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DIY: 4 Unit Vivarium out of kitchen pantry...

JustineNYC
04-01-2009, 04:35 PM
Ok, here is my project. Most of you know I got sick of the fish tanks, my cats sit up there on the screen tops and the last straw was my little one puking on top of one of my vivs, as you can imagine with a screen top, it ended up in the vivarium. Not very fair to my corns.

I was looking for a way to 'display' all 4 corns together. I like the 'make a viv from a bookcase' design, unfortunately I have adults who are cramped in 20 longs, so I purchased a laminate kitchen pantry (on ebay) to go bigger and be able to use the same idea.

It 4 shelves, 66 inches high, 32 inches long, and 16 inches deep.
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/HomeDepotGurl/IMG_2888.jpg

This is the finished product....


http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/HomeDepotGurl/IMG_2938.jpg


Two shelves are built in, and two were adjustable, meaning they sat on plastic pins. I placed them where I wanted, and drilled them all in from the sides for added stability.

The lighting is under cabinet lighting from Lowes, its rather inexpensive (10$) and drills right up into the ceiling of each viv. The downside is they get hot very quickly, not relevant in my case cause I wont have them on. I just think they look nice when you are showing off your snakes. I did run a test session out of curiosity where I hooked the cabinet up to probes and left the light on. It never went over 85 degrees in the half hour I had the light on, but if a snake crawls up there as they tend to do, and touches the light, they are going to get burned no doubt about it.




The front is acrylic, and the back I used pegboard. Luckily, Lowes was great, they cut everything for me. The ledges, the acrylic and the pegboard. All I had to do was take measurements.



Items used were:

Drill (Black and Decker, simple drill, $17 in Walmart)
Drill bits (Black and Decker accessories pack, $9)
pegboard
caulk
silicone
metal hinges
screen clips
3 inch by 30 3/4 oak strips (for ledge)
Krylon paint sealer
4 ceramic tiles
pack of rubber spacers
4 under cabinets lights
Heat tape

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/HomeDepotGurl/IMG_2909.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/HomeDepotGurl/IMG_2891.jpg


For heating, I stuck UTH's (new ones obviously, my old ones are stuck to tanks) to the grooved side of tiles, and created a "cavity" for the heater with rubber spacers, aluminum foil and silicone. The aluminum foil covers the floor of the cabinet, then spacers, then tile with UTH, and silicone all around. I also used heat tape for around the tile, this probably isnt needed, as they tile is siliconed. Ive read a few people on the forum have used it inside the vivs. I think Nanci said the tape is unsticky enough that if dislodged, it won't stick to the snake. The heat pad doesnt touch the shelf because the tile is elevated, and my temp/thermostat probes sit right to the tile.


I did a test session the night before the acrylic and pegboard went on and plugged in the UTH's and attached them all to probes. They distrubute heat pretty well, and hold it too...........Nonetheless, all the UTH's are connected to thermostats, I was just curious with how long theyd take to heat up and how hot theyd get if they werent shut off.

The pegboard, and ledges I used Krylons primer on to make them white, just so I could keep with the theme, and then their "moisture resistant" sealer.


Heres where I ran into problems.....The hinges drill into the front of my acrylic on one side and attach to UNDER my ledge on the other....

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/HomeDepotGurl/IMG_2930.jpg



I purchase the tiniest bolts and nuts I could find, because the screws included with the hinges, if I would have used them, they would have been too long to be able to close the acylic door. The other thing I did was move the ledge back a smidge so there wasnt any added pressure on the acrylic, and the door felt like it sat well in that space when closed.

The problem I ran into with them was there was a space where the snake may be able to crawl down to in front of the ledge and push on the acylic and maybe manage to get their head stuck. I fixed this with weather strips. Lowes sells them for doorways. There was perfect for filling that little gap and making the acrylic door sit tight to the ledge, I added extra screen clips there too for a tight fit...This is the bottom of the acrylic doors

See photo...


http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/HomeDepotGurl/IMG_2932.jpg

When used with the clips, I cant pry the acrylic away from the Viv, so if I can't Im content the snakes cant.

As you can tell by how many screen clips I used, I am escape paranoid! Last thing I want to do is built something someone gets out of and gets eaten by a cat in the process.



The pegboard was probably the easiest part. Because I had a light and heat pad (2 cords) coming out of each viv, it was easier to do the pegboard in 4 separate pieces. So I measured each self individually, and marked off on the ledge where one piece of pegboard started and the next began. Make sure you allow each piece of pegboard room to be drilled into the ledges, because they all need to be drilled on each side. Before drilling each piece onto the back of the cabinet, I used wire cutters to snip a gap in the pegboard for the cords coming out. Once everything was on nice and tight, all corners of the vivs got siliconed and the holes in the pegboard, although tiny were filled with silicone too.


Heres the back...

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/HomeDepotGurl/IMG_2919.jpg

And inside...

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/HomeDepotGurl/IMG_2943.jpg


I think that's it.



Im anticipating it will be airing out for about a week. So Ill post more pics when I get my guys settled in!

EmJagsz
04-01-2009, 04:41 PM
It looks AWESOME!!! You did an amazing job :D:D Can't wait to see it when you've got the snakes moved in!!!

sezmra
04-01-2009, 04:48 PM
Yay! You rock. Thanks for posting this... time to study study study and start working on my own in the near future. It looks great, and you addressed some of my concerns as well.

Bookmarked! :)

JustineNYC
04-01-2009, 06:16 PM
Yay! You rock. Thanks for posting this... time to study study study and start working on my own in the near future. It looks great, and you addressed some of my concerns as well.

Bookmarked! :)

Some advice in case you missed it in other threads, I would do 3 hinges in front, I did 2 but if I could do it over Id use 3, and make sure when drilling the acrylic, you have scrap wood underneath, keep the protective plastic on, until you are all done.

JustineNYC
04-13-2009, 09:04 PM
It took almost 2 weeks but I finally got everything aired out. Tonight I moved everyone into their new homes!



http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/HomeDepotGurl/IMG_3037.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/HomeDepotGurl/IMG_3035.jpg

My snow drinking water...

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/HomeDepotGurl/IMG_3040.jpg

Right now they are all testing how escape proof it is LOL

Drizzt80
04-13-2009, 09:09 PM
Right now they are all testing how escape proof it is LOLI'll bet 3 of the 4 have already pooped too! :eek1:

Great result to your project. Thanks for sharing the process.
D80

Ruderacer
04-13-2009, 10:22 PM
I like this one a lot and it looks easy enough. I'm going to start getting everthing together. What would you estimate your ttotal cost was?

RobbiesCornField
04-13-2009, 10:36 PM
WOW!!!! That just looks great!!! I'm definitely bookmarking this for future rack building.

JustineNYC
04-13-2009, 10:38 PM
I like this one a lot and it looks easy enough. I'm going to start getting everthing together. What would you estimate your ttotal cost was?

Not including the pantry which I got on ebay, Id say about 300$ in supplies. The acrylic alone cost me close to 100$, that was the most expensive thing.
I do have alot of stuff left over, packages of screws and screen clips.

JustineNYC
04-14-2009, 01:11 PM
Well my RO decided to show me how not escape proof this way last night. She was gone about an hour, I found her in another part of the house in a closet. Thank god she is alright.

I just wanted to post and update this. I did not use acrylic that is thick enough, so even with a million clips, an adult corn can push and bend it. I had all the clips locked last night and she still slipped out. Thin acrylic is just too flexible.

I put her back in last night and sat down and asked her to show me how she got out, and 10 minutes later, she did it again, except this time I was sitting there.

My mistake was not using 1/4 inch thick acrylic. Lowes sells it, but they wont cut it for you. I went to our local glass place and ordered it. It will be ready in 2 days and in the mean time I have to take the ledges out and put them back more.

The beauty of building your own vivs is you know how to take them apart! LOL.....

Everyone is back in tanks now, until I get the new plexi on.

Cornsnake124
04-14-2009, 02:26 PM
Nice!! That looks JUST like what my brother in law built for his boas. The only difference is the way you did the lighting and that his doors worked different.

criticalcorelevel
04-27-2009, 06:32 PM
awesome looking thinking about trying the same thing but with a little twist i have some sheets of glass in my garage

JustineNYC
04-29-2009, 03:55 PM
Thanks! The thicker plexi did the trick....

I thought about using glass too, but Im not familiar with it, can you drill through glass for the hinges? Or will it shatter?

criticalcorelevel
04-29-2009, 05:15 PM
was more less thinking of framing the glass

Camby
05-16-2009, 11:50 PM
Thanks! The thicker plexi did the trick....

I thought about using glass too, but Im not familiar with it, can you drill through glass for the hinges? Or will it shatter?


Yes, you can drill glass. I think they sell the drill bits for this at Lowes. The trick is to drill slow rpm's, not fast!

Nice set up you have built, keep an eye on the peg board. It appears to be painted, just make sure it doesn't get wet.

dc

JustineNYC
05-17-2009, 12:36 AM
Yes, you can drill glass. I think they sell the drill bits for this at Lowes. The trick is to drill slow rpm's, not fast!

Nice set up you have built, keep an eye on the peg board. It appears to be painted, just make sure it doesn't get wet.

dc

I'm too lazy to scroll through what I wrote, if I left it out, the pegboard is primed and sealed with a water sealer, its water resistant. Pegboard is fine as long as you seal it.

ZiGGy903
05-17-2009, 02:37 PM
wow.......your set up looks AMAZING!!!...So perfectly orginzed and everything.....
I would do the same, but whats the point, i only have 1! lol :roflmao:

JustineNYC
05-17-2009, 07:35 PM
Thats a perfect reason to get more snakes! LOL

ZiGGy903
05-21-2009, 06:03 PM
I cant at the time or i would.

MedusaCorns
05-21-2009, 11:06 PM
Awesome job!!

william prejean
05-24-2009, 09:57 PM
very awesome job! conserves on space so you can keep more snakes!! I like it!!

lilmex1can
07-19-2009, 02:26 PM
YES I LOVE IT!!!!! I wish my parents would allow me to have 4 corns but heres a link to my site which has a how to on my tank and pictures check out the blog on this site
www.allcornsnakes.webs.com
Thanks and sweet set up man!

JustineNYC
07-19-2009, 07:29 PM
Sorry its taken so long, but here is the finished product in its place...


http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs170.snc1/6369_1154202340181_1381370960_30645388_7705219_n.j pg

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs170.snc1/6369_1154192099925_1381370960_30645300_3188454_n.j pg

The lights I only put on to photograph cause like I said they get HOT FAST, I dont even have the heat pads on right now. Anyway, since we went with the thicker plexi we have been escape proof and everyone is doing nicely.

Maize411
07-19-2009, 07:48 PM
That's a really nice setup!!! Well done :0)

Asbit
07-20-2009, 09:44 PM
Looks Great!! Is it easy to clean out?? Does much of the Aspen end up falling through the bottom peg holes behind the unit??

JustineNYC
07-20-2009, 10:34 PM
Looks Great!! Is it easy to clean out?? Does much of the Aspen end up falling through the bottom peg holes behind the unit??



It is pretty easy. I spot clean a few times and then change all the aspen when it needs it, and so far its been the same as cleaning the tanks I used to house them in.

I use that healthy habitat reptile cleaner spray, and wipe everything clean.

I havent had any aspen fall out the back. The pegboard holes are really small, even smaller once you coat and waterseal it, to get aspen out of the back, youd have to pick some up and shove them out the holes with your hand....plus where the pegboard meets the acrylic, its siliconed.

Only problem I have run into is, I wish I wouldve attached some sort of knob to the plexi, because even after I open the latches, I have to pry the acrylic open, its tight in there....its good to prevent escapes, but a pain for me when I need to give someone fresh water.

JustineNYC
07-20-2009, 10:50 PM
Some closer pics...

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs139.snc1/5929_1154807715315_1381370960_30647437_726123_n.jp g

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs139.snc1/5929_1154807675314_1381370960_30647436_1980682_n.j pg

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs139.snc1/5929_1154810075374_1381370960_30647463_2628380_n.j pg

Asbit
07-20-2009, 10:58 PM
Again Great work...May just have to commission my resident carpenter to start a building project for me!!:idea::laugh: