Building a new viv - ideas?

I decided I might want to move Mojo downstairs out of the snake room to my living room again. Right now he's in a 20L but I'd like to build him a better looking viv from scratch to set up on top of my entertainment unit. The top of the unit is approximately 17 x 50". The only thing I've really thought about so far is possibly only having a glass front with the rest wood (top opening).

Any other suggestions on how to make it look nice? It'll be a naturalistic setup. Right now I have him on cypress mulch (yes, I know a lot of people here feel that isn't a good substrate for corns, but it's worked for him for a long time because I don't mist him). Also, my big question is this: How tall would a viv that size need to be in order to let him get full use of the height too? I want to try to avoid squashing him down in an 8" high viv but I also don't want one that's two feet high so I need a ten foot ladder to change the water.

Any other suggestions for the door that might not require me to open from the top but also wouldn't have me spilling substrate out all over the floor when I open it?

By the way, if anyone has built one this size or something similar and has pictures of the finished product, I'd like to see them!

Well, if you want a door on the front without spilling substrate, you could try to just have a sort of "lip" at the bottom of the tank that extends up the height of your substrate level. You might still get some substrate coming out, but not as much. :shrugs:

Here: http://www.blueappleherps.com/page13/page13.html

The white viv is a design I did last year; it has a write up so you can see how I did the door so it opens from the front w/o spilling the bedding. Let me know if you have any questions.

I'll check that out. I did a search on viv design too and got some ideas from that, but many of the custom made ones I'm finding are massive multi cage setups.

TrpnBils said:

I'll check that out. I did a search on viv design too and got some ideas from that, but many of the custom made ones I'm finding are massive multi cage setups.

Click to expand...

Even the multi-cage set ups are easily converted to a single one. Or you can use some of their ideas with your own. Many of them have recurring themes even if built by different people with different designs.

Well, here is my cornsnake "Hope's" cage. It is overkill at 4x2x2. I am going to switch it eventually to where my rats get this cage and she get one just like it that is 4x2x1. I encorporated the "lip" which onl take a minute or two to install....Opens from the front too!






Here is my "master plan" that started it all. You would be amazed at what you come up with when you are bored at 3 a.m.......


Hope it helps!

here is a cage im about 99% done with for my carpet python. along the bottom i put a 1" x 2" so when i open the door the substrate stays in. and for the door, i made a frame out of 1 x 2"s and screwed in a piece of plexi glass to it. cheap, simple but efective, and looks good if i do say so myself.

the only thing i would suggest, this is from current experience....

if you are building a wooden viv with glass front, my local vet advised me to make sure that the inside of the walls was glass as sometimes the wood of the viv can considerably lower the humidity and harm the snake... i know this coz i didnt think anything of it when rehoming sammie from a glass viv to a wooden one and when she shed two layers of scales came off coz of how dry it was for her, and then coz she was on the uth it burnt her... i feel really bad for letting it happen but i never thought about that

rest assured sammie now has cream and is well on the way to recovery.

but yeh just thought id share the vets advice hope it helps

when you use the astroturf for lining the viv, what do you do when you gotta clean up his mess, i imagine snake dump aint the easiest to remove from it.

im building my own viv at the moment, and its good to get other folks ideas, especially ones put into practice.

Spot clean when she goes, and then rinse it thoroughly with the hose and a bleach solution and let it hang dry...... Pretty easy. I may switch over to aspen someday but as of yet am unsure.

i can get access to stacks of carpet off cuts, is there any reason not to use this is substrate, any kinds i shouldnt use?

I use carpet in some of mine. They work pretty well and you can just throw them in the washer/dryer!

Mine is like classdwhite but I have vents in the top. Making you own is nice for getting the right size to fit your needs. I also used 1/4" Pleixglass and it is holding up well.
Good Luck
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49658

thats a crackin lookin pair of vivs, the snakes look like the could have a lotta fun in there

im not a big fan of astroturf as it doesnt allow your snake to burrow, and from watching my snakes in the aspen they lurrrrve to burrow lol

oh and from what i hear using bleach is a definate no no on the astroturf coz it can harm the snake with any residue left over and if they swalow it most definatley die!

Possible negatives for carpet-

You need to let it fully dry before it goes back in. So you need another piece to put in while you're washing and drying the first.
Snakes can't burrow.
Stains can become set in and look pretty gross.
Harder to clean (in my personal opinion).

I like aspen or newspaper. Either way, you just throw the dirty part away and spread some new stuff. I also feel like I would never be able to get the carpet totally clean. Even if I dunked it in bleach, I would feel like there was bacteria hiding in it. lol

you know what i mean when i say burow lol

my sammie likes to lie somewhere underneath the aspen she hides herself in it, burrow was th only word i could think of to describe it

No, they do burrow. I meant that carpet doesn't let them burrow like aspen does.

yeah i get what you mean, im still lookin into it just now, i got her on paper towels just now cos she's only in a critter keeper style tank just now.

all ideas are good though cheers guys

As regards to home made viv: My 4 x 2 x 2 vivarium is gorgeous and home-made. Its 3 sides wood, but if you get laminated wood or finished/varnished wood it DOES NOT lower the humidity. Its only when unfinished wood is used does it absorb moisture. The other problem with unfinished wood is that it will get damaged by damp.

I use sliding glass doors, like the professional ones, they were easy enough to install, and have a lip about 4" so no substrate falls out. The pic I ahve included is pretty bad... but you get the idea. I used beech effect contiboard from B & Q and got the glass/sliders at the same place. I also made an electrics box at the top as you can see, so all comes from one socket but has different switches for all the different elements in the viv.

As regards the astroturf, I wanted a naturalistic setting so I used it before and although its not too hard when you have 2 bits and can put one in the wash, it is still not as good as aspen which I have now switched to, and still have a great looking viv.

Include as many corn friendly decors as you can to get it looking great, I have also included a pic of a small section of inside my viv to show how pretty it can look!

Hope this helps...