Curious about DIY terrariums

[jojack56]

Hello, i'm new to this website (figured i'd get the newbie part out of the way)

anyway i just had a question about building a terrarium my Ball python is going to out grow his current tank, and so i'm trying to come up with ideas on how to build one. I've had the idea of combining cultured marble and glass to make a large terrarium, i'm just worried that the cultured marble will retain too much heat and wind up burning my snake if he gets too close to the wall. does anyone know or think it would be unsafe for him if i used such materials?

[eminart]

Just use a thermostat and it will be fine. No material can retain more heat than is put into it. But be aware that if the material for the bottom is too thick, an under tank heater may not be able to heat it well enough. I have no idea how thick this marble you're talking about would be.

[sirtalis]

Cool idea and I highly doubt it will get burned most people bask their reptiles way too low (for example, the recomended leopard gecko basking temp is 100 but 130 is much better and more natural) one possible issue is if the marble is porous it could potentially smell from feces/urates but other than that it sounds cool, another thing to mention is that too much glass can be potentially stressful to a reptile most people cover 3 sides with paper or some other material

[jojack56]

@eminart- awesome thanks, i really appreciate it, the under tank heating i'm thinking i can make something up for it fairly easily by sanding down the bottom side of the marble so its half the thickness, i'll have to see what i can do about that. but i'll have it figured out by the time i go to build it.

@sirtals the smell could be a problem as cultured marble is some what porous, i'll half to see about that hopefully it would just come clean with some sanitizing spray, usually i do a deep cleaning of my tank every couple weeks, so it may not be much of an issue.

thanks for the input guys

[SerpentineDream]

What about quartz? The kind used for countertops comes in various colors and is impregnated with resin so that it's not porous and is resistant to stains. The variety used for RV countertops is cut thinner so as to reduce its weight and that may lend itself well to your application. If your local stone shop can't get it in the thickness you want, you might ask an RV store who their supplier is.

[jojack56]

i failed to mention the reason why i'm using the cultured marble which is it was some extra that my parents had from their bathroom remodel, so i think its already coated in a resin since its used for bath areas, or its like a plastic, something of the sort anyway. i'm mostly trying to go cheap but good i guess if that makes sense.

[Jack4193]

I built a DIY Terrarium with my dad (im 14 so i needed help), we took a large coffee table and flipped it upside down and cut grooves into the legs and slid plexi glass in and screen on the sides with a hinged plexi glass top, i estimatted its about 80 gallon, i will try to get pics of it on here. be creative with what you make, you could use an old dresser, or a table like i did, there are many options. as far as the heating go's if the bottom is to thick put one or two hat pads on the side of the tank close to the bottom, and try to restrict air flow to half of what you have to keep heat in, you will have to open the cage often, every other day or sooner, to circulate air. Good luck with your build!

[pet_snake_78]

I didn't find heat tape very effective in enclosures. Unless the material is very thin, I had to power the heat tape to well over 100F to get a 90F hotspot inside. I like to run my heat tapes under 100F which is no problem for tubs. On my custom builts, I could have included a cut in on the bottom for tape so it didn't have much to heat through but I'd rather not bother. I use RHPs on my enclosures now but continue to use heat tapes on tubs.