New DIY Viv Project

[USMCgunner11]

I have a whole week stay-cation right now so I decided to finally commit to my BP's new enclosure layout. It's going to be a temple ruins theme and so far I have only done the water bowl and the hide. I start on the background tomorrow but here is what I have done so far with the water bowl...

[USMCgunner11]

... and here is the hide (alter of sacrifice)...


More pics will follow as I get more done...

[Norm66]

That's going to be very cool. Keep us posted with pics. :)

[USMCgunner11]

Well, the water bowl didn't hold up. I did a test run to see how it handled the weight of being full of water and because of a design flaw on my part, it cracked under the weight. So I will either attempt it again with a different design or ditch the idea all together. Not sure yet. Here is my progress thus far...

I got the hut painted and varnished completely to model the rest of the layout after and I laid everything out as if it were in the enclosure to help me visualize the rest of this project...

[shaunyboy]

looking good mate :D

i look forward to the finished tank

cheers shaun

[USMCgunner11]

The painting is finally done. It took about 10 hours from start to finish. I got the "marble" affect naturally by mixing 2 different shades of grey and black as my base coat. The colors separated slightly on their own over the course of several hours and gave my bricks a more realistic look. The rest was accomplished with dry brushing.

Now it's just a matter of varnishing the whole thing (with a non-toxic varnish of course) and letting it cure for about a week.

This has been a long and demanding project but now that it's all coming together it has been well worth it. My wife has been SOOOOOOOOOO patient with me and the mess this has made of our small apartment. She even jumped in and helped out when I was over it.

[Trollbie]

Oh wow! Looks bomb!

[USMCgunner11]

Finally done with this project. It was very long, messy and tried my patience many times. Grouting was by far the worst part of this entire thing. Here are the pics of the completed enclosure. After it cures for about a week I will set up the heat panel and thermostat. I'll post pics again once it is fully set up and I get my BP in there to explore it.

[Trollbie]

Awesome job! I love it! You kind of inspired me to come up with a theme for when I build my enclosures.

[USMCgunner11]

I was contemplating doing a YouTube video of the process, but I had enough going on at the time and I didn't want to have to add something else to the mix. Fairly simple process, just tedious.

[Terranaut]

Very cool. Great job.

[Charlie64]

haha cool. That, good sir, is dedication! Looks great!

[exwizard]

oh man that looks good!

[KORBIN5895]

Wow! Hoe far away do you live from me?You should stop by and help an old friend out with his.

[Kingsnakechris]

very very cool bro!!!

[USMCgunner11]

Wow! Hoe far away do you live from me?You should stop by and help an old friend out with his.

I'm in so cal. But if you're interested I could write out everything I did and everything I used. I researched every product I used to make sure it would be safe and non toxic

[KORBIN5895]

Check it out. My parents live in Anaheim and are coming up in June. Just get in their suitcase and you can do it for me when you arrive.:)

[USMCgunner11]

Thank you all for the compliments.

[USMCgunner11]

I let the whole thing cure for a little over a week and snapped these as I introduced my BP to his new home.

[Trollbie]

Looks like he loves it!

[USMCgunner11]

His favorite spot has not been in his hide surprisingly. He spends most of his time underneath his branch where he has the cover and concealment of the draping fake plant. Whatever makes him happy.

[BarelyBreathing]

That looks excellent!

[Trent]

Very nice!!

[USMCgunner11]

Thank you. It will probably be a little while before I attempt another project like this. He has certainly enjoyed exploring his new surroundings (looking for a way out that is) and it definitely draws some conversation when someone new enters the room.

[Falco21]

Where did you get the tracks for the glass?

Also, what substrate did you use there? I'm about to build a new cage, and this fits my idea perfectly! Except I won't be putting all that time in the decorations :p

[USMCgunner11]

The tank was already built but was a plain white on the inside before I started.

[Falco21]

Substrate?

[USMCgunner11]

Oh sorry. It's Eco earth and is basically just coconut shavings

[jaleely]

awesome! i'd like to know what snake safe products you used, actually : )

[USMCgunner11]

awesome! i'd like to know what snake safe products you used, actually : )

I started with Polystyrene Styrofoam and cut out the shapes I wanted. I glued them all together with Locktite Power Grab and aquarium-grade silicone (depending on where the piece was going or what its purpose for the structure determined which adhesive I used). Then, I mounted the sculpted pieces in the tank and went around all the corners with the silicone so nothing could get behind the background.

Let all that dry for at least 24 hours. Silicone is fine when dry but toxic when it's wet.

Then, covered it in about 5 layers of non-sanded tile grout allowing sufficient time to dry between coats. A fan will speed up drying times. Then painted it all with acrylic paint, applying as many coats as needed to cover the white color of the tile grout.

Then, I added 5-6 coats of non-toxic acrylic sealant to make it water resistant, preserve the paint, add a little stability and most importantly... since it's the most outer layer I definitely wanted to make sure this was animal-safe. I don't recall the exact name of the one I selected, I got it from Michael's craft store and it was "America" something (or at least close to that). I checked it out beforehand and made sure it said "non-toxic" on the label. Whatever you get, it should be clear and flat (or satin) so you don't get an excessive shine.

Finally, let the thing cure. I left a fan on mine for about 8 days. Then I added my RHP and thermostat and let it run for about 24 hours before adding my snake.

[Kratos]

Awsome set up you got thier. Been thinking of attempting this myself but didnt know what to use. Now with your post its a big help and second gussing to go ahead and try a few times to see if I can do it.



The sky is blue because god loves the infantry. HHC 1/124 INF

[USMCgunner11]

I didn't pioneer anything new with my project. I found YouTube videos and tutorials from people who do this as a business essentially and followed their instructions. This is very hard to mess up honestly

[Daveo]

What a beautiful setup. Can you tell me how you keep the substrate clean? I use news paper which is very practical, but does not look too good.

[beardeds4life]

You do not need to use a non toxic sealent unless it is a waterbowl or a food dish. It is essentially a layer of plastic and once dry and aired out it is fine.

[helen davis]

wow!! thats awesome!!!! great job