caves? What are you sealing with? Looks grand!


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Wolflore said:


> Are you using cement for those caves? What are you sealing with? Looks grand!


Using a cement mix with colour / hardner powder. We are then sealing it with either a good quality exterior varnish or a clear pond paint, depending on what level of protection the surface will need.


----------



## Wolflore

Cheers fella! Looking good.


----------



## alex_snake_gunit

Amazing Project !


----------



## acromyrmexbob

So we are currently working on 3 main displays, three of the bigger ones. Looking to have these set up by a week on Friday. 

Firstly the major Dwarf Croc exhibit. Today we started to shutter the pond in preparation for pouring the concrete to form the water body....




























In the Big Python tank we have started to form the waterfall.










the screws sticking out are to provide anchor points for the final coat.










Because I am trying to display the python in as natural an environment as possible, encouraging natural behaviour, I think the python will spend 90% on its time down the burrow in the underground viewing area. If so I thought I would release some Geckos into the enclosure. Ones a 14 foot Burmese would ignore. And something for people to look at once they become bored with the snake in the burrow. Also something preferrably active and running around. Thought about Tokays but they'll just sit or hide. Anyone with any suggestions?

Finally we cleaned out the old Python tank and we are ready to set this one up as a Iguana forest.


----------



## Wolflore

Anole would be an idea.


----------



## Nel5on

Put in about 50 anoles! Lol what about going all out with a natural forest floor wit wood live etc aswell?


----------



## Jb1432

acromyrmexbob said:


> If so I thought I would release some Geckos into the enclosure. Ones a 14 foot Burmese would ignore. And something for people to look at once they become bored with the snake in the burrow. Also something preferrably active and running around. Thought about Tokays but they'll just sit or hide. Anyone with any suggestions?


A few species of the Phelsuma genus may be suitable..

Madagascan Day Gecko, Gold Dust Day Gecko, Neon Day Gecko.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Jb1432 said:


> A few species of the Phelsuma genus may be suitable..
> 
> Madagascan Day Gecko, Gold Dust Day Gecko, Neon Day Gecko.


Needs to be common to an area where Burmese Pythons occur. Not sure if these are from this area. 

'Wolflore' wrote



> Anole would be an idea.


Thanks for that. I have an Anole display in the rainforest section unfortunately.


----------



## Jb1432

acromyrmexbob said:


> Needs to be common to an area where Burmese Pythons occur. Not sure if these are from this area.
> 
> 'Wolflore' wrote
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for that. I have an Anole display in the rainforest section unfortunately.


Weirdly enough, both Burmese Pythons and Madagascan Day Gecko's are both well established as non native species in Florida (the geckos inhabit the Florida Keys and the Burmese Pythons inhabit the Everglades)..

The information with the tank could be about how these species have been released into the wild in a non native country and are thriving?


----------



## Nel5on

Thriving? Not so sure they are doing all that well in the Everglades, don't read all the propaganda lol.


----------



## Jb1432

Nel5on said:


> Thriving? Not so sure they are doing all that well in the Everglades, don't read all the propaganda lol.


I've spent a while in the Everglades..

They were thriving naturally before all the organised hunting trips.


----------



## Nel5on

From what I've heard, the big freeze in '07 culled the majority. 68 found in 4 weeks by almost 2k hunters says that must be accurate. 

Not the place for debate. I like the idea if the python view box lol!


----------



## Jb1432

Nel5on said:


> From what I've heard, the big freeze in '07 culled the majority. 68 found in 4 weeks by almost 2k hunters says that must be accurate.
> 
> Not the place for debate. I like the idea if the python view box lol!


Nearly all of them were caught on the roads, the Everglades covers an area of around 700 sq miles, most of it only accessible by boat. The biggest snake was a male that was released with two transmitters so they can hopefully track him back to the females that are hiding when mating occurs.

Sorry OP.


----------



## my_shed

I would second the giant Madagascar day geckos, mostly on the basis that they have been seen to cohabit in a non native area _when _the conditions were right. It could be an interesting educational exhibit about the consequences of introducing non natives to an area, possibly going into detail about the effects on native inhabitants. If the actual exhibit was set up to appear as an Everglades type environment, obviously without such large temperature swings, perhaps this could be good.

Also, madis are awesome, they would be fantastic in a group in a large environment, constantly active and hunting, highly visible, definitely a good display animal.

Dave


----------



## Antherina

I would imagine flying geckos (_Ptychozoon kuhli_) would qualify?


----------



## acromyrmexbob

'Jb1432' wrote



> Weirdly enough, both Burmese Pythons and Madagascan Day Gecko's are both well established as non native species in Florida (the geckos inhabit the Florida Keys and the Burmese Pythons inhabit the Everglades)..
> 
> The information with the tank could be about how these species have been released into the wild in a non native country


I like it! Great idea for an exhibit. Really ticks the boxes. Will look into this. Nice One!

Today the rock work in the Python / Lizard display started its transformation.










In the Croc tank we started to pour the sides.










whilst ensuring there were plenty of supports to keep the shuttering in place!










In order to create the nest pit which will be full of sand we need to build a box which will act as a shutter so we can pour concrete into it when in position.










Looking to complete the Croc pond tomorrow and progress the rockwork in the Python tank also.


----------



## wezza309

what is a " madis " sorry too ask :blush::blush:




my_shed said:


> I would second the giant Madagascar day geckos, mostly on the basis that they have been seen to cohabit in a non native area _when _the conditions were right. It could be an interesting educational exhibit about the consequences of introducing non natives to an area, possibly going into detail about the effects on native inhabitants. If the actual exhibit was set up to appear as an Everglades type environment, obviously without such large temperature swings, perhaps this could be good.
> 
> Also, madis are awesome, they would be fantastic in a group in a large environment, constantly active and hunting, highly visible, definitely a good display animal.
> 
> Dave




still looking :2thumb::no1:


----------



## my_shed

wezza309 said:


> what is a " madis " sorry too ask :blush::blush:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> still looking :2thumb::no1:


Madi's, as it should have been written, are Madagascar day geckos. Sorry, I should have proof read the post, I made it sound like something separate to the rest of the post, in fact I was trying to reinforce it. 

Dave


----------



## Antherina

You were correct first time with Madis.


----------



## my_shed

Antherina said:


> You were correct first time with Madis.


Debatable, I would include an apostrophe to show the omission of some letters, but as it's not an official abbreviation.........who really cares :2thumb:

:lol2:

Dave


----------



## Lane

I just stumbled across this amazing thread from a few years ago. WOW I read the whole thing it's amazing! Are there no finished pics though? Was looking forward to seeing everything complete. 
Awesome thread though, thanks


----------



## tomcannon

Lane said:


> I just stumbled across this amazing thread from a few years ago. WOW I read the whole thing it's amazing! Are there no finished pics though? Was looking forward to seeing everything complete.
> Awesome thread though, thanks


And which thread would that be then? Surely you're not talking of this one seeing as it is very much happening now, as we speak!


----------



## Lane

tomcannon said:


> And which thread would that be then? Surely you're not talking of this one seeing as it is very much happening now, as we speak!


Hahaha sorry you can tell I don't normally come on this forum...DUH!! I glanced at the last post and noticed the date (THE JOIN DATE OF THE MEMBER)
What a donut!!!! :bash: :blowup: :lol2:
Sorry!! I'm really excited then, more pics to come yay!!
No more posting on unknown forums for me!


----------



## vukic

Lane said:


> I just stumbled across this amazing thread from a few years ago. WOW I read the whole thing it's amazing! Are there no finished pics though? Was looking forward to seeing everything complete.
> Awesome thread though, thanks


I thought the otter habitat was finished?? 

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## acromyrmexbob

Quick word of advice!
When you are the boss and you decide to set a target for the guys, AND you take the hardest heaviest job to set everyone an example and make the day go quicker and better, DON'T. We just poured ALL the croc pond, I mixed every part of the concrete and I am absolutely B:censor:!

The pics are OK though.....














































Recently, it seems, all I can post is pictures of concrete being poured. Sorry everyone, its just a phase!



















Tomorrow and Friday is all about getting as many displays as possible filled with temporary animals for the Easter Weekend.


----------



## skilzo

This is making me excited to see it when its all done 

Is it opening up for the easter weekend?


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## acromyrmexbob

Right, today was pandemonium because we were filling exhibits with stock animals so the Easter weekend can go ahead. None of the planned animals are in place yet so its all temporary. Except the Cave Cricket display. You might remember I said I was thinking of a story where the village was above a cave filled with creatures which came out at night and terrorized the inhabitants. Well I made a model today of a local land mark, called Five Sisters Hills or Bings. Here;'s a photo of the model of the hills and some buildings below. Sorry the picture is so over exposed!










and the cave crickets below in the cave.....










so now the sign reads.....










Could not get a decent picture through the glass to show how it actually looks.










The croc pond has also moved on. We have taken the shuttering off, polished the surface and started to add the rocks to the sides.










This is the pit to be filled with sand for nesting.


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## Antherina

I like the way your mind works!:lol2:


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## tomcannon

The cave cricket display is fantastic. Where do the crickets actually come out of the cave though?


----------



## acromyrmexbob

tomcannon said:


> The cave cricket display is fantastic. Where do the crickets actually come out of the cave though?


Tom, there is a large entrance to the cave coming up directly in the centre of the display. I will try to get photos. My flash ran out of batteries today so I couldn't get decent pictures. Next week I will be able to give you a full picture of how the display works (or doesn't work, as the case may be!).


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## skilzo

So is this opened for the easter weekend only?


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## Antherina

I would think the two sections of the display would be separate? Cave crickets I've seen don't venture out of caves. The cricket shown in the upper dispay is a field cricket.


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## Paul112

Looks great so far. Just a quick question; are you not worried the crickets will eat all the lovely decorations? Maybe that will make the whole story slightly more macabre. 

Best,
Paul


----------



## cold blooded beast

Lane said:


> Hahaha sorry you can tell I don't normally come on this forum...DUH!! I glanced at the last post and noticed the date (THE JOIN DATE OF THE MEMBER)
> What a donut!!!! :bash: :blowup: :lol2:
> Sorry!! I'm really excited then, more pics to come yay!
> No more posting on unknown forums for me!


hmmm . Donuts! ....:lol2:
Welcome to the forum ....


acromyrmexbob said:


> Quick word of advice!
> When you are the boss and you decide to set a target for the guys, AND you take the hardest heaviest job to set everyone an example and make the day go quicker and better, DON'T. We just poured ALL the croc pond, I mixed every part of the concrete


Fantastic work ethic and admirable to lead by example ...but delegation with participation saves you feeling totally RFUKed ... 
This thread just keeps getting better and better:notworthy:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

skilzo said:


> So is this opened for the easter weekend only?


The first section is open from now on but listen, PLEASSSE don't go to see it until its finished. Virtually all of the displays are housing temporary animals, none of the equipment, lighting, heating, which will be installed in the final display has even been ordered yet, I am at this stage, to get this area open, recycling the old equipment. It will be much better when finished and you'll get the proper experience. The external theming has still to be applied so you feel you are in the rainforest in terms of sounds, humidity etc. So the plan is to complete the basic build, then go back over the display and theme it, introduced the permanent species and all the stuff needed to make it stunning. Just now its basically not even half finished.

'Antherina' wrote



> I would think the two sections of the display would be separate? Cave crickets I've seen don't venture out of caves. The cricket shown in the upper dispay is a field cricket.


This is not only a field cricket display, I will also add cockroaches and the like. The field cricket in the top display actually jumped into the display when I opened the door. Its not supposed to be there. Just thought it gave an idea of scale:whip:


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## skilzo

I will wait till its finished then  

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


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## acromyrmexbob

Antherina said:


> I would think the two sections of the display would be separate? Cave crickets I've seen don't venture out of caves. The cricket shown in the upper dispay is a field cricket.


Actually, the more I think about this the more I think you are right. There is no point in letting the crickets through and they will maybe cause more problems. I think I might close off the cave exit and restrict the crickets and other inverts to the lower level. It won't make any difference to the display. Thanks for the suggestion.


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## Antherina

You could have mantids in the upper display? They wouldn't eat the trees.


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## the_viper

That was an epic read just read from the start to catch up as missed out on loads when I moved back to the UK.

It is looking fantastic, can't wait to visit when it is finished.


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## MaMExotics

This looks amazing and ive figured out where this is  Cant wait for more updates


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## Wolflore

MaMExotics said:


> This looks amazing and ive figured out where this is  Cant wait for more updates


Took your time


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Nice to be back up and running.
Fitted the window in the croc tank










started to line the sides with plaster board, so we can put the final layer of plastic sheet on










and also fit the lights










the front is built in cls timber waiting to receive the laminated glass viewing window










now we start to build the support frame for the waterfall and the beach area where the crocs can come out to bask...



















In the python tank we have completed the rockwork for the water feature










Tomorrow will see big progress with rockwork in the croc tank and finishing work in the python enclosure


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## skilzo

looking as great as usual :2thumb:


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## MaMExotics

Wolflore said:


> Took your time


That fact ive been to this place before and was planning another trip this week dosnt help :bash::bash:


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## acromyrmexbob

I am going to Trinidad for 2 weeks from wednesday. I will post from there as I come across habitats or animals that are relevant to the displays I am working on here at the zoo. As a matter of interest, we are committed to finishing this exhibition by end May and the final theming will be done by end June. The official opening and publicity to promote this will happen 2nd week july. I would love to organise an out of hours open night for RFUKers with food and some modest amounts of alcohol once this is finished if enough of you wanted to come for a special preview. We could do something end June or beginning July. Any interest?


----------



## skilzo

acromyrmexbob said:


> I am going to Trinidad for 2 weeks from wednesday. I will post from there as I come across habitats or animals that are relevant to the displays I am working on here at the zoo. As a matter of interest, we are committed to finishing this exhibition by end May and the final theming will be done by end June. The official opening and publicity to promote this will happen 2nd week july. I would love to organise an out of hours open night for RFUKers with food and some modest amounts of alcohol once this is finished if enough of you wanted to come for a special preview. We could do something end June or beginning July. Any interest?


Im there put me down


----------



## Wolflore

It would have been a great trip but we'll be in full swing of sleepless nights and dirty nappies by then


----------



## vukic

acromyrmexbob said:


> I am going to Trinidad for 2 weeks from wednesday. I will post from there as I come across habitats or animals that are relevant to the displays I am working on here at the zoo. As a matter of interest, we are committed to finishing this exhibition by end May and the final theming will be done by end June. The official opening and publicity to promote this will happen 2nd week july. I would love to organise an out of hours open night for RFUKers with food and some modest amounts of alcohol once this is finished if enough of you wanted to come for a special preview. We could do something end June or beginning July. Any interest?


Hell yeah!! 

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## my_shed

I'm guessing its somewhere in the north of the country? I know a few peeps have guessed/worked out where it is, but I haven't the foggiest, just working on the basis that you're working on your place in the evenings and weekends so can't be far from home. Anyway, it's a long way but I'm interested, have to see if we can foist the kids on their grandparents and make a few days holiday out of it......for the benefit of the missus, obviously :whistling2:

Dave


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## ReptileGirl91

If i can get there then i'd definatly come


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## JonnyFrilledDragonLawson

id be up for it, if i knew where it was lol


----------



## Antherina

Modest amounts of alcohol? I know the very stuff.:2thumb:


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## Atticus22

I would definitely be up for it!


----------



## Chance

Wow! Just spent an hour reading through and looking at all the pictures. This is amazing. I shall keep following! :2thumb:


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## Munkys Mummy

Id be up for it, where is it?


----------



## Rammy

Somebody please tell me that the Sky News report this morning about a fire at a Tropical House in a zoo in Scotland is not this one.


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## Antherina

Looks like it: BBC News - Five Sisters Zoo fire: Crews tackle blaze in tropical house


----------



## Reaper941

Hope you double checked the wiring..

BBC News - Five Sisters Zoo fire: Reptiles dead in blaze


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## skilzo

I don't know what to say about that as I dont want to say if it is or not when the op wanted to keep it a secret 

Its a real shame about all the animals that have died 

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


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## jay67

Have watched this thread with great interest especially as it's so close to me, such sad news this morning. Hopefully most of the animals have survived. Lets hope people don't jump to conclusions as to the cause till the facts are known.


----------



## skilzo

jay67 said:


> Have watched this thread with great interest especially as it's so close to me, such sad news this morning. Hopefully most of the animals have survived. Lets hope people don't jump to conclusions as to the cause till the facts are known.


Like you say it could be anything the amount of equipment and wiring in there must have been unreal 

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


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## Fionab

hope its not 5 sisters zoo but the original lay out didint look like what i remember from their tropical house but maybe im wrong as its been a while since i was there last.


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## Antherina

Here's the latest on the Five Sisters Zoo fire: BBC News - Five Sisters Zoo fire: Reptiles dead in blaze


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## Jb1432

I don't want to jump to conclusions but I believe this was the old building where the display animals for the new project Andy is currently under taking were being housed. No doubt his Trinidad trip has been cut short due to this tragic event. Best wishes to the guys at the zoo and all those involved.

I'd like to offer a hand to help out where possible.


----------



## Fionab

any word on how many animals they have lost? that is awful!


----------



## Meefloaf

the report suggests it was in the part which was partially closed, one otter and two dwarf croc's survived


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## yuesaur

I really hope it isn't, he's worked so hard to create something most of use dream of doing.


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## skilzo

Their website has a donation part after the fire if anyone is interested

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


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## Chance

jay67 said:


> Have watched this thread with great interest especially as it's so close to me, such sad news this morning. Hopefully most of the animals have survived. Lets hope people don't jump to conclusions as to the cause till the facts are known.


Unfortunately it would appear that none of the animals survived. I'm gutted. So much work and so much love went into this from everyone involved. 

I really hope everyone involved is ok. 

RIP and off to Rainbow Bridge for the little lovelies who didn't make it out.


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## Meefloaf

upsetting news, lets just hope they can get it up and running again and it wont be too much of a hit


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## MaMExotics

The crocs, 1 otter and 2merkats made it, i just seen this on fb what a tragic loss
Also the burm had survived as it was elze where at thetime


----------



## pirez

Absolutely devastating.


----------



## tdbexotics

such devastating news


----------



## samurai

How awful


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## BornSlippy

Very sad


----------



## Grey

So it's definitely confirmed that this is the zoo, then? Oh how awful! I felt sick to my stomach when I saw that news report and it's absolutely devastating. Poor critters... _so_ much work! It's been a pleasure watching the progress of the zoo displays, I just can't imagine how the gent who shared so much with us is going to feel once he comes back from his trip.

All my love and prayers go to the zoo right now. I hope they can get back on their feet.


----------



## targonne

I m sorry guys, but no one said for sure, that this was the zoo, nor on the news was i able read that the zoo was being remodeled?

Also the otters seem to have perished as well, and as far as i knew the otters were already on their enclosure, outside?

My sentiments are with the keepers workers, that put so much into it.

And i m still hoping its just another zoo.

As seeing all this thought and hard work go down in flames would be terrible, not counting the animal lives with it...


--> NeverMind just went on facebook, and it is the same Zoo  
Truly sad about this.


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## skilzo

Yeah its the same one such a shame it looked amazing with all the progress just hope the zoo survives now


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## MaMExotics

it said that the fire had spread to the otters and merkats who lived right next to the reptile house, it also says the burm was not in its viv at the time and was living somewhere else, (wasnt the burm viv not finished)
this is such sad new, so much animal lives and hard work put into this its such a shame :/ hopefuly the zoo will get it sorted and come back on top, its such a great zoo aswell they do so much work for alot of animals that wouldnt be given a second chance


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## Fionab

yeah it was the same zoo, the female otter survived and two meercats, although seemingly there has been a sighting of a meercat in nearby Polbeth , There are no suspicious circumstances just a freak accident  there donation fund however is certainly restoring faith in humans as its standing at over £13,000 already.


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## skilzo

Fionab said:


> yeah it was the same zoo, the female otter survived and two meercats, although seemingly there has been a sighting of a meercat in nearby Polbeth , There are no suspicious circumstances just a freak accident  there donation fund however is certainly restoring faith in humans as its standing at over £13,000 already.


Yeah I seen that about the sighting you can but hope 

I donated I think the place is great and that's an amazing amount of money in such a short time 

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


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## Fionab

it is brilliant.! can only keep fingers crossed that the animals that survived keep doing well and they get everything up and running asap


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## skilzo

£13700 on their facebook update thats great in two days 

Hopefully it is the merekats and they get them back would be great


----------



## Fionab

skilzo said:


> £13700 on their facebook update thats great in two days
> 
> Hopefully it is the merekats and they get them back would be great


everything crossed for them! as you say its always been a great wee place


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## skilzo

Yeah and them getting it done up would have made it one of the best its just a shame but like you say fingers crossed for them


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## vukic

What's their facebook page?? 

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## skilzo

vukic said:


> What's their facebook page??
> 
> Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


You need to put in five sisters zoo and it comes up doesn't with 5 sisters zoo  

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


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## vukic

skilzo said:


> You need to put in five sisters zoo and it comes up doesn't with 5 sisters zoo
> 
> Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


DOH!! Had to be that simple didnt it.. Lol..

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## skilzo

vukic said:


> DOH!! Had to be that simple didnt it.. Lol..
> 
> Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


Haha don't worry I done the same was looking for ages then I was like I will try this but doubt it to simple :lol2:


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## Antherina

Andrew will be devastated after all the work he put in to upgrade the housing for the animals only for them to be destroyed like this.


----------



## Luke

skilzo said:


> £13700 on their facebook update thats great in two days
> 
> Hopefully it is the merekats and they get them back would be great


 
Absolute brilliant display of human kindness, I know every little helps but this is where I wish I had millions or a big lottery jackpot and no where to put it all, I wouldnt hesitate in writing a 6 firgure cheque right now, going up there rolling my sleeves up and helping clean up.

If any rich people are reading the bbc news story, wether they are celebs or just businessmen/women, if your that bored with your money you need to snort the evil white powder, then look to things like this, thats what i say.

I hope it rebuilds and becomes really successful but andrew will be devastated.


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## Antherina

Fund stands at £23,400 now. :gasp:


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## tomcannon

Oh no, I had heard the news but never imagined it was the same zoo. I felt sick hearing it first time around but this is just even worse. So sorry to hear this Andy for you and your guys and the zoo and its animals. I sincerely hope all involved and associated can bounce back.

As soon as payday comes along I shall donate generously and I urge others to do the same if they haven't already. This is a great opportunity to pull together and show just how much the hobby means to us all. 

Once again, my greatest sympathy goes out to everyone involved.


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## skilzo

I think its amazing how much has been raised so far even more so that they could be getting their reptile house built for nothing just when you think that humanity has disappeared this happens 

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


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## acromyrmexbob

*Fire at Five Sisters zoo*

I would like to thank everyone, both here and on Facebook, who have given their support and kind words at this time. I heard about the fire the following day and, suffice to say, all of the reports are true regarding the devastation and loss that Brian, the owner, and the keepers at Five Sisters Zoo have suffered. My input was to redesign and reinstall the entire set up and I have been posting regularly here. But the events of the past week have overshadowed all of these efforts and I am devastated by the destruction caused in terms of animal lives and property. I am amazed at the resilience and strength of those closely involved with this tragedy but I have spoken to Brian and he has said they will rebuild and I have scheduled a meeting with him on my return to discuss how this will progress. Apparently the fire started with the oil fired burner which was used to heat the whole building, thats as much as I know so far. I only hope that the show of kindness and the offers of help allow this beautiful zoo to be rebuilt and move on to breater things. I am writing from an internet cafe in Trinidad and plan to return next week so I will be able to give a much more detailed report of both the causes, the reaction and the way forward then. Thanks again for your support, Andrew.


----------



## Nel5on

It's probably a 400 mile trip, but im quite handy, will volunteer my services for any rebuilding effort, will also donate what I can.


----------



## skilzo

acromyrmexbob said:


> I would like to thank everyone, both here and on Facebook, who have given their support and kind words at this time. I heard about the fire the following day and, suffice to say, all of the reports are true regarding the devastation and loss that Brian, the owner, and the keepers at Five Sisters Zoo have suffered. My input was to redesign and reinstall the entire set up and I have been posting regularly here. But the events of the past week have overshadowed all of these efforts and I am devastated by the destruction caused in terms of animal lives and property. I am amazed at the resilience and strength of those closely involved with this tragedy but I have spoken to Brian and he has said they will rebuild and I have scheduled a meeting with him on my return to discuss how this will progress. Apparently the fire started with the oil fired burner which was used to heat the whole building, thats as much as I know so far. I only hope that the show of kindness and the offers of help allow this beautiful zoo to be rebuilt and move on to breater things. I am writing from an internet cafe in Trinidad and plan to return next week so I will be able to give a much more detailed report of both the causes, the reaction and the way forward then. Thanks again for your support, Andrew.


If you ever need a hand I'm only 30 minutes away from there and would love to give some of my time to help 

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


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## skilzo

Just thought I would let people know I was at the Five Sisters Zoo today the reptile house is completely gone now just some bricks left sad sight to see 

But on a positive note it was so busy and they raised £6506.40 in donations and from fundraising activities. The grand total raised for the fund to date now stands at an INCREDIBLE £37530.57 just awesome to see that people still care :2thumb:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Back from Trinidad now, huge relief to be able to make contact face to face with the people affected by this fire. I met with Brian and Shirley, the owners of the zoo, on Friday, just when I got back. The site is shocking, the change from when I last saw it. The building and all of the debris has gone leaving only a concrete pad where the building was. Brian told me that the day after the fire police volunteers worked their way through the wreckage and removed all of the animal bodies. There is a remembrance garden by the entrance of the zoo with pictures of all of the animals that died in the fire. Some of the stories from those most closely involved will live with me for ever. 
On an amazing note is the story of the 55 year old Dwarf Crocs. Their building was fully ablaze, the keepers were physically restrained by the fire brigade from entering the building to rescue these two animals. When the structure of the building collapsed, still in flames, into the remains of the pool, the two 4 foot crocs were gone. Once the fire was put out and the keepers were allowed to pick through the debris, movement was spotted in the ruins and the two crocs were pulled, unharmed, from their pool, having gone underwater and survived all of the conflagration without so much as a scratch!
When I arrived at the zoo yesterday, Susan Boyle was there handing in £500 donation. She walked round the zoo and met the staff. This is only a small example of the unbelievable offers of money and support that have poured in. The fund at present is around £50000 and the fund raising efforts across the area and the whole country are ensuring that this amount will grow and grow. The publicity for the zoo is immense. Brian can barely cope with the influx of interest and pledges of help. A charity is set up and ALL of the money is going into this fund, to be administered by a separate body to ensure the rebuilding work is supported in the best way. None of the donations are being used to run the zoo or fund anything at present. 
During our meeting Brian told me that the site where the fire blazed will become the new crocodile house and a new Meerkat exhibit. A new Tropical House, of incredible scale, will be erected at another site within the zoo over the coming year. I will be closely involved in the design and construction of this and prelliminary meetings are being arranged with Architects and Planners to get the ball rolling. The local Authority has been very supportive and no obstacles to getting started are anticipated. The exact details of what is planned are not available right now but I can assure you that there will be no exhibit that stands comparison to this new development anywhere within several hundred miles. A real Phoenix from the ashes!
With regards to time scale, I do not expect any work to start for a couple or three months or so. Then another few months for the building. And then the exhibits etc. So I will record the details of work I have coming up shortly and the zoo work I am doing over the next period of time, in different establishments. I will do this as long as there is interest from everyone here in what I am doing. I have a job over the next few weeks and then a very large fit out over June July and August. There are other shorter jobs which may be of interest. All of the while I will update everyone fully as to developments at the zoo and when work starts again, I will record, daily, the progress. Jump ahead to the point when this new facility is opening its doors for the first time and I think the people involved with Five Sisters Zoo will feel that coming full circle through these incredibly difficult times has brought them back to a starting point of some meaning from which this superb little zoo can grow and move on.


----------



## Meefloaf

wow, can imagine returning to there was quite an emotional rollercoaster. so glad to hear they are planning on coming back better and bigger


----------



## skilzo

Glad to hear what is happening will be great to see it started such a big part of that zoo missing with it gone when I was there the other week, keep us updated please


----------



## Grey

Amazing! It sounds like it'll be an incredible recovery for everyone involved - granted, it'll take time, but I wish you all the best in the new build and hope things can be started soon. If you wish to keep us updated please, please do!!


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Photobucket will not link pictures so I am trying to fix this. I was working in Lake District today stripping down an old display in preparation for the new one. In london tomorrow to repair a Leaf Cutting Ant display. Next week I am in unit building a big display and the following week I am on site in a Public Aquarium installing this exhibit. Lots of pictures to share, can't get them up just now, once fixed I will bombard you. Post soon, thanks for your patience, Andrew


----------



## Meefloaf

May I ask where in the lake district? I went to Lakeland wildlife oasis when I was up there last and was quite impressed by it despite its size


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Meefloaf said:


> May I ask where in the lake district? I went to Lakeland wildlife oasis when I was up there last and was quite impressed by it despite its size


I know Jo Marsden of Wildlife Oasis very well but its not there. Again, can't really discuss where this is until its finished. Not really fair to the customer!

I was working in the Lake District this week. We are supplying a very large exhibit of Leaf Cutting Ants. The actual build will be very complex and is happening a week on Monday for a Week. Next week we are building the exhibit in the factory. I will update as it progresses. 

Prior to this, we visited the establishment and removed the old exhibits which were tired and looking a bit rough.





































after a few hours the site looked a little different.....




























After removing all of the rubbish the area is ready for the new installation. We took the opportunity to get accurate measurements so we can ensure an efficient install in 10 days.


----------



## Meefloaf

awesome, looking good.

as for the wildlife oasis, i was stupidly impressed by what they've got going on there, chameleon on a log freaked me out a bit mind aha


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## Paul112

Nice updates! I know exactly where this one is as I was there not long ago, but I'll keep it to myself in the interests of the thread 

Out of interest, what has happened to the old display animals (I think there were some Cane toads and various inverts?) - are you setting them up elsewhere or are they just being merged with other enclosures?

Will have to pop down for a look around when you get it setup.

Best,
Paul


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Meefloaf said:


> awesome, looking good.
> 
> as for the wildlife oasis, i was stupidly impressed by what they've got going on there, chameleon on a log freaked me out a bit mind aha


It was at Wildlife Oasis that I got the idea of displaying Chameleons in a way that allows no glass or barrier between the animal and the public, using a dry moat which the Chameleon cannot cross. It looked great but I am concerned that in the wrong setting the Chameleon would be stolen if there is no barrier. Thats why I haven't used this design yet.


----------



## Meefloaf

acromyrmexbob said:


> It was at Wildlife Oasis that I got the idea of displaying Chameleons in a way that allows no glass or barrier between the animal and the public, using a dry moat which the Chameleon cannot cross. It looked great but I am concerned that in the wrong setting the Chameleon would be stolen if there is no barrier. Thats why I haven't used this design yet.


yeah, i mean they've got a little rope, bout two foot off the ground and its easily in reach for a backpack snatch. he loves that light


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## Meefloaf

lil difficult to pic out, just incase anyone wonders what we are on about


----------



## vukic

Meefloaf said:


> lil difficult to pic out, just incase anyone wonders what we are on about
> 
> image


Well it is chameleon after all.. Lol. 

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## popeye92

i know that place in the lakes its nice cant wait 2 see the new display when your done :2thumb:


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## acromyrmexbob

Working in London on a tank repair with a difference. We had to replace the back panel whilst the tank was full of around 300,000 leaf cutting ants! 










The above photo is a picture of the display from the front. The back panel was cracked. The tank was 2mx1mx1m with a central tank inside which was originally filled with water but the ants have, as you will see below, filled this with soil and fungus garden.



















I managed to fit the new panel and back fill the soil so its another season on show for this colony, easily one of the largest in the UK on show, at The St Albans Butterfly Project, well worth a visit for their outdoor displays of native flowers and species as well as a tropical butterfly house and a social insect room which we built.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

*The site of the Tropical House after the fire, Five Sisters Zoo*

Here's some pictures of the site where the tropical house used to be. The owners are rebuilding this on another site within the zoo and plan to put a meerkat house and some classrooms here.




























Tidied up a lot but still hard to look at when I remember what was there before.


----------



## skilzo

acromyrmexbob said:


> Here's some pictures of the site where the tropical house used to be. The owners are rebuilding this on another site within the zoo and plan to put a meerkat house and some classrooms here.
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> Tidied up a lot but still hard to look at when I remember what was there before.


So how big do you think the new one will be? Bigger than the old one?

Glad to see they are rebuilding keep us up to date please  

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


----------



## acromyrmexbob

skilzo said:


> So how big do you think the new one will be? Bigger than the old one?
> 
> Glad to see they are rebuilding keep us up to date please
> 
> Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


Old building was around 12m x 30m, new one will be 30m x 50m, around 4x bigger!


----------



## skilzo

acromyrmexbob said:


> Old building was around 12m x 30m, new one will be 30m x 50m, around 4x bigger!


That's amazing can't wait to see this


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Today is all about getting materials together for the Lake District install next week. I have a ridiculous list of stuff, and below is the Schedule of works which I prepared for the client and will be working from over next few days. 

*26**6**Manufacture of Elements at Factory**08:00:00days*276.1Order / Buy Materials for Rock Manufacture00:00:00days286.2Order Laminated Glass for Viewing Panels00:00:00days296.3Order Hardware for Access Doors00:00:00days306.4Order Equipment for Life Support 00:00:00days316.5Order Timber and Material for construction of unit00:00:00days326.6Order Paint, Rock Colouring Powder and Lacquer00:00:00days336.7Order Lighting00:00:00days346.8Source Feeding Tree00:00:00days356.9Build Feeding Platforms01:00:00day366.10Build Nest Pod to house Nest Boxes01:00:00day376.11Build Fungus Nest Boxes and Dump Chamber01:00:00day386.12Build sump01:00:00day396.13Build Frame to support Nest01:00:00day406.14Cut Glass To Size01:00:00day416.15Fabricate Frame for Glass01:00:00day426.16Drill holes in all moats for top up fittings01:00:00day436.17Manufacture Base of Unit, Timber & MDF construction01:00:00day446.18Manufacture Roof Section01:00:00day456.19Fit Lights to Roof Section01:00:00day466.20Fit electrical conduit in Top Section01:00:00day476.21Test All Equipment01:00:00day486.22Load Van for Delivery01:00:00day

Tomorrow I am working in Berlin, so I only have a couple of days to get this stuff ready. Nearly a real spanner in the works yesterday, I was contacted by TV company because their presenter had pulled out for a programme being filmed in Kenya and there was a possibility of me having to go there today but visa problems and logistics meant this was avoided. So everything remains on schedule. I will load van Sunday, on site for 5 days from Monday.


----------



## moonstruck

I started reading through the first half of this thread last night and got really sucked into it and excited to see the end results, I've just read the second half now and feel so physically sick. I am so so sorry for everyone involved and the lives lost, but as you said, it's a real phoenix from the ashes and i'm glad the zoo have pulled themselves back together so well after this. 

Becky xxx


----------



## acromyrmexbob

moonstruck said:


> I started reading through the first half of this thread last night and got really sucked into it and excited to see the end results, I've just read the second half now and feel so physically sick. I am so so sorry for everyone involved and the lives lost, but as you said, it's a real phoenix from the ashes and i'm glad the zoo have pulled themselves back together so well after this.
> 
> Becky xxx


Thanks for your comments Becky, I am sure you are echoing the sentiments everyone feels, both those closely linked to the zoo and those looking in. 
Things are moving behind the scenes. I will be meeting the architect in around 9-10 days time to discuss initial layouts and designs. Once we have done this we will get planning permission then its back to work!

From tomorrow there will be daily updates on the Lake District build for the next couple of weeks (assuming I can get internet at the B&B we will be staying at.)


----------



## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> Thanks for your comments Becky, I am sure you are echoing the sentiments everyone feels, both those closely linked to the zoo and those looking in.
> Things are moving behind the scenes. I will be meeting the architect in around 9-10 days time to discuss initial layouts and designs. Once we have done this we will get planning permission then its back to work!
> 
> From tomorrow there will be daily updates on the Lake District build for the next couple of weeks (assuming I can get internet at the B&B we will be staying at.)


I followed with great interest the original thread, it's exciting to see something you'd love to do unfolding before your eyes, but I'm really excited to see it begin from the ground up, tragic circumstances to cause it but I get the feeling that an entirely new build, of the scale suggested (planning permission allowing) with you creating it, will be something on a whole different level. 

Out of interest, with all that space to play with, have you considered something like this

Indoor vertical garden

I don't know if it is outside the scope you're working to, but I cannot imagine anything cooler to have as a backdrop to a tropical animal house. The site has loads of examples, and there are a million more out there, but with something like this particular one you could actually incorporate vivs into it as well.

If you do fancy doing something like it, I will definitely be making the trip from Cornwall to see it 

Dave

Edit: In fact, the second to last entry looks like it has some vivs in it.......although I think you could make them blend in better


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Spent the last 2 days building the display in flat pack. We are working 4 hours from home so everything must be built in advance. Unlike Five Sisters Zoo (which was very close to where I live) I can't nip home for extra supplies so a lot of time has been spent making sure that everything is loaded and everything has been thought of.

Here's a photo of the fully loaded (and, I suspect, overloaded) van ready for departure. This is a normal transit, when you see what we are going to build from what is on board, you will think its a Tardis. The display is 18 feet long and 8 foot high. 










I plan to post each night from the hotel to let you see how this is taking shape.


----------



## Meefloaf

skills


----------



## acromyrmexbob

my_shed said:


> I followed with great interest the original thread, it's exciting to see something you'd love to do unfolding before your eyes, but I'm really excited to see it begin from the ground up, tragic circumstances to cause it but I get the feeling that an entirely new build, of the scale suggested (planning permission allowing) with you creating it, will be something on a whole different level.
> 
> Out of interest, with all that space to play with, have you considered something like this
> 
> Indoor vertical garden
> 
> I don't know if it is outside the scope you're working to, but I cannot imagine anything cooler to have as a backdrop to a tropical animal house. The site has loads of examples, and there are a million more out there, but with something like this particular one you could actually incorporate vivs into it as well.
> 
> If you do fancy doing something like it, I will definitely be making the trip from Cornwall to see it
> 
> Dave
> 
> Edit: In fact, the second to last entry looks like it has some vivs in it.......although I think you could make them blend in better


I like it, Dave, yes, that's exactly what I am looking for. What about a really big one, 30 - 40 foot high, waterfall, ponds and exhibits. I'm right there with you, buddy, consider it included!


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## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> I like it, Dave, yes, that's exactly what I am looking for. What about a really big one, 30 - 40 foot high, waterfall, ponds and exhibits. I'm right there with you, buddy, consider it included!


30 to 40 foot? Hmm, are you sure that's big enough?? :whistling2:

:lol2: this will be awesome! 

Dave


----------



## Meefloaf

the missus says i can get one*



*on the condition of winning the euro millions


----------



## my_shed

Meefloaf said:


> the missus says i can get one*
> 
> 
> 
> *on the condition of winning the euro millions


 
Wow, good to have a missus who lets you do what you want.....conditionally!

My missus is happy for me to put one up in the corner of our dining room.......because she's fully aware that i'll do it anyway!!

Now just to get the money together.....hmmm......next year maybe......2015 looks better......or 2020....

Dave


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Writing from my hotel room at the end of Day 1 of the Lakes Build.
Arrived late at the place, around 12 noon. Unloaded van and started to put the frames together at about 1pm. Took the first pictures mid afternoon, start to get the idea of what we are building.....



















Then the rest of the main panels are fitted.










and we fixed heavy duty polythene to the base where the substrate will go.










To the left is a viewing window where the nest of Leaf Cutting Ants will be seen under ground. Then the main area is where they will travel to the food which will be a tree stump with small tables fixed onto it.



















Finally, at around 5:30pm, we fixed the strip lights in place.










Tomorrow we will start the framing for the rock work using a new technique we are trying for the first time! mg: Quite high pressure to get it right! More tomorrow night.


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## acromyrmexbob

End of Day 2, some progress today. Again, trapped in the middle of nowhere, just had an indian takaway, it was better than the chinese last night.

Today we fitted the roof grills to hide the lights. These were egg crates, they make a good job.










We also started to fix the wire to the frame in preparation for the rock work.



















The section inside the display is to separate the nest section from the foraging section for the ants.










Its made by building a wooden frame, covering with a thick polythene and then using rough casting expanded metal sheet.

The top of the display is also fitted with mesh etc....










and the window frames painted white.










This is the section joining the old display to the new display.










The nest area is fitted with a steel pole, painted black, which supports 6 rods. These will hold the nest boxes.










And above this is the area the ants will emerge from their nest to start their foraging.










More updates tomorrow.


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## mingcho02

*Talent*

I know for a fact that this is the most talented guy ever. I am your biggest fan :mf_dribble:. When i saw your post tonight I just clapped and shouted yay like a girl... oh wait i am a girl :lol2:


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## my_shed

As always, looking forward to seeing how this progresses  Can I ask how big the sheets of egg crate are and where you source them? I use ebay, but am always on the hunt for better suppliers if they're around. May I ask what the new approach to rockwork is going to be?

Dave


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## popeye92

again fantastic work is there anything you cnat do :notworthy:


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## targonne

can't wait fot he end of day 3


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## acromyrmexbob

popeye92 said:


> again fantastic work is there anything you cant do :notworthy:


Ovulate.:2thumb:


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## skilzo

It looks amazing always look forward to the updates on this thread  

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2


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## vukic

acromyrmexbob said:


> Ovulate.:2thumb:


Lmao!!!

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## acromyrmexbob

I have travelled back to Scotland today to pick up the glass and other materials for the rest of this build. As a result I don't have any pictures of what the guys did today. When I get back tomorrow I will post. So tomorrows post will be day 3 & 4.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

my_shed said:


> As always, looking forward to seeing how this progresses  Can I ask how big the sheets of egg crate are and where you source them? I use ebay, but am always on the hunt for better suppliers if they're around. May I ask what the new approach to rockwork is going to be?
> 
> Dave


Egg crate from ebay, same as you. They are 600mmx600mm, cost £7.00 per tile, bought 7.
The new approach is that we are using polythene sheet and expanded metal (normally used by plasterers when rough casting) built up in layers without any rocks or rubble for features underneath the mix. This is by far the lightest structure we have ever used as a foundation for the rocks. As a result we are (hopefully) able to work overhead, with almost horizontal overhangs. Its a bit risky but I am very hopeful we can pull it off. Also we are not using the powder, we are painting the rockwork. This is because of 2 reasons. Firstly we are working on the outside of the exhibit and so mess is a problem indoors in an exhibition which is open to the public and schools while we are working. And secondly because we are having to match our rockwork to existing rockwork which is already there from another supplier. All good fun!


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Day 3 of the build.
(Day 4 posted tomorrow)

We started work on the rock surfaces today. Another of the changes we have made for this job is that we are not using powder to colour the rocks as we usually do, we are painting them to match the existing theming. So none of the rockwork in these pictures has any colour yet.



















The rockwork extends around the whole display and connects to the existing rockwork so we need to copythestyle as well as the colour. Here is a picture of the new rock and the old rock.




























Tomorrow we will continue the rock work but we will also crack on with the inside. One of the challenges of this type of work is the timescale, this one is start to finish in 5 days! Hectic.


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## bothrops

Fantastic looking build mate.


What mix have you used to cover the rough casting stuff? Have you put the poly sheet under all of it, or just inside the enclosure?


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## mingcho02

*Rock Work*

OMFG your Rock work is the best I've seen. I think you should have a go at OVULATING :notworthy:


----------



## tomcannon

acromyrmexbob said:


> Egg crate from ebay, same as you. They are 600mmx600mm, cost £7.00 per tile, bought 7.
> The new approach is that we are using polythene sheet and expanded metal (normally used by plasterers when rough casting) built up in layers without any rocks or rubble for features underneath the mix. This is by far the lightest structure we have ever used as a foundation for the rocks. As a result we are (hopefully) able to work overhead, with almost horizontal overhangs. Its a bit risky but I am very hopeful we can pull it off. Also we are not using the powder, we are painting the rockwork. This is because of 2 reasons. Firstly we are working on the outside of the exhibit and so mess is a problem indoors in an exhibition which is open to the public and schools while we are working. And secondly because we are having to match our rockwork to existing rockwork which is already there from another supplier. All good fun!


Hey Andrew, been a while, hope all is ok? Could you explain in further detail the approach used for the rock work and the materials used? I've been trying to think of another way to do smaller scale vivs with less weight and a shorter time scale. Hopefully this may be an option! : victory: As always, brilliant work!


----------



## acromyrmexbob

tomcannon said:


> Hey Andrew, been a while, hope all is ok? Could you explain in further detail the approach used for the rock work and the materials used? I've been trying to think of another way to do smaller scale vivs with less weight and a shorter time scale. Hopefully this may be an option! : victory: As always, brilliant work!


 
Hi, Tom, though you would have come to Trinidad in October!:devil: Maybe not the right part of the world for you. Still, maybe another time.
I will post the full method when I have more time. There are angry people glaring at me in this hotel waiting for me to come off the only computer in the place and I've been on for over an hour!

Day 4, More rockwork. The photo below is of the internal rock and the water filled moat above the nest area.










We will place rockwork over the glass that can be seen tomorrow.










This is a close up (not very good quality!) of the moat around the area the anys will emerge from.

Inside the nest area you can see the nest tanks attached onto the metal frame. They have been drilled so I can connect them with clear plastic tubes. On the ground there is a tank which will be filled with water.










These tanks are still to be cleaned.

On the other side of the tanks you can see the effect we are looking for.










This also shows the look as the new rock merges with the rock we made yesterday which is dry enough to paint.

I should have posted the next picture before the last one to show how it looked with the mesh on.




















We also builta handling table for demonstrations on the end of the unit. This will be rocked tomorrow.










We also completed the overhead rocks










so the overall look at the end of today is as follows.










There willbe major changes tomorrow, we are painting and lots of other stuff.


The floor is being relaid next wednesday so we are not having to be that careful about its condition.


----------



## tomcannon

acromyrmexbob said:


> Hi, Tom, though you would have come to Trinidad in October!:devil: Maybe not the right part of the world for you. Still, maybe another time.
> I will post the full method when I have more time. There are angry people glaring at me in this hotel waiting for me to come off the only computer in the place and I've been on for over an hour!


Agh I knew you'd mention that, it's killing me as its such an opportunity but there's no hope I could afford it currently. In the future I hope it's a different story. So fingers crossed for every success and more trips and opportunities down the line. If it were a different situation for me then there's no doubt I'd be there, such a great proposition for a ridiculously cheap price. I had shifted the gutting feeling until now! :bash:

If you could post your method when you have a chance it would be great. I don't want to be the cause of an angry mob after the PC!


----------



## my_shed

I may be a mile out, but I think I can have a stab at guessing how the rockwork is shaped......

Is it lengths of thin timber screwed so they bow outwards and inwards, with the heavy duty polythene following the contours, then the mesh following those shapes, with a bit of tweaking? Then the concrete mix applied in the normal way. I recognize the mesh (I think) and if it's the stuff i'm thinking of it's quite rigid, and with a bit of support from the timber, would hold it's shape while the concrete is applied.

May be a mile off......apologies if so! Looking good, really starting to come together. Hurry up with it, we want/demand/need more updates on the greenhouse!

Dave


----------



## Antherina

Amazing how quickly it comes together.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

my_shed said:


> I may be a mile out, but I think I can have a stab at guessing how the rockwork is shaped......
> 
> Is it lengths of thin timber screwed so they bow outwards and inwards, with the heavy duty polythene following the contours, then the mesh following those shapes, with a bit of tweaking? Then the concrete mix applied in the normal way. I recognize the mesh (I think) and if it's the stuff i'm thinking of it's quite rigid, and with a bit of support from the timber, would hold it's shape while the concrete is applied.
> 
> May be a mile off......apologies if so! Looking good, really starting to come together. Hurry up with it, we want/demand/need more updates on the greenhouse!
> 
> Dave


OK, Dave, yes, that is about right. But I don't get the shapes by bending thin wood. The thin strips are bent but that's just because I have attached them onto two unaligned surfaces. I get the contours by screwing bits of wood of different sizes onto the wall and then attaching thin strips from them to their neighbours. Once I have a wall looking how I want I then staple heavy duty poly to this surface, being careful to stretch the poly as tightly as I can between the peaks. When the wire is moulded to the same contours, keeping it in contact with the poly as much as possible, the whole thing is ready for plastering.

Anyway, we finished today, leaving only one more day on site. We have the glass to fit, the foraging walkway to hang, the ants to put in and the colouring to finish. That happens on Tuesday. Here's some pictures of the display as we left it today.....
































































Hope you like where its going. It looks good with its priming coat on.


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## my_shed

Cool, I like the way that rock is looking  It was a toss up between blocks of wood screwed on, and bent strips. I think i'd use a combo, might be unnecessary but it ahould give a variety of greater and lesser contours.

Anyways, as I say, looking good, can't wait to see the finished item

Dave


----------



## Grey

Fantastic! Loving the photographs; I'm so pleased to see the other jobs you're doing so thank you very much indeed for being willing to share!


----------



## Sid85

This build is coming together really well - I love how natural the rock work looks.



my_shed said:


> Out of interest, with all that space to play with, have you considered something like this
> 
> Indoor vertical garden


Also, I showed this link to my other half and she really wants to do something like this. She really wants a Mystus Wyckii catfish - so we'd have something great to go into a big pool at the bottom. (Pity it wont be a Red tailed cat, or a dwarf caimon or something, but I'm not complaining). Now I just have to wait until we're not renting and we have some spare money (two things that dont go hand-in-hand).

I cant wait to see something like this on a much larger scale.

Sid


----------



## bothrops

acromyrmexbob said:


> OK, Dave, yes, that is about right. But I don't get the shapes by bending thin wood. The thin strips are bent but that's just because I have attached them onto two unaligned surfaces. I get the contours by screwing bits of wood of different sizes onto the wall and then attaching thin strips from them to their neighbours. Once I have a wall looking how I want I then staple heavy duty poly to this surface, being careful to stretch the poly as tightly as I can between the peaks. When the wire is moulded to the same contours, keeping it in contact with the poly as much as possible, the whole thing is ready for plastering.




Hey Andrew - this is an awesome looking build (mind you, I've come to expect nothing less from you!). I love the idea of the windowed nest chambers.

If you wouldn't mind indulging me I have a couple of questions regarding this (We're just about to look at rebuilding our exotics room at college and I might get a chance to have a bit of a play!)


I see the idea of screwing wood in place to provide contours, but when you say the heavy duty polythene is then pulled tight across the batons, my unpractical mind thinks that would remove the contours as the taut plastic would bridge the gap?

Also, what's the significance/purpose of the plastic - is it to protect/seal the back of the wood or is it more to do with the cement/plaster that goes on the mesh - i.e. a sort of background/block to stop it squeezing through too far? or something else?


What's the mix you are using to cover the mesh?

Finally, would this method be suitable for the base/background of a paludarium if it was sealed? If so, what would you seal it with?


(Obviously, please wait until the lynch mob have dissipated before replying!)


Thanks again for sharing these builds with us - the forum really benefits from your inputs.

regards

Andy

p.s. I was speaking to a friend of mine about your builds the other day and it turns out he knows you - I think he said he used to work for you - small world hey?!


----------



## Chance

Is it finished yet? :jump: I wanna see! :2thumb:

Your builds are EPIC as ever! :2thumb:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

bothrops said:


> Hey Andrew - this is an awesome looking build (mind you, I've come to expect nothing less from you!). I love the idea of the windowed nest chambers.
> 
> If you wouldn't mind indulging me I have a couple of questions regarding this (We're just about to look at rebuilding our exotics room at college and I might get a chance to have a bit of a play!)
> 
> 
> I see the idea of screwing wood in place to provide contours, but when you say the heavy duty polythene is then pulled tight across the batons, my unpractical mind thinks that would remove the contours as the taut plastic would bridge the gap?
> 
> Also, what's the significance/purpose of the plastic - is it to protect/seal the back of the wood or is it more to do with the cement/plaster that goes on the mesh - i.e. a sort of background/block to stop it squeezing through too far? or something else?
> 
> 
> What's the mix you are using to cover the mesh?
> 
> Finally, would this method be suitable for the base/background of a paludarium if it was sealed? If so, what would you seal it with?
> 
> 
> (Obviously, please wait until the lynch mob have dissipated before replying!)
> 
> 
> Thanks again for sharing these builds with us - the forum really benefits from your inputs.
> 
> regards
> 
> Andy
> 
> p.s. I was speaking to a friend of mine about your builds the other day and it turns out he knows you - I think he said he used to work for you - small world hey?!


OK, the plastic is stapled into every contour to hug the wood. You don't want any play in the plastic, the wood should support the plastic everywhere.
Plastic sheeting stops the plaster from squeezing through and exposing the wire. It gives a waterproof barrier to stop the plaster and allows you to push the mix into shapes without continually having to add more.
We use different mixes. The most simple, and easiest, is one bag cement, 2 bags building sand, squirt of soap and PVA. You can get technical, the internet is awash with different recipes and I have used some but that mix works well. Make sure the mix is like porridge and easily workable.
Yes the method works just as well, use a clear pond paint and give it 3 coats.

Here's the final post of the Lakes Aquarium build. 

This is how it looks with the lights finally on.










The rope walkway is in place and very convoluted, at the proprietors request.










The feeding platform at the far end is formed from a tree branch and 4 ply tables.










A close up of the rope walkway, suspended from the ceiling by fishing line which the ants can't or won't climb










If they every do we smear the line with fluon which they cannot grip and is available from Blades Biological among others.

The underground section of the nest showing the area the ants will emerge from.










and a close up of the colony which was dumped at the entrance and allowed to carry themselves and the fungus and brood down into the nest.










and finally some other pictures of the setup, I hope you like it.










Detail of the rockwork



















The table on the end is for animal handling.


----------



## Meefloaf

i'm up in kendal next month, may have to pop in a see this


----------



## my_shed

That looks awesome! One question, I know it's probably a silly question (paint is paint, right!) but do you have any specific advice on good paints to use (usual advice is acrylic paint, non toxic, blah blah, but i'm wondering if you had any other thoughts?) and methods of painting for realistic stone effect (drybrushing, etc.)

Dave


----------



## acromyrmexbob

my_shed said:


> That looks awesome! One question, I know it's probably a silly question (paint is paint, right!) but do you have any specific advice on good paints to use (usual advice is acrylic paint, non toxic, blah blah, but i'm wondering if you had any other thoughts?) and methods of painting for realistic stone effect (drybrushing, etc.)
> 
> Dave


I used Masonary paint on this project. Two coats of black. Then..... dry brushing rocks!


----------



## bothrops

acromyrmexbob said:


> OK, the plastic is stapled into every contour to hug the wood. You don't want any play in the plastic, the wood should support the plastic everywhere.
> Plastic sheeting stops the plaster from squeezing through and exposing the wire. It gives a waterproof barrier to stop the plaster and allows you to push the mix into shapes without continually having to add more.
> We use different mixes. The most simple, and easiest, is one bag cement, 2 bags building sand, squirt of soap and PVA. You can get technical, the internet is awash with different recipes and I have used some but that mix works well. Make sure the mix is like porridge and easily workable.
> Yes the method works just as well, use a clear pond paint and give it 3 coats.



Gotcha! (and thank you for the details!)


Stunning build mate - thanks again for sharing.


----------



## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> I used Masonary paint on this project. Two coats of black. Then..... dry brushing rocks!


Hmmm, I wonder if there is a herp safe masonry paint on the market? For use inside vivs. Anyways, it looks incredible, helluva achievement in such a short time.

Dave


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## skilzo

That is awesome great work once again :2thumb:


----------



## gingersnap

Love it! Looks amazing :2thumb:


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## phil mellor

2 hrs later and 42 pages read through all i can say is wow cant believe how well done all the work is that goes into your projects. ive got loads of ideas for my garage coversion now. just need there money to convert my ideas. ive also read your through your other thread your back garden must be something else :notworthy:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

*New Project*

This is the start of a project which will extend from now until 1st September. It is the construction within an empty, new building, of an entire animal unit within a college. There will be 4 main areas within this building:
1. Mixed Invertebrates consisting of a mixed invert unit, a livefood unit, and a social insect unit. The frames will be square tube aluminium and the vivariums will be front sliding glass. The species list is SnailMillipedeStick InsectSpider Scorpion Fruit BeetleLocustsCricketsMealwormsCockroachesLeaf Cutting Ants
2. Tropical Reptiles. These vivs will be polypropylene with front sliding toughened glass doors. They will be mounted on aluminium frames. Species list is:
Royal PythonTeguSpareWater DragonMonkey Tailed SkinkGolden GeckoTerrapinCarpet PythonRed Footed Tortoise
3. Arid Reptiles. Again, polyprop vivs with aluminium frames. 
Species list:
Hermans / Spur-thighedBlue Tongue SkinksSand BoasDabtailsHognoseSand BoasKing SnakeCorn SnakeRat SnakeBeardiesLeopard Geckos

4. Amphibians and Fish: Glass vivs with aluminium frames.
Species list:
Horned FrogCane ToadWhites Tree FrogGolden Flying Tree FrogSpareSalamanders / AxolotlsCrocodile NewtMarine

Because this is a teaching establishment all of the displays form part of the courses that are taught there. We will therefore setup all of these units in many different ways. Some are walk in units which we will setup as commercial 'zoo' type displays with theming, dressing etc. We will set some up as if in a retail setting, some as hobby tanks, we are setting up a show tank for Marines filling a hole in the wall so it can be seen from both sides.

In total there are 94 tanks and vivariums. We will be on site for a total of around 3-4weeks with periods in between based at our unit manufacturing these items. So this series of posts will concentrate on the manufacturings of glass and polyprop vivs, the installation of equipment, setting up a wide variety of habitats and adding theming to the finished display. A very big body of work but a challenge over the summer.


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## my_shed

Looking forward to it :2thumb:

Dave


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## popeye92

sounds goood man:2thumb:


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## wezza309

Any updates i am missing my fix of the extraordinary builds you do :whistling2::whistling2::whistling2:


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## acromyrmexbob

Right, three things today to get us kicked off on the next bit of work. Firstly revisited the Lakes Aquarium leaf cutting ant build. Had to take care of a few things.
It is looking good, I think.














































I have also visited the college down south and taken final measurements for the units. Very exciting stiff. I have pictures but until the site is handed over to me on around 25th June I cannot post them. John from Arcadia is helping with the lighting plan and it also looks as if I will be building three ponds for them, a terrapin pond, a fish pond and a large duck / goose pond, all with filtration and all to be complete by 1st September. Lots of work, lots of posts, lots of stress!
As part of this work I have also ordered a kilometre of aluminium square tube plus the fittings in order to manufacture the stands. The polypropylene sheets are also on their way, I am using 6mm black plastic for the vivs.
Finally I have just about finished the design for the new Tropical House at Five Sisters Zoo. Once I have shown the owner the drawing (and if hew likes it) I will be able to give some details on here.
I have not had a chance to update my website, www.tropicalhouse.co.uk since the beginning of the year. This is shocking but I did not feel that the work at Five Sisters Zoo would be appropriate on the site after what happened. However I am getting a great deal of work from this site so I am going to do some work on there soon. That's a full update for you, I should have some pictures tomorrow of the first two stands for the College project.


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## acromyrmexbob

This is what 1km of aluminium tubing looks like cut into 5m lengths and packed in cardboard tubes










and the fittings, around 1000 of them, including the feet.



















I am going to follow soundstounite's excellent thread on Amphibians http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/amphibians/589598-da-dart-room-n-shed.html which shows step by step instructions on putting these stands together. Really excellent work, you should check it out. Also thanks to him for pointing me to the supplier, The Aluminium Warehouse. Got some of the first stand built but the camera conked so I have actually posted three pictures of metal and plastic, making this one of the most uninspiring posts ever submitted on this site!


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## acromyrmexbob

Today we got to grips with the aluminium frames. This first frame is going to be a little trial and error until we get used to them. 










This is going to be the social insect unit.



I still have to fit the angles to the sides to hold the plastic panels.










the edges need deburred to remove the sharp bits.










and I need to solve the door problem, how to design a door that looks great and is a functional way to access the lighting.










This stand is divided into two halves, the 4 smaller vivs on the right are for cockroach colonies and the large area on the left is for a leaf cutting ant colony. 
We will build the next unit, the mixed invertebrate unit, on MOnday, this one houses the spiders, scorps, stick, millipedes, tarantulas etc


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## plasma234

If the doors don't have to be locked, I would suggest a push to open approach. Then it would end up with a sharp smooth finish.

Looks great so far :notworthy:


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## acromyrmexbob

plasma234 said:


> If the doors don't have to be locked, I would suggest a push to open approach. Then it would end up with a sharp smooth finish.
> 
> Looks great so far :notworthy:


Any suggestions re fittings for this?


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## plasma234

I really have no experience in building and or diy so you have caught me out there haha but in my browse around IKEA I spotted these BESTÅ Push opener - IKEA

It was just an idea mate :whistling2:


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## acromyrmexbob

plasma234 said:


> I really have no experience in building and or diy so you have caught me out there haha but in my browse around IKEA I spotted these BESTÅ Push opener - IKEA
> 
> It was just an idea mate :whistling2:


Yes, that's a good idea, I looked on the web and that's definitely a goer. Thanks.


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## FLINTUS

Just something to say regarding the torts-don't mix the spur thighs and the Hermann's. Also make sure you know what subspecies you're getting. And with the red foots make sure they have plenty of space.
By the way, great thread!:2thumb:


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## acromyrmexbob

FLINTUS said:


> Just something to say regarding the torts-don't mix the spur thighs and the Hermann's. Also make sure you know what subspecies you're getting. And with the red foots make sure they have plenty of space.
> By the way, great thread!:2thumb:


The tortoises are already there. They have been at the college for ages. Infact I am not sourcing any animals for this job at all, they are all in residence at the college already. The Red Foots are getting a 5m x 3m walking enclosure, its immense.


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## Maidenhair

am new to this thread and its been a real rollercoaster reading through 40 pages. so much amazing inspiring work and then such tragedy. i'm so glad everything is working out ok for the future and they plan to rebuild. and the money raised is phenomenal  

i have to say though i wouldnt have been able to go in the enclosure with ants walking over my head on ropes i have a severe phobia of all insects, most are ok if behind glass for example but to have 1000's of ants walking over my unprotected head i wouldnt have been able to go in the room 

love the free range chameleon idea but as mentioned its likely to get stolen.......but the same as you intended to create a barrier so the chameleon cannot escape and wander off, could you create a barrier so the visitors cannot actually reach the chameleon either ie a moat, or fence thereby hitting two birds one stone, just thinkin out loud. best of luck with all the new builds i shall eagerly be following your creations


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## acromyrmexbob

Great ideas, Chameleons will be out of reach, definitely.

Quick update, we are wading through building 17 aluminium stands just now. Some pictures...



















we are fitting angle to attach plastic finishing on the ends.










and from the other side to show the rivets










These are the adjustable feet..










and this space is where the leaf cutting ants will go.


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## acromyrmexbob

Okay, start of daily posts for the college refit job. 
This is a very very large project but we have only 6 weeks to complete it.
We have arrived at the opposite end of the country and we start on site tomorrow morning. The 7.5 tonne truck is loaded to the gunnels and we have more tools than B&Q.
The site is a new build, it has been handed to us as an empty shell with electrics as per our speck. 
This next 7 day visit is to build the three walking vivariums, one for Red Footed Tortoises, one for Beardies and one for Carpet Pythons.
The bare rooms look as follows.

The Tortoise units.



















So two walls were built out from the main wall to form two corales. We will build up a short wall at the front with artificial rockwork and we will also create a desert rock scene on the wall behind. Heat lamps will hang from wall brackets. The substrate will be sand. These will be desert tortoises.










This is where the first walking unit will be built, the Beardies unit. Yes, I am exposing myself to the wrath of the RFUKers by taking on their most treasured enclosure design. I have approached this with apprehension because there are more Beardie experts on here that fleas on a cat. Help Meeeee! So the design will be desert rock effect, red / brown in colour, looking like a scene from some Australian sand stone rock face. It won't be as detailed as some on here but it should suffice.










The Red sockets lead to an environmental computer which means the lights plugged into these sockets are controlled and can vary photoperiods and intensity from a central location, automatically.










This is the location for the biggest of around 70 displays. This one is a walkin viv, 3000mm long, 2000mm high and 1800mm front to back for Red Footed Tortoises. It will have a waterfall and a very shallow pool. Lots of Rockwork. 










This is the location of the Hole in the Wall Marine tank. We will build the cabinet this trip and install the tank on the next trip.










And this is where the biggest unit will go, a massive 5400mm unit to house Amphibians.










The picture above shows the location of the terrapin pond which we will build in ply and take back up the road to fibreglass. Next to this is the Carpet Python walking vivarium which will be set up with a waterfall and pond.

As you can see the next week will be very busy indeed. Check back tomorrow evening for the first days updates from on site here in Southern England, around 580 miles from home.


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## SeanEK4

would absolutely love to have a job like this! makes mine seem so un-rewarding!


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## Xelazander

Looks like a great start, are you allowed to say where this is?

I'm on the South Coast and very interested in having a look once it's done, especially the Carpet Python viv for my own inspiration.


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## vukic

South England or Devon??? :-D

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## acromyrmexbob

vukic said:


> South England or Devon??? :-D
> 
> Tiger
> 
> Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


South England. Can't really say where just now but unfortunately I do not think they will allow public access, its a teaching facility.

So this is the update for Day 1 of the South England job

We started by building the wooden frames for the 3 displays today, the two Spur Thighed Tortoise displays and the Beardie Exhibit.



















and then we added some lining to the Beardie display










Once we were happy with the shape of the wooden fronts on the tortoises we covered them with plastic sheeting.



















and then plasterers mesh in preparation for the rock work, tomorrow.










We are also going to do a rock background so we stick some wood which will act as a frame to hold the shapes.










we also added rock panels to the Beardie enclosure. Our plan is to make it look as though the rockwork is coming through the glass and continuing down to the floor.










Now the Beardie background inside the tank is started. This picture is after the woodwork has been done and the plastic is halfway through.



















Quite a good day for our first one on site, I think. 










More updates at the end of day 2, tomorrow.


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## Wolflore

I'd unsubscribed from this one after the fire. Missed loads!


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## acromyrmexbob

Wolflore said:


> I'd unsubscribed from this one after the fire. Missed loads!


Nice to see you back :flrt:


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## Wolflore

Glad to be back in the thread! :notworthy:


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## Chard

Just seen this thread, taken me nearly 3 hours to catch up :gasp: must say absolutly fantastic work you and your team do :notworthy:

Can I ask whats happening with the 5 sisters project? Such a shame to hear of their disaster  would love to see how the croc enclosure looks all finished.

Will you be helping with the rebuild?


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## TillyTortoise

Looks like this is going to be another brilliant build  Depending on the ssp. of the Spur-Thighed tortoises, I would probably rethink of using sand as a substrate.


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## acromyrmexbob

Chard said:


> Just seen this thread, taken me nearly 3 hours to catch up :gasp: must say absolutly fantastic work you and your team do :notworthy:
> 
> Can I ask whats happening with the 5 sisters project? Such a shame to hear of their disaster  would love to see how the croc enclosure looks all finished.
> 
> Will you be helping with the rebuild?


Meeting with Architects and Owner on Tuesday nest week. I am designing a new Penguin exhibit which will sit on the site of the old Tropical House. The new Tropical House is also going to be build alongside. I expect to build the Penguin enclosure from around October and then the Tropical House next year.

TillyTortoise wrote



> Looks like this is going to be another brilliant build  Depending on the ssp. of the Spur-Thighed tortoises, I would probably rethink of using sand as a substrate.


Actually I don't think they are using sand. We are taking the exhibit up to the stage where they will set it up, we won't be doing the setting up.

Day 2 of the College build:

Finished the plastic in the Beadie exhibit and starting to fit the wire.










The tortoise units are also fitted with the polythene.










Meanwhile the next unit is started. This is in the Tropical Room, and its the huge 3m walkin Red Footed Tortoise unit which will also have the feeding table for the Leaf Cutting Ant colony hanging in it.










Now the wire has been fitted....










we can start to apply the cement.










until all the mesh is covered.










Now this needs to be coloured.

Once the frames are in place for the Red Footed Tortoise enclosure we start to fit the ply skin.











until the structure is lined.










The Arid Tortoise pens are coming along nicely. We have fitted the sculpuring shapes and the polythene in both exhibits now.




























tomorrow we will fit the remainder of the mesh and cover with cement.

Finally the huge Red Footed Tortoise unit is worked on and more lining is fitted.










This unit will have a shallow pool and a trickle waterfall which we will work on tomorrow.


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## acromyrmexbob

Day 3 of the College Build

In the big Red Footed Tortoise unit I cut the shape of the shallow pond and dropped the cut out piece down to for the pond.










then used off cuts of wood to roughly form the shape of the waterfall.










and then started to fit the polythene.










In the tortoise pens the rockwork moves ahead well.





































Still some work to do here and the colouring to do. Starting to take shape though.

Also today I built the Terrapin pond in ply which we will then take away and fibre glass so it is tough and waterproof.










The basic shape is then strengthened with more wood.



















This is the halfway point of this first of three visits on site. Tomorrow we will start the Aquarium Cabinet, complete the rockwork on the Tortoise Displays and start the Python exhibit.


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## bigd_1

man you got the best job going love to do that as a job you need more worker :whistling2:


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## tomcannon

Looking great mate, be interesting to see the bearded dragon build. So wish I could come and help with one of these! As usual, great work, keep it up! :2thumb:


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## acromyrmexbob

tomcannon said:


> Looking great mate, be interesting to see the bearded dragon build. So wish I could come and help with one of these! As usual, great work, keep it up! :2thumb:


Unfortunately, Tom, we are building this to the stage of only the rock work and the equipment, the setup will be done later by the college. There will be a grand opening in a few months where all of the enclosures (around 70) will be set up so I will be able to post then.

Day 4 of the College build.

Today was a good progress day.

Tortoise pens:
We finished prep and finished most of the rockwork.




























The Beardie enclosure has its rock finished also, and is just waiting for colour on the final day of this visit (day 6)










Sorry, thats a rubbish picture.

In the Red Footed Tortoise enclosure the waterfall is built to completion barring the colour.




























And then the new starts today.......

The Python tank is made from cls timber and lined with ply. We also fitted the pond in place. This will be fed by a waterfall which will be built tomorrow.




























The hole in the back corner is to allow the hose to pass up through the rockwork for the waterfall.

And finally tonight we started the fish rack.

The college had some old fishtanks and the plumbing for them. We manufactured an aluminium rack and started to fit ply bases for the tanks to sit on. Obviously the rack will have fascures and trims fitted once we have the tanks plumbed in and the unit fixed to the wall.










This is the unit we made.










and some of the plumbing. We are going to convert the bottom two tanks to a sump to filter the ones above.










well on schedule for this first week. Day 5, tomorrow, will see some of the rockwork coloured and the displays we are working on will be progressed close to completion.


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## acromyrmexbob

Day 5 of the College Build. 
We spent today doing some finishing work and getting things ready for being left over the next fortnight. 

The Tortoise pens were painted and the coated with layers of colour.





































Some close ups of the effects....




























The Carpet python's tank has its waterfall built and lined with wire mesh.



















And the Large walk in unit has the roof fitted to allow lights to be suspended above and the rockwork painted.










The Beardie rockwork is also painted.










Tomorrow, our last day of this first week on site, we will apply the effects to all of the rockwork and move everything to a point where it can be left for a while. Then its an 11 hour drive home on Friday.


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## Meefloaf

seriously, if i spent a day watching you guys, i'd learn a thousand things


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## Meko

you make that look far too easy.

I can imagine the amount of people who'll run out and buy; rubble bags, chicken wire, bits of wood, a bucket, some cement and some paint... and hope for the best a couple of hours later.


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## Meefloaf

Meko said:


> you make that look far too easy.
> 
> I can imagine the amount of people who'll run out and buy; rubble bags, chicken wire, bits of wood, a bucket, some cement and some paint... and hope for the best a couple of hours later.


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## geckochick

Meefloaf said:


> image


Yep, that's one fine looking habitat. WHY DOESN'T MINE LOOK LIKE THAT???!!!


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## acromyrmexbob

Day 6 of the college build. 
OK, because we are coming back in 2 weeks we don't actually have to finish anything. so we made sure the Tortoise pens got most attention so we can move on next time.





































We also made a start on the Beardie rock colouring.










and underneath the unit.










makes an interesting door surround.

Now the complete range is matching and hopefully will end up looking like on unit.





























so its back to the factory in Scotland for a couple of weeks of manufacturing. Woohoo!


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## Modj

Must be so rewarding to see the fruit of your labours. You can actually see you have accomplished something. Always enjoy reading your posts cheers.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2


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## Jiminy

What an awesome thread!! :no1:

You should be so proud of your work. If things go to plan here (fingers crossed) I might have a project for you :2thumb:

ATB


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## acromyrmexbob

Jiminy said:


> What an awesome thread!! :no1:
> 
> You should be so proud of your work. If things go to plan here (fingers crossed) I might have a project for you :2thumb:
> 
> ATB


I am always happy to take on new work, let me know if you want to talk.

On Tuesday, following a couple of days break, we are in the factory working on the Aluminium frames and I will start daily updates again.


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## Meefloaf

everytime i see this rockwork I :mf_dribble::mf_dribble::mf_dribble:


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## acromyrmexbob

Day 7 of the College build

We arrived this morning on site and unloaded the truck. This trip is mainly about installing the stands and equipment.

So we placed the stands roughly where they will go. Problem: Stands: 92" high, Doors: 80" high. Solution: dismantle and reassemble!



















At the same time all of the equipment, around £9000 worth, is unloaded.



















Thanks to Arcadia John for help in lighting spec and supply.





































Tomorrow we will start to install lighting and fascures for the 70 vivariums, ranging from 600mm glass tanks to 2400mm polypropylene monsters with sliding partitions which we will make to measure.


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## tomcannon

acromyrmexbob said:


> Day 7 of the College build
> 
> We arrived this morning on site and unloaded the truck. This trip is mainly about installing the stands and equipment.
> 
> So we placed the stands roughly where they will go. Problem: Stands: 92" high, Doors: 80" high. Solution: dismantle and reassemble!
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> At the same time all of the equipment, around £9000 worth, is unloaded.
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> Thanks to Arcadia John for help in lighting spec and supply.
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> Tomorrow we will start to install lighting and fascures for the 70 vivariums, ranging from 600mm glass tanks to 2400mm polypropylene monsters with sliding partitions which we will make to measure.


Wow, good day for John! :2thumb:


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## wezza309

i would say a very very good day for john and microclimate look like they have doon well with thermostats and heat mats 

shame we can not go around this when its finished :whistling2::whistling2:looks like its going to be a really top notch set up


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## vukic

WOW!!!

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## acromyrmexbob

Day 8 of the College build.

Today we basically attached the stands to the wall and started to fit the equipment. The wood we use to space the stands out from the wall is not seen in the end so its not that important that its dressed or coloured.



















I had rubber mouldings specially made to cover the aluminium. You can see the start of it here but when these stands are finished all of the Aluminium will disappear so I am hoping the set up will look unique with a black rubber finish which I don't think any of the commercial rack suppliers offer. It is important, when we are commissioned to supply a design, that it is unique and not based on anyone elses ideas. That is the challenge facing us each time.



















The picture below, the Beadie setup, I intended to paint the back ground blue, as in sky, and spent £30 on mixing the paint to the colour I wanted. When I saw it starting to go on I realised how :censor: it looked so I stopped them painting it and I will try a different colour, thinking of orange, to signify heat and the desert.










We also started to colour the outside of the large units. Gloss black. 










Here the undercoat, dark grey, is put on.

And finally we start to build the glass vivariums for the inverts and the amphibians. 










Doing the Euro style with some modifications. Will show details of this as we go on. All of the Reptiles are getting polypropylene vivs, that'll be fun!


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## vukic

That reminds me.. Can you recommend a decent glass cutter.. Want to make some vivs/terra's but just lacking that vital piece of hardware... 

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## acromyrmexbob

vukic said:


> That reminds me.. Can you recommend a decent glass cutter.. Want to make some vivs/terra's but just lacking that vital piece of hardware...
> 
> Tiger
> 
> Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


I have always used Toyo Oil Filled Glass Cutters. There's plenty of this type and less expensive versions on ebay, pay over £15 and you've got a cutter for life. In this game, cheap is not good. And don't buy from China!


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## vukic

When is China ever an option.. Lol.. Na I want/need a decent cutter.. Amount of projects that aren't started or finished due to that fact... Will have a look now..  thanks..

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## Chance

Awesome as ever! I'm not in the slightest bit jealous!

And I also most definitely have not been daydreaming about the amazing mini-zoo you can build me when I win the lottery. :lol2:


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## my_shed

vukic said:


> When is China ever an option.. Lol.. Na I want/need a decent cutter.. Amount of projects that aren't started or finished due to that fact... Will have a look now..  thanks..
> 
> Tiger
> 
> Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


Hey mate, I have two of these

Toyo TC17P Oil Filled Glass Cutter

(don't ask why two.....I thought i'd lost one so bought a new one :blush 

Anyway, you're welcome to buy my older one from me if you like, it's in decent nick and i'm not too far from you 

Let me know if you're interested

Dave


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## vukic

my_shed said:


> Hey mate, I have two of these
> 
> Toyo TC17P Oil Filled Glass Cutter
> 
> (don't ask why two.....I thought i'd lost one so bought a new one :blush
> 
> Anyway, you're welcome to buy my older one from me if you like, it's in decent nick and i'm not too far from you
> 
> Let me know if you're interested
> 
> Dave


Yeah definitely interested..  pm me the details.. 

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## acromyrmexbob

Day 9 of the College Build










We are starting to fit the shelves and the rubber fronts to the stands.

The Beardie enclosure is now Orange, I think that looks better, more deserty. What do you think?










The Marine Tank Cabinet is getting started, 3/4" ply. That will take some time to get looking good. This tank is viewed both from the room and through the window from the corridor outside.



















That's the social insects rack.... The big area is for the Leaf Cutting Ants, the smaller ones are for Cockroaches.










Once the lights are in we can switch them on..

Here are some of the glass vivs with some of the fixtures for ventilation fitted.










We are using a combination of Aluminium and mesh










Made good progress today, more of the same tomorrow.


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## SublimeSparo

the orange is much nicer 
is there no-one you can nab from the art department to paint a nice sunset ? the yellowy orange would look awesome


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## acromyrmexbob

SublimeSparo said:


> the orange is much nicer
> is there no-one you can nab from the art department to paint a nice sunset ? the yellowy orange would look awesome


Bizarrely that is exactly what I need. An artist. I am not artistic with paint! I had a guy working with me in the past who painted murals. I have recently bought an air brush kit and will do some myself but for the time being I need help to do 3 murals. So Calling Any Artistic Herp-philes to come to my job and lend a hand! If you can, PM me and I will give you the location. And we can discuss money!!! :help:


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## GECKO MICK

acromyrmexbob said:


> Day 9 of the College Build
> 
> image
> 
> We are starting to fit the shelves and the rubber fronts to the stands.
> 
> The Beardie enclosure is now Orange, I think that looks better, more deserty. What do you think?
> 
> image
> 
> The Marine Tank Cabinet is getting started, 3/4" ply. That will take some time to get looking good. This tank is viewed both from the room and through the window from the corridor outside.
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> That's the social insects rack.... The big area is for the Leaf Cutting Ants, the smaller ones are for Cockroaches.
> 
> image
> 
> Once the lights are in we can switch them on..
> 
> Here are some of the glass vivs with some of the fixtures for ventilation fitted.
> 
> image
> 
> We are using a combination of Aluminium and mesh
> 
> image
> 
> Made good progress today, more of the same tomorrow.


These are coming on nicely.looking good.: victory:


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## acromyrmexbob

Day 9 of the College Build.

The Beardie Enclosure is neatened up and second coated.










More work is done on the stands





































The old retail fish tanks are now sat in their Aluminium stand and the old plumbing is modified to fit this new set up so each tank will have a water supply and a drain system and there will be two filter tanks on the bottom...



















Also the Marine Tank cabinet is started alongside a stand we have built to house some exoteras










Job is on track, more tomorrow.


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## acromyrmexbob

Day 10 of the College Build




























More of the same today, not very inspiring, but everything is preparing the ground work for major progress coming up.

I also had a welder make some wall mounted hangers to suspend the various basking lights from. These have hollow pipes so the wires will actually be completely hidden.










This one is above one of the Tortoises enclosures in the Arid room.










And the other one.










We started to paint the inside of the big units but the pictures for this will be on tomorrow.


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## philipniceguy

amazing work as always :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy: a artist to paint special background pictures like forests/jungles so on would be the icing on the cake so to speak with your amazing 3D builds. Not suitable for all setups but some :flrt:


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## acromyrmexbob

Day 11 of the college build.

The Beardie unit is glossed on the outside and the background is cleaned up. The cupboard doors are fitted without handles which will come later.










The large 3000mm tropical tortoise (Red Foots) display is coloured green (rainforest).










Also in the above picture, playing around with the lights from the bracket, the egg crate is placed on the roof, which is second coated white.

The Carpet Python enclosure is also painted and glossed on outside. Skirting is fitted top and bottom.










Some of the glass tanks are placed where they will sit in the units. These are all awaiting a coat of colour around the sides and back and are in various stages of completion.










The Social Insect stand has its semi complete tanks and vivs placed on it.










Likewise the amphibians rack.










And the glass units are most complete on the Live food breeding rack, with the mealworms to the right, the crickets in the middle and the Locusts to the left.


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## Xelazander

Any updates?


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Sorry Guys, I am in Trinidad just now. I completed another week on site and have all of the pictures to post but there was no internet there and I travelled to Trinidad within a day of coming home so apologies for this, I will post on my return.


----------



## Xelazander

acromyrmexbob said:


> Sorry Guys, I am in Trinidad just now. I completed another week on site and have all of the pictures to post but there was no internet there and I travelled to Trinidad within a day of coming home so apologies for this, I will post on my return.


Not a problem! Hope it's all going well! Thanks for responding


----------



## Wolflore

acromyrmexbob said:


> Sorry Guys, I am in Trinidad just now. I completed another week on site and have all of the pictures to post but there was no internet there and I travelled to Trinidad within a day of coming home so apologies for this, I will post on my return.


Any Dipsas? 

Hope you are having a great time.


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## popeye92

great work as always,what you doing in trinidad this time?


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## vukic

What would you recommend for building a fish tank rack for two maybe 3 tanks??

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## acromyrmexbob

Wolflore said:


> Any Dipsas?


If they're the ones I am thinking about then yes, they are quite common.

'vukic' wrote



> What would you recommend for building a fish tank rack for two maybe 3 tanks??


We have started to use the easyfix aluminium racking from www.aluminiumwarehouse.co.uk, its easy and relatively cheap. It also looks the 'dogs bollards' when its done with little or no talent which suits some of my guys!

Quick update....

Back from Trinidad now, going to South Coast to finish College project tomorrow, then on 9th October we are going to Trinidad again with the band of reprobates from this site who are coming for a look around for a couple of weeks. Excitingly I have just signed up for a few months at Five Sisters Zoo from 25th October. They are now ready for the new tropical house to be built so the final designs are in circulation now and I can't wait to finally put the fire and all of the anguish to rest by doing something amazing for them. So its a full winter of updates and pictures from there. I have a weeks worth of pictures from the college project but haven't had a chance to upload them yet and we are away tomorrow so it might be a week or so before I can get them online. More soon.


----------



## vukic

Thanks mate, greatly appreciated.. Been trying to work out how to do it with wood.. But that's way easier!!! Lol.. 

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## skilzo

Great I've been looking forward to an update with the five sisters zoo can't wait for you to get start hopefully be amazing one it's done!!!


----------



## Sid crock

acromyrmexbob said:


> If they're the ones I am thinking about then yes, they are quite common.
> 
> 'vukic' wrote
> 
> 
> 
> We have started to use the easyfix aluminium racking from www.aluminiumwarehouse.co.uk, its easy and relatively cheap. It also looks the 'dogs bollards' when its done with little or no talent which suits some of my guys!
> 
> Quick update....
> 
> Back from Trinidad now, going to South Coast to finish College project tomorrow, then on 9th October we are going to Trinidad again with the band of reprobates from this site who are coming for a look around for a couple of weeks. Excitingly I have just signed up for a few months at Five Sisters Zoo from 25th October. They are now ready for the new tropical house to be built so the final designs are in circulation now and I can't wait to finally put the fire and all of the anguish to rest by doing something amazing for them. So its a full winter of updates and pictures from there. I have a weeks worth of pictures from the college project but haven't had a chance to upload them yet and we are away tomorrow so it might be a week or so before I can get them online. More soon.


REPROBATES i'm not that nice. Don't forget the duct tape(it's the only way to stop me talking)


----------



## Smithomatic

Any updates?

Really excited to see more 8)


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Smithomatic said:


> Any updates?
> 
> Really excited to see more 8)


Just back from Trinidad to start the new lot of jobs, including the new Tropical House at Five Sisters Zoo. I will post details daily once these start. Looking forward to getting back to normal posting soon. Thanks for everyones support.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

OKay, firstly an apology to everyone. 
I have been doing loads of work and have been really busy. Its probably a combination of being so busy and being out of the habit of posting but I have not been getting on here and sharing stuff like before. 
Having realised that, here goes for the rest of the winter. 

Today I arrived in Udine, North East Italy. I landed at Marco Polo Airport, Venice and drove 130 km to a Research Institute here in Udine where the Manager, Stefano, is a world specialist on Humming Birds and has a stable population breeding here. He also has many other interesting things going on. 
I am here to build a Leaf Cutting Ant enclosure so you can imagine the faces of the Jet2 checkin staff when I turned up at the airport with my three cases full of tools and a crate full of glass. My cases were previously checked in but the crate of glass, weighing in at a whopping 40kg was not. Jet2 say they carry a max of 32kg and charge £12 per kilo over 22kg. Would you believe that the guy at the checkin at 5:00am this morning didn't even weigh it but asked if I knew the weight. I of course said it was maybe a little over 22kg and he handed me a sticker and sent me to outsized baggage! No charge! Secondly my passport was under a drip last night. Who would have thought that the Passport Service are printing passports in water soluble ink. My entire picture is nearly missing from my passport. So its here's my passport and here my driving licence with my picture on. No problems getting into Italy. And.....its amazing what you can carry in your handluggage if you've got the nerve, ie a very large colony of Leaf Cutting Ants!
So, today, I arrived at around 2:00pm, had a quick tour and something to eat and then started work.
Firstly the fittings were white. The walls black. So time to paint them.



















Also we made the tables for the feeding table and the nest stand back home and took them with us. These are different because they are being attached to the wall. They also needed painting black.










We then attached one of the tables to the wall and started to run the 2" clear acryllic pipe the 20 metres from the feeding table to the nest .....










Sorry for the bad quality pictures taken on my phone.

In preparation for tomorrow I also drilled holes through the walls where the pipe needs to run.



















Then its off to the hotel after a very long day to write this. Tomorrow lots more. Just one thing to share with you all. Easily the most spectacular exhibit I have ever see. In the middle of the room I am working in there is a raised border with some big plants and some heavy branches. There is nothing separating this area from where I am working and from where the public walk but living in there, not 6 feet away from me, and close enough for me to hand them a bannana (did I say I had done that!) are a pair of sloths!!!!!!! :gasp:










Again, sorry for the picture quality, its horrible but at least you get the idea. 

I have been mezmerized by these two all day. Its just as well I am here on my own, if I had my guys with me they'd be amazed, finally finding something that actually moves slower than they do!


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## Wolflore

Awesome! My Nonna is from Udine. Still have a LOT of family there (read Italian Catholic, Nan was one of 17!!). Kudos on the hand luggage


----------



## acromyrmexbob

Udine is a nice place. Not seen much of it though. So today I built the nest tank and ran the pipe to the feeding table in anotnher room.










This is the shell of the nest tank. 

From the back of the nest tank I run the 2" pipe.










Here you can see the track of the pipe round corners










The pipe then runs overhead and into the sloth room ....










and then the pipe, having travelled 25m, reaches the feeding table with its moat.










Here's the ants I brought over with me, one big colony and 2 smaller ones.










As far as impressive greenhouses go, this one makes mine look like a bottle garden and its not even a greenhouse, its in a room with growing lights. If I had those lights I'm not sure I would be growing this particular type of herb.....










Yes that is a wall of bromeliads!!










Its one of the most impressive planted displays I have ever seen.










and just because they are amazing, here's my new pals, the sloths.....


----------



## philipniceguy

acromyrmexbob said:


> Udine is a nice place. Not seen much of it though. So today I built the nest tank and ran the pipe to the feeding table in anotnher room.
> 
> image
> 
> This is the shell of the nest tank.
> 
> From the back of the nest tank I run the 2" pipe.
> 
> image
> 
> Here you can see the track of the pipe round corners
> 
> image
> 
> The pipe then runs overhead and into the sloth room ....
> 
> image
> 
> and then the pipe, having travelled 25m, reaches the feeding table with its moat.
> 
> image
> 
> Here's the ants I brought over with me, one big colony and 2 smaller ones.
> 
> image
> 
> As far as impressive greenhouses go, this one makes mine look like a bottle garden and its not even a greenhouse, its in a room with growing lights. If I had those lights I'm not sure I would be growing this particular type of herb.....
> 
> image
> 
> Yes that is a wall of bromeliads!!
> 
> image
> 
> Its one of the most impressive planted displays I have ever seen.
> 
> image
> 
> and just because they are amazing, here's my new pals, the sloths.....
> 
> image
> 
> image


NICE,

I am wondering what and where do you get the clear tubing from? I have a idea for that for myself : victory:


----------



## acromyrmexbob

philipniceguy said:


> NICE,
> 
> I am wondering what and where do you get the clear tubing from? I have a idea for that for myself : victory:


Thanks. This particular pipe was bought in Italy. Normally there are a few companies I deal with, one is Stockline Plastics in Glasgow and http://www.plasticpipeshop.co.uk/plasticpipe in stirling, for obvious proximity reasons. Further afield if you type Acryllic Pipe there are a plethora of them. Use Acryllic not PVC because of clarity and lack of distortion.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

*Five Sisters Zoo rebuild*

Finished in Italy yesterday, was a mad rush to get finished and catch my plane so unfortunately no pictures of the colony in place. Just caught the plane home in time and it was Ryanair so they needed everyone on board to help peddle.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, we finally start on Five Sisters Zoo. The timetable between now and Easter is as follows. Over the next 2 weeks we are building a huge walk through aviary which will house lots of species of waders, softbills and the like. This is a real departure for me because I have not worked on this scale before. The aviary is 36 feet high and covers about 1/4 of an acre. The thing about this is that its made from steel poles and tensioned wires with a polyethylene 19mmx19mm knotted mesh. The design drawing I produced for the customer is as follows...




























and these design drawings were based on some research of other completed structures at other zoos....




























In two weeks time we are due to start a fabulous project to take us up to Christmas. The site of the old tropical house is to become the new Meerkat enclosure, a huge area with an observation building and a 6 foot, high, 200 foot long rock wall all around it. We are making the rock wall and theming the entire exhibit to look like an African scene. That will be a really good job to do.
After Christmas, from January to Easter, we are building the new Tropical House to open at Easter. This will be half of the finished Tropical House, the other half being build at the end of next season. 
Altogether a really exciting winter ahead, finally getting back to fix the damage caused by the fire.


----------



## DrummyGooders

Looks like you got your work cut out! Can't wait to see the project develop


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## Antherina

If you're looking for walk in aviary ideas you can look no further than Auckland Zoo. Person in charge of ectotherms and birds is Richard Gibson (ex Chester Zoo), who invited the NZ herpetological Society to hold its annual conference at the zoo last month.


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## skilzo

Cant wait to see the five sisters zoo finished hoping everything goes great :2thumb:


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## acromyrmexbob

Would you believe it, I've had a couple of days off!! The auger which attaches onto the excavator has broken down and I have not been able to sink poles into the ground. So I have been taking the opportunity to do jobs around the house. That being said, a cautionary tale. Asha, my partner, said "Why don't you do something nice with the bathroom....." Now for someone who designs bathrooms for a living, that would be sensible. For someone who designs zoo exhibits, that's something of a risk! I'll post some pictures once its finished but suffice to say our bathroom is shortly going to be a rainforest. No animals, but plants in abundance, an authentic piece of Trinidad to 'sit' and admire. (That was 'sit'!)


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## Joona2134

You should do your bathroom like the one one you did at twycross zoo lol 
I think even my wife would like that


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## acromyrmexbob

Joona2134 said:


> You should do your bathroom like the one one you did at twycross zoo lol
> I think even my wife would like that


OK, being assaulted by thousands of ants for profit and at the clients expense in an exotic part of the world is one thing, this happening with your pants down and in a locked room in scummy Bonnybridge, Scotland is quite another. As far as adding authenticity to my bathroom scene, Asha is Trinidadian, so surrounding the place with plants and sticking Asha in there makes everything look right. She complains more than a colony of ants and sometimes hurts more but, on the whole, she tends not to eat the plants and requires less constant humidity than a colony of leaf cutting ants.


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## my_shed

acromyrmexbob said:


> OK, being assaulted by thousands of ants for profit and at the clients expense in an exotic part of the world is one thing, this happening with your pants down and in a locked room in scummy Bonnybridge, Scotland is quite another. As far as adding authenticity to my bathroom scene, Asha is Trinidadian, so surrounding the place with plants and sticking Asha in there makes everything look right. She complains more than a colony of ants and sometimes hurts more but, on the whole, she tends not to eat the plants and requires less constant humidity than a colony of leaf cutting ants.


Knowing asha.......I guess she doesn't read your posts on here......or you'd never dare write that!! :Na_Na_Na_Na:

Dave


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## Joona2134

Tends not to eat the plants....

I nearly chocked from laughing! Do the plants require heat or would they be ok at room temp?


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## acromyrmexbob

Joona2134 said:


> Tends not to eat the plants....
> 
> I nearly chocked from laughing! Do the plants require heat or would they be ok at room temp?


The ones I will use will thrive in the humidity of the bathroom. 

Today we started sinking the outside posts for the aviary.










That's me driving the JCB with the auger attachment. It cut through the ground very well. 










And the steel poles we are putting in around the perimeter are 5m high.










You can see in the following picture how huge this aviary will be. Those are more poles in the distance. Don't forget this is a walk through aviary, we will be putting a series of paths and ponds inside.










They are cemented in so the wires can be stretched between them.










The really huge central poles will be put in tomorrow. They are around 11-12m high!

Meanwhile the Meerkat wall, that's the one we are going to create a huge artificial rock wall on, is nearly finished. This enclosure will be, by far, the largest enclosure we have ever done. It seems, almost with every job now, that the scale and scope of what we are doing is increasing. It is very exciting to be building these very large enclosures.




















This area is where the old tropical house used to stand. It should be finished early January with the family of Meerkats that survived the fire moving in then. They just recently had two youngsters.


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## skilzo

They both look as if they will be huge cant wait till its all done keep the updates coming please :2thumb:

Any updates on what the reptile house will be like?


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## acromyrmexbob

skilzo said:


> They both look as if they will be huge cant wait till its all done keep the updates coming please :2thumb:
> 
> Any updates on what the reptile house will be like?


I haven't done the final plan for the reptile house yet, we don't start that until January, but as soon as I have the approved drawing I will post it. Thanks for your interest.


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## skilzo

acromyrmexbob said:


> I haven't done the final plan for the reptile house yet, we don't start that until January, but as soon as I have the approved drawing I will post it. Thanks for your interest.


That's brilliant its a great little place the five sisters zoo I am sure you will just make it better :notworthy:

I have seen the otter enclosure and that's great done to a great standard :no1:


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## Antherina

Walk through aviaries are the dogs nuts. The following are at Auckland Zoo, New Zealand.


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## Antherina

This is how they do it: http://fabricarchitecturemag.com/articles/0112_f2_mesh_zoo.html


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## Antherina

The Kea and Weka exhibit from the outside. Another from the interweb. I was there last month (it's less than 30 minutes from my house), but these pics are better.


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## acromyrmexbob

Antherina said:


> The Kea and Weka exhibit from the outside. Another from the interweb. I was there last month (it's less than 30 minutes from my house), but these pics are better. image


Tony, that is a stunning exhibit. If mine is even close to that I and my client will be very happy.


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## 39761

coming on very nice :2thumb:


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## acromyrmexbob

OK, the main poles are in the ground. These poles are huge, around 35 feet high. We spent ages drilling into the ground with the auger to get them in but they are now concreted in and looking great.










In order to start to run the wires between the poles we had to hire a cherry picker. That's one mother of a cherry tree whoever built this was thinking of....










The next picture shows the indoor housing unit for the birds when it is cold or they need to be separated from the others. This is being built in blocks and will join to the mesh of the aviary.










The rest of the day was spent running the first of the straining wires between the smaller poles.










I thought a more interesting angle here would make things more interesting, think I was wrong!










So I did it straight!










I will post more once we are ready for the next step.


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## skilzo

Some good progress there looking good keep the pictures coming :2thumb:


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## skilzo

4 days and still no updates :whistling2:


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## acromyrmexbob

*Last Post of Chichester College Fit Out*

We are just back from Chichester College on our snagging visit. That's where all of the faults and problems are put right. We still have some bits and pieces to adjust but mainly it is done.

This is the Arid Room



















The Tropical Room




























The Aquatic Room

This aquatic rack was to house old tanks that the college wanted to reuse so it looks a bit scabby!










The unit below is for exoteras and aquatic amphibs such as axolotls etc

You can also see the marine tank which is set up ready to be decorated and dressed by the students. As per contract we have installed protein skimmers etc and raised the salinity to 1.022 ready for maturation.










The unit below is the spares unit for overflow. The tanks that are set up are housing Xenopus, not my favourite amphibian but they look OK.










The Invert Room

This is the main unit housing millipedes, tarantulas and scorps.










This one is housing social insects, the 4 on the right are cockroach colonies, the larger tank on the left is for Leaf Cutting Ants.










and finally, the livefood breeding unit. On the left are locusts, centre is for crickets and to the right are mealworms.










The main source of satisfaction with this job is that it was the first time we have worked on such a precise scale as this. We manufactured everything from scratch, the first time we have built metal stands, the first time we built polypropylene vivariums, the first for a lot of things. But the college benefitted in using us because they are the only teaching college to my knowledge that have zoo style displays, set up by us based on what we do normally in zoos. I think Sparsholt College have similar but the quality of the theming in our setups is very high and looks great. That's the last update for this job, tomorrowI will get pictures of how the rest of my team are doing at Five Sisters Zoo with the walk through aviary. On Monday we start the 200 foot African Rockwall for the Meerkat, Porcupine and African Tortoise enclosure. The special thing about this job is that it involves a new technique for us. We will be spraying the rock onto the mesh, not troweling it on. This is a scale up using equipment from USA. Should be fun.
As a matter of interest, this week we have received enquiries to build a wolf enclosure, a Racoon enclosure, another Asian Short Clawed Otter enclosure and a very special fish tank which I will post details of following the meeting with the client next Tuesday. Its a fish tank but not as we know it!! Clue....its for a Demolition company.


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## Rolandrice

Love that reptile. I never saw such type specie in my life. not even wildlife.


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## Sid85

If you're in Chichester you could pop in and say Hi. Although looks like it's pretty much done now.

Hope you're well and things are good. Have you got a full trip to Trini in March?

Sid


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## Antherina

The facilities in Chichester look amazing. Business is definitely booming.:whistling2:


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## acromyrmexbob

The netting is now being attached to the back wall of the aviary.










You can also see in the above picture that the indoor housing for the birds is now being built.










We also put the posts into the ground for the double door entry system and poured two concrete slabs, one for entering the aviary, the other for exit.










and we are working on the walkway which will allow the visitors to walk across the swamp area and see the birds, hopefully nesting, in the bulrushes etc.










Now I hesitate to post the next few pictures. Today we started the huge rock wall for the African display. The reason I am hesitating to show you these is because we use scrap wood as the foundation which means it looks truly rubbish. Okay, here goes......





































but then we start to cover this with the heavy duty polythene....



















Tomorrow things should look equally as bad as we continue to extend the wooden subframe. Bear with me, it'll be alright on the night!


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## skilzo

Starting to shape I would be surprised once they have this place done if its busier than Edinburgh zoo :no1:


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## tdachel

Really inspiring... Looking forward to the next posts. Thank you SO Much for sharing this!


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## my_shed

Well done mate, you've created a.............rubbish tip :2thumb:

Looking forward to seeing this continue, especially with the new render sprayer.

Dave


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## Antherina

A you using Phantom Mesh? (Decorative Wire Mesh Panels, Partitions for Enclosures, FencingCascade Coil)


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## veewee

Oh so like this post :flrt:


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## acromyrmexbob

Antherina said:


> A you using Phantom Mesh? (Decorative Wire Mesh Panels, Partitions for Enclosures, FencingCascade Coil)


 No, Tony, its real! :devil:

Actually its 19mm x 19mm polyethylene knotted mesh made by the pygmies of Barundi. Apparently they chew the fibres of the Boabab Tree for 6 months having passed them through the digestive canals of 8 sea camels before spinning them through the toes of the little known Tree Elephant of Sumatra. That's why its so expensive. 

On with the builds.

We have extended the wooden framing along to the first corner, around 100 feet I think.










and then round the corner.










with the polythene attached ready for the wire mesh to be fitted.










At the walk through aviary the mesh sides are almost complete and next week we will be starting the roof.










here the mesh is stretched across the double door exit before being attached around the frame and trimmed.

More pictures tomorrow.


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## Tom

looks like landscape gardening with an exotic twist.. what a fun job!


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## acromyrmexbob

Just posted something interesting in the Fish Keeping section of this site. Think you'll like it.


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## skilzo

Starting to take shape now kind of does look like a rubbish skip but its getting covered :lol2:


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## vukic

Looks interesting... Cant wait for it to take shape..

Sent from my ST26i using Tapatalk


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## acromyrmexbob

Ended up back in Trinidad just now for Christmas. We are building a house here and our builder fell off the second storey scaffold so we are over here to make sure everything is OK. Got pictures to upload of the start of the rockwork but can't do it from my phone so I will upload next week from an internet cafe. More soon.


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## my_shed

Shame about the reason for being out there but hope you have a lovely time. I'm not jealous at all, honest!

Dave


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## deansie26

*job*

Great thread Andy, what a job you have! lol, pretty envious. must be pretty cool seeing these projects from start to finish and the Trinidad trips- well id just do that for a living if I could ha ha.


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## acromyrmexbob

*Update on Walkthrough Aviary Part 1 of 3*

In order to bring everything up to date I am going to list three posts, one on the walk through aviary, here, one on the mixed African exhibit and one on the Tropical house, which we started today.

The aviary is now much progressed. We are starting to fit the roof panels which are complicated because the net comes as squares and the roof is mainly triangular. This netting is very expensive so offcuts and planning are important.










This is the indoor building seen across the water. On the far bank you can see some rockery work has taken place. The big openings are windows so the inside can be viewed from the aviary.

In order that the netting can be maintained in the future we decided to fit a pulley system. So, in much the same way as a big top can be dismantles, so the avairy roof can be lowered to head height to fix or adjust.



















Here you can see the windows in the large shed are glazed. Andy is fitting one of the roof panel.










Meanwhile the landscaping within the aviary, to allow visitors to stroll through the flight area, is continuing apace.




























This is the walkway across the swamp that will exit the aviary. The muddy area will be planted with rushes. We have an observation panel in the4 walkway for looking into the marsh. 

The double door entry system and a low fence around the entire aviary are both being built at this stage.



















Overall the aviary is making good progress, we are scheduled to be complete by end of this week.










In this picture you can see a landing platform on the building which is now blue.
Much of the landscaping is complete, we have had to leave some areas for access by the cherry picker, but gradually we are finishing the gardens and paths.


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## acromyrmexbob

*Update on African Exhibit Part 2 of 3*

The major rock wall we have been working on is really taking shape. I won't spend time discussing the process, i have covered that before in this thread. Just to show you some update pictures.










Here we are fitting the mesh over the polythene back.



















Start of the concreting......



















This is done in two layers, we key the first layer so the next bonds closely.




























Next we apply the first, darkest coat of paint.





































This last picture shows some of the next layer (there will be 6 layers for this light coloured desert rock), brown, applied to the right hand side. Sorry for the picture quality.


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## skilzo

Good to see some updates :2thumb: I was up the other week and had a little nosy its looking really good 

Is the new reptile house in the soft play bit now?


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## acromyrmexbob

*Start of New Tropical House, Update 3 of 3*

In the old Play Centre we are building a new tropical house. I think this facility will be one of the finest in the UK. In phase 1, over the next 2 months up to Easter, we are building tall arboreal units which are 4m high. They have massive 10ft high windows and will be planted as a rainforest. One of them is scheduled to house a croc monitor, the other possibly butterflies. Also we will be housing the 55 year old pair of dwarf crocs that survived the fire along with a pair of Chinese Alligators. 

First of all though we need to empty the old rubbush and fixtures from the building.



















But, because we are working to a very tight schedule here, before the bits and pieces are removed fully we start the construction of the tall displays.










For units this tall they need to be built on the floor.

And then lifted into place.



















I will post pictures of these units pretty much built tomorrow.


----------



## acromyrmexbob

*A quick progress report*

In the walk through aviary we are building a river to feed into the pond.
As with the otters last year the first step is to lay rubble and bricks down in the rough path of the river...



















and then cover with concrete mix..



















when the river bed concrete is still wet we pressed some gravel into it.










because we are going to try to blend this rock into the existing rock we have made a template that we can use to create a surface texture on the face of the rock.










In the tropical house the large units are well under way



















I think you can see by the person standing in the picture above the scale we are going for, it will look very impressive.

Below is a close up of the smaller display, still 4m high though.










And here is the start of the rear keeper access corridor.


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## skilzo

That looks brilliant how many animals will the house hold altogether? Didn't think it looked that big when I had my nephew in the 

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## acromyrmexbob

skilzo said:


> That looks brilliant how many animals will the house hold altogether? Didn't think it looked that big when I had my nephew in the


To be honest, haven't really counted the numbers but there will be a large collection, more than before. 

Today we used the latex mat shown being made in the previous post to surface the rockwork in the waterfall.



















Also the concrete pad was poured for the inside housing at the African Display.











The tent city you can see to the side is the weather protection for the rockwall so it is difficult to update pictures under here. So there will be a big reveal later.










Inside in the tropical house we have fitted the roofs on the tall enclosures.



















ready for the insulation and lining. We have some interesting plans for in here.


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## acromyrmexbob

Just a quickie. If you are interested, tonight at 8pm on BBC1 is a programme called Hidden Kingdoms, Urban Jungles, which features a few scenes of Leaf Cutting Ants in Buenos Aires. I spent a week setting up these shots and I thought you might like to take a look and let me know what you thought?


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## Guy

I adore your job. Must be rewarding to see animals in amazing habitat! Keep it up! I also have follow some of your thread as your threads are interesting and makes me feel like I am learning off the expert!


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## acromyrmexbob

Guy said:


> I adore your job. Must be rewarding to see animals in amazing habitat! Keep it up! I also have follow some of your thread as your threads are interesting and makes me feel like I am learning off the expert!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Actually I advertised a year ago for anyone interested in working in my company and I got a few responses but never followed this up because we were well staffed at the time and a couple of jobs we were waiting for never came off. If there are any joiners out there looking for work on zoo displays, I have a vacancy just now. You could PM me if you are interested. Just now this work is on two different zoos north of the border but there are other jobs coming up in England where our main work is done. Look forward to hearing from anyone who fancies this kind of work.


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## Guy

acromyrmexbob said:


> Actually I advertised a year ago for anyone interested in working in my company and I got a few responses but never followed this up because we were well staffed at the time and a couple of jobs we were waiting for never came off. If there are any joiners out there looking for work on zoo displays, I have a vacancy just now. You could PM me if you are interested. Just now this work is on two different zoos north of the border but there are other jobs coming up in England where our main work is done. Look forward to hearing from anyone who fancies this kind of work.



Unfortunately I'm not skilled joiner! I'm more of PC man. If I was skilled labour and I wouldn't mind to go for it unless your happy to for me to learn on the trade! Lol


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## Atticus22

I'm in the same position, would still love to become a part of your team however I couldnt really describe myself as a skilled joiner or tradesman, more creative and familiar with a lot of the techniques your team seems to utilise. Still very interested if there are any vacancies open


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## Smithomatic

Hi there,

PM'd you about possible vacancy,


Many thanks!


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## jacko1

i have also sent you a pm mate if you can get back to me it would be great


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## skilzo

I don't care about any of that updates? 

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## SublimeSparo

those new indoor displays are of epic proportions, loving it


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## skilzo

Surely there must be some more updates :whistling2: I have seen five sisters post up some updates come on you know you want to!!!


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## cameroon

Any updates? :whistling2:


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## Campbell89

Don't know of this has been asked but.... Which zoo is this?


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## skilzo

Campbell89 said:


> Don't know of this has been asked but.... Which zoo is this?


I think there's a few different ones on here but the main one is 5 sisters zoo  

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## Lane

Wow! Just been catching up with all your work! Great work as usual!
Can I ask out of nosiness.....
How did you get into doing what you do?
And where did you start?


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## acromyrmexbob

Hi everyone, so sorry for absence. I have been really busy. I will get pictures up of the work we have been doing. Honestly I have just been concentrating on the work. The jobs we are doing just now gets me home very late, the last thing you want to do is spend an hour posting when you have so little spare time. The tropical house at five sisters zoo was delayed until middle of may. The thinking is that this will be done over summer and open when the outdoor weather is nasty and people are looking for something inside. This means we finished the walkthrough aviary and the African enclosure. I have the pictures and will put them up as a time line from where we left off to the end. This means we were able to take on a job, also in Scotland, to build an Aztec themed temple, incorporating a series of reptile, amphibian, invert and small mammal displays. So when you go into this exhibit it must feel like you are walking though a temple. This is a week from being finished so I will post a series of accounts showing this work from beginning to end. As well as working at Five Sisters over the summer we are also starting the refit of a very large college down south. This is an 8 week job and will involve racking, walk in exhibits and aviaries, all indoors.
This was just a quick update for you, give me a little time and I will post the goodies.


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## acromyrmexbob

*Thumduggery!*

I have been thinking that maybe it is time to end this thread and post the jobs I am doing on a series of new threads which will be easier to navigate and might be less daunting for new readers to catch up. I think this thread is very cumbersome now because it is so big. 
Just a couple of things though.....the tropical house at Five Sisters is starting again (having been delayed with local authority red tape) and is due for completion by October. We are working on several other projects and I think it will be good to post them in this section but show the progress of the job from start to finish in real time, they will be shorter and, hopefully, will deliver the information in a quick and interesting way. I have always focussed on pictures when posting, I have never understood why other posters apologise for this in advance, a picture tells a thousand words and a picture based post is always more enjoyable than a text heavy diatribe! If I am missing something here then please let me know.
I have pictures of the main jobs I have covered on this series of posts over the past year or so, I will post them here so the people who have read this thread from the start can see closure on them.
It has been quite a journey for me and my business, posting the work on here. From the highs and the obvious lows, the development of our techniques, the fire, the help and advice from other members, the fun, everything has been amazing, I have been very closely attached to the like minded people I have encountered here in this place. I even took four of you to Trinidad. I have been looking for inspiration to start my daily posts again, I think starting afresh with a series of smaller ones is the way to go. So, thanks for all of your support here, look out for the new stuff, and I will look forward to your usual mix of wisdom, madness and plain thumduggery (I think that should be a word, even although its not!)
Andrew


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## skilzo

Awesome can't wait  

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## wezza309

It's been so enjoyable to see what you do. its been the highlight for me joining this forum on top of the other information. I have gathered whilst seeing this thread unfold in front of me with the down's and up's that go with your work. 
It's been quiet on here with out your posts and I a lot of others appreciate you taking you're time to post 

ps hows the big green house going can we all have an update on that too :notworthy::notworthy::whip:


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## acromyrmexbob

Been a while since last post but we have just finished rebuilding the Tropical House at Five Sisters Zoo. Our rock work and theming has come on 










This is the entrance to the cave, made from concrete and sculpted by hand. Its a really nice effect and looks the part when you walk through.

Each of the individual enclosures are framed with rock effect also



















We built some huge Aztec temples as well to externally theme some of the larger displays such as the West African Crocs and the Alligators.



















I'll post some more pictures later.


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## Meefloaf

nice to see you back fella, looking good


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## acromyrmexbob

*More pictures*

When you first enter the exhibit you are in a cave. The first displays are inverts.










We used Blue Light to simulate darkness instead of the traditional red. It actually looks better than red.










The cave cricket display is just a cave look with stalactites and stalacmites (not sure how to spell them properly!)










Several other nocturnal displays precede the lit displays with diurnal animals in them.



















The above picture shows the venemous Beaded Lizard display in a desert setting with reddish rockwork and sand. I have now employed an artist for the backs of the enclosures, I think the difference will be clear to see as we continue our walkthrough.










The part of the cave which is more brightly lit showing more of the rockwork detail. This rockwork took 3 weeks to build with 3 of us on it constantly! I hate rockwork now!!:bash:










More in a moment


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## skilzo

I was there on the 24th have to say its awesome but I expecting more to be fair


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## acromyrmexbob

More of the smaller displays










Above is the Woma display,










Frilled Lizards










Sulcata Tortoises










Dumerills

Then when you emerge from the Cave you can see the first of the larger exhibits, the Retic display with its 14foot inhabitant.










The next photo is a view back at the entrance to the cave showing also the walkthrough enclosure with its Iguana, Parrotlets and tortoises.










Looking the other way, on the left is the Amphibian display and straight ahead is the fire exit which our artist painted to look as though it goes on down a corridor.










The Amphib display......


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## Arcadiajohn

Looks great!

that SuperZooT5 is doing its job well 

what a great bit of kit that is

John,



acromyrmexbob said:


> Been a while since last post but we have just finished rebuilding the Tropical House at Five Sisters Zoo. Our rock work and theming has come on
> 
> image
> 
> This is the entrance to the cave, made from concrete and sculpted by hand. Its a really nice effect and looks the part when you walk through.
> 
> Each of the individual enclosures are framed with rock effect also
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> We built some huge Aztec temples as well to externally theme some of the larger displays such as the West African Crocs and the Alligators.
> 
> image
> 
> image
> 
> I'll post some more pictures later.


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## acromyrmexbob

We made a fallen down tree using concrete.










Firstly we ran steel 10mm rods across the enclosure and wrapped them with polythene and then plasterers mesh. After adding a scratch coat of normal concrete we added the top coat with buff pigment which we carved by hand before painting and lacquering. I think the finished look is quite realistic.


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## debsandpets

Some stunning work in those enclosures ............

Amazing :2thumb::2thumb:


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## acromyrmexbob

Today was the official opening of the Lost Kingdom display. The Zoo owner, Brian looks on as Angela Constance, a Minister in the Scottish Government, cut the tape.....










and then unveiled a plaque.










and then the public came in.



















which was quite strange to see the place we have worked on night and day for the past 4-5 months looking so busy.

The picture below is of the outdoor aviary (walk through) which we built last year, looking a bit more mature than when first opened.


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## acromyrmexbob

One or two bits and pieces you may be interested in.
On the bank of the croc pond we wanted to have pebbles as a base. In order to prevent them constantly being knocked into the water we mixed a few with resin and then laid them down. When the resin hardened they were solid and prevented those behind from falling in. 










These are two of the types of croc on show, Dwarf African (around 55yrs old)










and some baby Alligators










The filtration we used offshow has to be able to cope with the load. A little bit worried at the lack of a prefilter though, may cause some maintenance issues later.










We tried making rock with the 'grain' going vertically to try to change the look. Together with some good background painting by our artist, I think it looks fine here...










Also we painted a volcano on the back of this enclosure and used resin to make it look like the lava is flowing down through the exhibit....


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## David VB

Pfff, came here to this thread after reading a lot of the greenhouse thread, only to see no pictures here also... only these stupid little blue question marks


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## acromyrmexbob

I think its back to normal now.


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## David VB

acromyrmexbob said:


> I think its back to normal now.


Oh yes it is!!! Have been reading through this for hours  Better than a book, hehe.


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