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DIY Projects Use this forum to post threads related to home made projects for your corns... Vivariums, hides, decorations, accessories, you name it. Anything to save some bucks or give your personalized touch.

DIY: Two unit display viv for $100
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Old 11-13-2008, 12:12 PM   #31
Blue Apple Herps
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnR View Post
I was wondering if I put one of those under tank heaters under some plexiglass if that would be ok. So, sounds like the way to go!
I think that would work as well. Might want to get some more opinions though. I think they need airflow to work properly, but maybe not.

Quote:
Yeah, bare wood. Why wouldn't it last long?
Urates, poop, spilled water, etc will eventually take their toll.
 
Old 12-02-2008, 06:21 PM   #32
tom e
Hey Matthew! (And anyone else with suggestions..) I'm thinking of making one of these in a single unit, but quite a bit bigger that will be for Grendel to live in when he grows up. I'll be making it 30"H x 72"W x 30"D. I'm trying to think out what things that were done here will need to be adapted for an Eastern Indigo..
Here's what I've thought of so far, please add anything that might occur to you that I haven't thought of.

1. The plexiglass may have to be a bit thicker? I have noticed that as the pieces get bigger, they become more flexible. I have noticed with the one double unit I built for the corns that they can push (flex) out the corners with their noses if the screen hardware isn't close enough to the edge. There's also the idea of framing the plexi with wood, but that will change so many other measurements and might fatally complicate the project at my skill level, lol.
2. The screen hardware itself, do you think it will be strong enough for an Indigo or should I look at another type of closure?
3. The thin nail gun nails and peg board.. I am concerned that with constant pushing, he could probably push the back right off. I'm thinking making the back out of the melamine board, and either installing vents or drilling holes into it to make it look like peg board.
4. And finally with the bigger and wetter messes that come with Indigos, I'm not comfortable heating with an exposed piece of flex watt. Not just for risk that it would get wet, but even with the double unit corn snake enclosure I built, cleaning the flex watt is the most time consuming part of the setup.. I'd like to think of a way to set it in to the melamine, cover it and seal it. Or maybe I'll need to look at other heating options? Maybe heat cable would be easier to set into grooves and cover..

Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated!
 
Old 12-04-2008, 05:47 PM   #33
Blue Apple Herps
That's quite big!! You would want some sort of support in the middle of the front to support the weight of the top piece, or else you'll have sagging. So doing that, I would then recommend having two doors. Making the back out of melamine would be fine.

As for heating, you might want to look at radiant heat panels.
 
Old 12-04-2008, 08:43 PM   #34
tom e
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueapplepaste View Post
That's quite big!! You would want some sort of support in the middle of the front to support the weight of the top piece, or else you'll have sagging. So doing that, I would then recommend having two doors. Making the back out of melamine would be fine.

As for heating, you might want to look at radiant heat panels.
Great points, thanks, I hadn't thought about sagging, but that makes sense.. I think the double doors are a great idea too, that's going to let me use the regular thickness of plexiglass as well I would imagine.

Good thing I asked before I started! I think I'll go ahead and make it, I've got quite a bit of time before he's big enough to use it, I'll figure out heating later.
 
Old 12-07-2008, 11:24 AM   #35
Capt O
Smile

Urates, poop, spilled water, etc will eventually take their toll.[/quote]

Hi Matthew,

Great design ! I will build one myself.

If using bare wood a thick layer of laquer would do the trick. What do you think ? Or perhaps some water resistant paint ?

Cheers /Olaf
 
Old 12-08-2008, 06:35 PM   #36
Blue Apple Herps
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt O View Post
Urates, poop, spilled water, etc will eventually take their toll.
Hi Matthew,

Great design ! I will build one myself.

If using bare wood a thick layer of laquer would do the trick. What do you think ? Or perhaps some water resistant paint ?

Cheers /Olaf[/quote]

It would probably be OK. The biggest thing is you'd want to make sure that it is fully cured, and that once fully cured there's nothing toxic to the snake. When I used to make bare wood display vivs, I'd just a water based sealant with good success.

You could also cover the entire thing with Contac Paper. I've done this and it worked well, too. Just make sure you cover it before you assemble it so you can have the paper go past the edge just a big so you don't risk it peeling up.
 
Old 12-15-2008, 11:52 PM   #37
mtolypetsupply
Quote:
Originally Posted by tricksterpup View Post
There is some bowing in the rack but its not bad. I think its holding up pretty good, The bowing is coming from being to tight and comes from my craftsmanship. Its my first one. But in all actuality it took 4 hours to make with right tools. All i had to do was cut the hard board in half and I only had to buy5 hard boards, and I had one half left over but will be used on the next rack. Basically it cost me about $70 for all of the wood. The most expensive part were the wheels.
I could have made this deeper and place the tubs in long wise but I went with the width instead of depth. This way I can use it for either 1 32 qt long tub or 1 smaller 15 qt tubs.

You gave a pretty good design and I recommend others to use it. Its light enough for one person to move around and carry. My SO carried it up a flight of stairs by herself while i was out of the house. I am not sure how its going to hold up in the next 10 years or how long its going to last but right now its been doing pretty good for the first month.

But for those who want to build a rack, this a way to go. Its very similar to a AP rack, after all I own one. I like them and will again order another one from them. But for now, I am going the Cheaper route and building my own. My next attempt will be a 10 shelf rack system.
The rack looks great! Sorry to hear about the bowing, but here's something that might help with both the bowing and longevity. Flip the rack over. Reason being, from how it looks in the pics, the hardboard is mounted to the underside of the supports. Therefore, only the fasteners are holding it there, and the whole shelf is being held up by only the heads of the screws or nails, not much surface area for support. With the hardboard on top of the wood rail supports, you now have your whole rail length and width supporting the hardboard. If need be, you can put a cross member between the two rails for extra support.

I may not know diddly about corns yet, but I've done a little construction in my day.
 

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