My New Savannah! Pics & Possible Name?

[infernalis]

can you find two part poly resin epoxy?? that stuff is ace at sealing wood, and it lasts forever.

5kg Pack Lloyd's Approved General Purpose Resin and Catalyst - Bestsellers

FibreGlassDirect Online Shop - Buy Fiberglass supplies & materials. Fast UK/Ireland delivery

I even tracked down a UK supplier for you.

This is the same resin used to make/seal boats! no humidity issues or rot.

If you coat that viv with this, it will double the resale value too.

[MrBosc]

Originally Posted by jarich

If you've got the money, why not just build the full size enclosure right away? The link you are showing, while bigger in floor space, is still going to leave you with the same problems as the one you have right now. For £150 you could just build the full size enclosure and be done having problems. Are you pretty handy with tools? It's really not that difficult to build a monitor box, and quite cheap.

Hi Jarich, I thought especially with solid wood it would cost far more to buy and I seen this as an opportunity to give him a better vivarium until April. I would disagree however with " while bigger in floor space, is still going to leave you with the same problems as the one you have right now"......... he has more space to walk (which you stated) but he will have the potential to burrow, whether it meet the minimum or maybe a little more than the minimum he could burrow if he wanted.

I would imagine having multiple basking areas, burrow (to an extent) and have the ability to search around further than a foot in front of him he should be happier.

I am I would say a hands on person so I will most certainly be up to building one, but I really thought the cost of building an 8ft by 4 by 4 would cost far more than £130. I have seen our vivarium and looks very nice. If you have some sort of guide I would like to have a look at that, and then the next time I say "my Savs new viv" all will be good =D

[MrBosc]

Originally Posted by infernalis

can you find two part poly resin epoxy?? that stuff is ace at sealing wood, and it lasts forever.

5kg Pack Lloyd's Approved General Purpose Resin and Catalyst - Bestsellers

FibreGlassDirect Online Shop - Buy Fiberglass supplies & materials. Fast UK/Ireland delivery

I even tracked down a UK supplier for you.

This is the same resin used to make/seal boats! no humidity issues or rot.

Thanks Infernalis, I can always count on you giving some good advise! I will indeed take a look for this, and hopefully not only will I have some halogens on the way I'll have some good resin =D

[infernalis]

I need to make an illustration, what you can do with that viv, if you put a solid board that is 18 inches wide and about an inch or two thick along the front bottom, it will keep your dirt from spilling out when you open the cage.

Use a little imagination, the way that box sits right now, every time you slide the glass open, the dirt will spill out, unless you fashion a barricade in the front as wide as the dirt is deep.

[MrBosc]

Originally Posted by infernalis

I need to make an illustration, what you can do with that viv, if you put a solid board that is 18 inches wide and about an inch or two thick along the front bottom, it will keep your dirt from spilling out when you open the cage.

Use a little imagination, the way that box sits right now, every time you slide the glass open, the dirt will spill out, unless you fashion a barricade in the front as wide as the dirt is deep.

I think I get you, so basically it's a piece of wood (similar to the bottom support that has the glass rail) except it's higher to compensate for the overflow of substrate I will be using?

[MrBosc]

Originally Posted by infernalis

can you find two part poly resin epoxy?? that stuff is ace at sealing wood, and it lasts forever.

5kg Pack Lloyd's Approved General Purpose Resin and Catalyst - Bestsellers

FibreGlassDirect Online Shop - Buy Fiberglass supplies & materials. Fast UK/Ireland delivery

I even tracked down a UK supplier for you.

This is the same resin used to make/seal boats! no humidity issues or rot.

If you coat that viv with this, it will double the resale value too.

Would this do it all?

5m² Fibreglass Roof Kit - Roofing Kits - Roofing Materials and Kits

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by MrBosc

Would this do it all?

5m² Fibreglass Roof Kit - Roofing Kits - Roofing Materials and Kits

Too much junk you won't use.

Buy the kit for 17 quid I linked, a disposable bucket and a wide paint brush.

Pour the resin into the bucket, stir in the catalyst, paint it on quickly, wash up and wait overnight.

The next day the inside will be glazed over in poly vinyl plastic.

[MrBosc]

Originally Posted by infernalis

Too much junk you won't use.

Buy the kit for 17 quid I linked, a disposable bucket and a wide paint brush.

Pour the resin into the bucket, stir in the catalyst, paint it on quickly, wash up and wait overnight.

The next day the inside will be glazed over in poly vinyl plastic.

Aha brilliant, and this will make it pretty much waterproof? would it be best to take all the panels back off when I get the stuff and coat all (6) of the sides of each panel?

[infernalis]

You only need to paint the inside of the box.

This stuff is permanent, really permanent.. it's not only used on boats, but aircraft, skis, snowmobile hoods, auto fenders, etc.

[jarich]

Originally Posted by MrBosc

Hi Jarich, I thought especially with solid wood it would cost far more to buy and I seen this as an opportunity to give him a better vivarium until April. I would disagree however with " while bigger in floor space, is still going to leave you with the same problems as the one you have right now"......... he has more space to walk (which you stated) but he will have the potential to burrow, whether it meet the minimum or maybe a little more than the minimum he could burrow if he wanted.

I would imagine having multiple basking areas, burrow (to an extent) and have the ability to search around further than a foot in front of him he should be happier.

I am I would say a hands on person so I will most certainly be up to building one, but I really thought the cost of building an 8ft by 4 by 4 would cost far more than £130. I have seen our vivarium and looks very nice. If you have some sort of guide I would like to have a look at that, and then the next time I say "my Savs new viv" all will be good =D

Sorry, I feel like maybe Im coming off more abrasive than I mean to. Not my intention at all, just wanting to save you the hassle, bother, and money of buying and trying to adapt this other "in between" enclosure, and save the problems it will cause your monitor in the meantime. A new, custom built enclosure will be relatively cheap, and set up your monitor correctly right away.

The entire thing shouldnt really cost you more than about 200 quid to build. You'll need 4-5 sheets of plywood (25 pounds a piece), 20 lengths (8ft) of 2x2 (4 pound a piece), and two large pieces of glass for the sliding door front. Im not sure how much the glass would cost over there, but it shouldnt be more than around 40 quid. That will give you an 8x4x4 ft box strong enough to put your substrate in.

Then all you need to do is seal it with that epoxy Wayne mentioned and add the lights you are already buying right now. So you'd be spending an extra 70 quid more than what you were going to buy that other enclosure for. However, since you were already planning on building a larger enclosure in April anyway, this actually would save you 130 pounds that you would be wasting on this 'in between' enclosure. Not to mention the money you would spend adapting that white enclosure, which would absolutely fall apart quickly anyway. (I can guarantee that flimsy little melamine enclosure is not strong enough to hold that much substrate without being reinforced). Trust me, save yourself the money and build your big enclosure now. Then you dont have to worry about making a dam for the substrate or not having enough depth for it to burrow, or any of the other problems you will have with that melamine thing.

[MrBosc]

Originally Posted by jarich

Sorry, I feel like maybe Im coming off more abrasive than I mean to. Not my intention at all, just wanting to save you the hassle, bother, and money of buying and trying to adapt this other "in between" enclosure, and save the problems it will cause your monitor in the meantime. A new, custom built enclosure will be relatively cheap, and set up your monitor correctly right away.

The entire thing shouldnt really cost you more than about 200 quid to build. You'll need 4-5 sheets of plywood (25 pounds a piece), 20 lengths (8ft) of 2x2 (4 pound a piece), and two large pieces of glass for the sliding door front. Im not sure how much the glass would cost over there, but it shouldnt be more than around 40 quid. That will give you an 8x4x4 ft box strong enough to put your substrate in.

Then all you need to do is seal it with that epoxy Wayne mentioned and add the lights you are already buying right now. So you'd be spending an extra 70 quid more than what you were going to buy that other enclosure for. However, since you were already planning on building a larger enclosure in April anyway, this actually would save you 130 pounds that you would be wasting on this 'in between' enclosure. Not to mention the money you would spend adapting that white enclosure, which would absolutely fall apart quickly anyway. (I can guarantee that flimsy little melamine enclosure is not strong enough to hold that much substrate without being reinforced). Trust me, save yourself the money and build your big enclosure now. Then you dont have to worry about making a dam for the substrate or not having enough depth for it to burrow, or any of the other problems you will have with that melamine thing.

Oh no I didn't mean to put mine across as though I thought you was being abbrasive anyway, anything at all that will help benefit my Savannah I will gladly take in without any insult in anyway.. after all it's within my interest to do it to the best that I can. Also my personal stance is fairly static with what I can fork out right now, I know the solid wood would have only cost around £200 (which I would have liked to get) but I didn't really have money to spend so £130 already was more than I should have spent. But in saying that this vivarium will give him a little more of a happier lifestyle than in that very small 4ft, he can at least have a little roam around for food rather than staying in one spot and seeing everything lol.

Seeing how this vivarium has been built it does seem very very simple to build, however when I was speaking to this other chap who was building some Huge viv there did seem a lot more to it (which he did do) but I don't have to follow it that way.

And plus when I use the epoxy stuff on this I should be able to make the money back easily so in that scenario it's a win win =]

[jarich]

It sounds like you already bought it then. In which case, that epoxy is your next step and then putting in the dam so you can add the substrate. That and the lights are going to be the things that puts your monitor in a much better position.

For the sake of strength and ease, I would just go out and buy a length of 2x12 long enough to go all the way across the front of the enclosure, just inside of the glass. That way all you have to do is just put it in and put some screws into it from the outside of the melamine to hold it in place. Nice and simple and sturdy enough to hold the substrate. Make sure you put it in before you seal everything, so that it gets sealed with the epoxy as well.

[MrBosc]

Originally Posted by jarich

It sounds like you already bought it then. In which case, that epoxy is your next step and then putting in the dam so you can add the substrate. That and the lights are going to be the things that puts your monitor in a much better position.

For the sake of strength and ease, I would just go out and buy a length of 2x12 long enough to go all the way across the front of the enclosure, just inside of the glass. That way all you have to do is just put it in and put some screws into it from the outside of the melamine to hold it in place. Nice and simple and sturdy enough to hold the substrate. Make sure you put it in before you seal everything, so that it gets sealed with the epoxy as well.

Yeah i bought the vivarium last night, and yes I will do all of that =] however I'm not quite sure on the damn thing? how does that work?

[MrBosc]

Originally Posted by infernalis

You only need to paint the inside of the box.

This stuff is permanent, really permanent.. it's not only used on boats, but aircraft, skis, snowmobile hoods, auto fenders, etc.

Enough said then =] will look to get that stuff really soon!

[jarich]

With the enclosure the way it is, you dont have the depth necessary for the substrate. If you dumped in 12" deep of substrate, then it would be up past the bottom of the glass doors, and therefore fall out every time you opened the doors to feed. However, if you put up a piece of wood inside the enclosure, in front of the doors, that is around 12" wide, and screw it in place, then this piece of wood will contain the substrate. Then you can open the doors without it all pouring out the front.