• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Viv project!!

SharkBait1992

SharkBait1992

New member
So I have been looking for something productive to do til school starts/ til I get a job so I used the money I had left over from vacation to get started on a viv. I figure since I have so long to do this I can make it absolutely awesome!! This will be where I update as a build and design, which I am starting tomorrow!! :D

Here is what I currently have two 2' squares of wood and three 4'x 2' pieces of wood I don't have wood for the front yet because I'm not sure what kind of doors I'm doing for it yet, but I have plenty of time to figure it out. I also have some wood dowels which I will be using to make some climbing spots.

I bought a UTH but I don't know how I would set it up on a wooden viv, so if anyone has any ideas for that I would appreciate it. I have a digital thermometer, I do wanna get another one for the cold side but for now I just got it so I know what sizes holes I need to put the probe through. I also have a thermostat on the way.

I am also trying to figure out what kind of ventilation I need for it. Any help and suggestions are appreciated and tomorrow I will be updating after my first day of working on it!
 
Also I forgot, I need to seal the wood but I wasn't sure what kind of sealant to get. I didn't know if it mattered since it will have so long to air out or what, I appreciate any help.
 
That's what I was thinking but I wasn't sure if it would work. I would need a way to hold the tile up a little bit right? so the UTH has some airflow
 
SharkBait1992 said:
That's what I was thinking but I wasn't sure if it would work. I would need a way to hold the tile up a little bit right? so the UTH has some airflow
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how necessary the airflow is. I don't see how it would be possible with your set up. Mine doesn't get much airflow with a glass tank sitting on a wooden shelf. Probably just need a reheostat or thermometer to make sure it doesn't get too hot. If it were me I'd put a piece of metal or someting under the UTH so that it's not in direct contact with the wood or it'd probably split the wood over time, or worse cause a fire.
 
Are you only staining the outside of the wood? I would guess it'd probably fine if you let it air out for days to get rid of any toxic smell.
 
I bought some tiles so I am just going to tile the bottom and then put the heat pad on there.

Good news is for the stain I probably won't be getting a snake for months lol so it should have plenty of time to air, the only reason I ask about this stuff is cause my grandparents already have some so I wouldn't have to buy any.

Thank you for all the help I really appreciate it!
 
I don't know about the stain, but I used a water-based Polyurethane to seal the inside of my python's wooden viv. Works great, and there's no remaining fumes after being allowed to air out.

As far as heat, what I did with my viv was just lay down tile on one side of the floor. Thing is, if you tile the entire floor, it'll be insanely heavy!

The heat pad I'm using for my woma's 4x2x2 ft viv is a 6" x 17" Ultratherm heat mat (I trust this brand a lot more than the zoo meds!). To cover it, I used two 12x12" tiles so there's a good few inches of clearance on all sides of the heat pad. I used little rubber feet from the cabinet hardware section, kind of like bigger versions of the little rubber feet that come with ZooMed heat pads, under the tiles to provide some airspace. One of the feet comes down on the edge of the ultratherm (not on the heat element itself) to keep it from sliding around.

I put the tiles in place, slid the heat pad underneath, and siliconed the whole thing in (using aquarium-safe silicone from Home Depot). I also used strips of foam to fill in the gap on one side (had it laying around--I'm sure there's better options around for this task). Thermostat probe is siliconed in place on top of the tile.

Here's a picture...
 

Attachments

  • P8160005 (2).JPG
    P8160005 (2).JPG
    58.4 KB · Views: 340
Floof said:
I don't know about the stain, but I used a water-based Polyurethane to seal the inside of my python's wooden viv. Works great, and there's no remaining fumes after being allowed to air out.

As far as heat, what I did with my viv was just lay down tile on one side of the floor. Thing is, if you tile the entire floor, it'll be insanely heavy!

The heat pad I'm using for my woma's 4x2x2 ft viv is a 6" x 17" Ultratherm heat mat (I trust this brand a lot more than the zoo meds!). To cover it, I used two 12x12" tiles so there's a good few inches of clearance on all sides of the heat pad. I used little rubber feet from the cabinet hardware section, kind of like bigger versions of the little rubber feet that come with ZooMed heat pads, under the tiles to provide some airspace. One of the feet comes down on the edge of the ultratherm (not on the heat element itself) to keep it from sliding around.

I put the tiles in place, slid the heat pad underneath, and siliconed the whole thing in (using aquarium-safe silicone from Home Depot). I also used strips of foam to fill in the gap on one side (had it laying around--I'm sure there's better options around for this task). Thermostat probe is siliconed in place on top of the tile.

Here's a picture...
Click to expand...

Like this stuff?
photo14.jpg


Yay my thermostat came today!

I wish that I would have gone with flexwatt now cause it would have been cheaper, easier to work with and I would probably have some leftover for any future builds, oh well I'm making it work with the help of you guys haha
 
I would think either one would be safe. After all it is the fumes that are the most toxic after it's completely dried it should be perfectly fine.

I'll just have to see (Eventually) once i end up building a Boa enclosure.
 
HazAnga said:
I would think either one would be safe. After all it is the fumes that are the most toxic after it's completely dried it should be perfectly fine.

I'll just have to see (Eventually) once i end up building a Boa enclosure.
Click to expand...

You would know better than me, I'm sure! I know very little about anything DIY, which is why I played it safe and stuck with what I know has been used successfully (the polyurethane). :)
 
I googled the stuff I found at Walmart and people have used it sucessfully so I will probably go with whichever is cheaper haha
 
Well im getting close to being finished I need to cut the wood for the front get glass and sliding track and i need to do the bottom. I was wondering what the best thing to use for the sliding doors is like glass or plexi glass or acrylic, i am just worried about normal glass breaking
 
I'm not sure which would work best, I have the same thought running through my mind for when i build a viv for my Brazilian Rainbow boa i just picked up. I too worry about the glass breaking and i think that maybe acrylic in place of the glass would work better then the plexi, due to Acrylic being harder then plexi glass. But then you have to worry more so about scratches, but at the same time at least snakes don't have claws to scratch it with.

That's my opinion, I'd probably see about using Acrylic in place of glass. Wouldn't hurt to try.
 
Yea I think I will probably do acrylic i will figure out for sure when I look at prices and stuff tomorrow, I also know I will be moving my viv a few times before it is in a permenant place which will include a move to an apartment and I dont wanna break the glass along the way. I also need to figure out lighting the only strip LEDs I found were pretty expensive.
 
See what you can find on ebay or something. Otherwise I'd just go with a ceramic light fixture and use the curly bulbs and make a wire cage to go around it.
 
They aren't as nice as LEDs, but what about a fluorescent under cabinet light? Available in the same area as under cabinet style LEDs at home improvement stores.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top