My eye sore of a viv

[gob144]

This was really just an experiment to see what i could come up with. Im building a viv for a ball python. How do all of you DIYers that made wooden vivs heat it. I like to use heater mats but cant find one that could be inside the viv and is water proof. any ideas?

Its doesnt have the finishing touches yet like handles instead of duct tape and im going to paint all the raw wood white. Ill probably add a back drop to. Its not pretty but it should work for now.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82/gob144/IMG_0332.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82/gob144/IMG_0331.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82/gob144/IMG_0330.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82/gob144/IMG_0329.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82/gob144/IMG_0328.jpg

[Lennycorn]

You might need some sandpaper. LOL

[CALIVIK]

LOL I had to laugh so hard at the title cause my husband *who hates snakes* says this to me. I keep our vivs around our 60" plasma tv in the den & he says they are eye sores...:eek1:lol And mine match the den well *I* think...lol

Your viv will look grt! Your python will be very happy! My boa would love that home!!! :D

[w00dg0blin]

I don't care what anyone says. I like it gob. I kind alike the front being white too. I'd be tempted to find an old microwave front to dress up the front. Maybe mount a digital thermometer/hygrometer to the right front side and glue an old number pad underneath it.

I'm kind of stumped about a heat source though. What about heat tape? I gotta think about it.

[gob144]

I was thinking about attaching a heat pad to a tile and attempting to make it kinda waterproof? I guess i really should have thought about this before i built it haha.

[w00dg0blin]

Take a look at Intellitemp Heat Mats from bigappleherp.com. They claim they are waterproof and can be placed inside of a viv.

[gob144]

thanks alot w00d that could save me a lot of headache

[gob144]

darn you have to order at least 100 dollars worth of product to get it shipped to canada.

[quixoft]

On mine, I first used polyurethane to seal the wood and silicone to seal all of the corners.

For heating, I used the zoomed heat cable taped down to the wood using foil tape(NOT duct tape). Then I put a ceramic tile on top of the heat cable and sealed it with the silicone again.

Give me a few minutes and I'll post some pics.

[quixoft]

Here are the heat cabling/heat tape/tile pics. You can see the actual build here: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103055

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p230/zafzo/Vivarium/heatcable.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p230/zafzo/Vivarium/heattape.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p230/zafzo/Vivarium/tile.jpg

[quixoft]

As for cost :

Tile $0.89
Foil Tape $2.99
Silicone Sealant $3.99
23' zoomed cable $16.99

Total $24.86 + tax and you will have plenty of tape and sealant left over.

[w00dg0blin]

quixoft, that's similiar to what I was planning on trying when I do up a 20 gallon long for mine. What kind of temps are you getting? I can't find anything that says how warm those heat cables get.

Also, is that really 23 feet of heat cable in your viv? I figure to cover an area roughly 12 inches by 13 inches would take just over 8 feet of cable (8.25 feet to be exact). That's taking into consideration the suggested minimum spacing of 1 1/4 inch.

Do you use a light dimmer or thermostat with it?

Finally, the manufacturer suggest to always use bump feet so excess heat can escape. Have you had any issues by placing it directly on wood and sealing it? In my case I'm planning on mounting the cable to the underneath of a piece of roofing slate and using bump feet so it is slightly elevated above the viv floor (I have no waterproofing concerns). I know most people use ceramic tile and have no issues with heat transfer. Would roofing slate be similar or would it restrict heat transfer?

too many questions...I'll stop now...

[quixoft]

It is the 23' cable and without regulation the temps on the tile hit 95. I did have a bit of trouble with one rheostat(lamp dimmer from home depot) keeping temps regulated so I went with a thermostat(herpstat which was expensive unfortunately) and everything is fine now.

Although with the duplicate setup on the other side, the second dimmer I bought was fine. So I may have had a bad dimmer on the one side. Personally, I really think the 9 year old was messing with the dimmer during the day but he won't admit it! He blamed it on the cats which is entirely possible as well.

So in short, the thermostat works great keeping it at 86 even on the left viv and the dimmer for the second cable on the right side viv is doing well(I taped it in place) ranging from 84 to 87 throughout the day and night.

Those tiles are 18" by 18" and the 23' cable covers roughly 12" by 16" at 1" spacing give or take a half inch here or there. For reference, my vivs are 36" x 20" so exactly 1/3 is covered lengthwise and 16 out of 20" in depth are covered for heat. The whole tile is not heated. Just the 12" by 16" section.

It probably wouldn't have been 95 if I had followed the 1.25" instructions but then it would have gone past 12" and I wanted to stick with the 1/3 of the viv rule. Remember that of the 23' of cable, only 17' is actual heat. There is 6' of dead cable.

I've had no issues with the tile or sealant and in fact, both snakes in each viv seem to love the 2" space between the tile edge and the front wall of the viv. It stays around 78 degrees there where as the cold side is 72 and the hot spot is 86ish.

If you use bump feet, it will be a pretty big space between the tile and the wood so there would be more to seal and it might not stay properly. Plus, if you seal it, it would defeat the purpose of the bump feet because the heat couldn't escape anyway because of the sealant. I figure if the structural wood in my house attic can stand the 150 degrees it is up there in the summer in Texas, the polyurethane sealed viv wood will be fine in the high 80s.

I don't know about roofing tile but I would think it would be more resistant to heat since it is for roofing. But I really have no idea. I know the cheap floor tile works though.

I think I covered all of what you asked but let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck!

[gob144]

I like that. Why did you use silver tap over other tapes?

[quixoft]

It's aluminum foil heat tape for HVAC duct work. Normal duct tape will eventually dry out and flake away even at just 85 degrees. The foil tape is designed to hold up against much higher temps than that for long periods of time.

[w00dg0blin]

Thanks quixoft. So basically as long as you don't cross the cables there shold be no fire hazard. Seen some pics of heat tape mishaps and was kinda worried. I think I will try the roofing slate. If it does cut down on heat transfer I can just swap it out with a piece of ceramic tile. I got some of both laying around.

[SnakeAround]

I have heated wooden vivs with heat pads beneath it. It takes a while but the heat does get through eventually. The wood actually cools down slowly so when the heat pad is turned on or off, the change in temp is way slower then with glass. It might make your thermostat switch of and on less.

[gob144]

I found my own solution with supplies i had around the house. I had very thin plexy so i cut it to the size of the viv floor and placed the heat mat between the floor of the viv and the plexy. ill take a pic soon

[quixoft]

That's a good idea. I may just get some plexiglass and place it on the bottom so I can pull it out easily for cleaning.

[gob144]

yea thats what i was thinking it would make it easy to clean and keeps gunk off the wood surfaces. It was pretty painstaking cutting the plexy to exact size.

[gob144]

Also, I drilled holes under where the heat mat sits so there wont be a build up of heat that could damage the viv or the plexy. and then put a piece of wood under each corner to raise it up so hair can flow through those holes. I'm not sure if its 100 percent necessary but its a good safety measure

[gob144]

here is a picture of the plexy with the heat pad under it.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82/gob144/IMG_0336.jpg

And here's the gap not sure why im posting this but gives you the idea of you couldn't imagine it

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82/gob144/IMG_0335.jpg

[gob144]

and i know the wood looks rought its still being finished, right now im testing to make sure the electronics are keeping good heat.

[carnivorouszoo]

Is that plexi-glass or real glass on the front? If it were mine I would secure the glass on two spots towards the middle to be sure the snake could not push its way out. Otherwise it looks pretty good! Can't wait to see it further along!

[gob144]

the only place its possible for it to escape by pushing on the plexi would the top center. I think im going to make a small wedge just to push the plexi against the wood so the snake cant push it.

[Saffleur]

How is the heat keeping?

I would have suggested a radiant heat panel myself

[gob144]

It was working alright. I decided to buy a baby ball rather than an older one so now it wont be used for some time. I am thinking that heat pad might not be adequate

[Allalaskan]

I know this thread has been dead for a few months but I was going to say that if you used a sander you could realy flatten out some of those rounded cuts and if you are willing to do the work, you could use fiberglass on the outside to fill in all the grooves and then paint it and I think it would look really sharp. Your removable window in the front has given me a few ideas my self :D Im curios to see it after you have a snake living in there.