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DIY Stained wood vivarium

JustineNYC

New member
Hi everyone!!

My boyfriend and I finally completed our new vivarium.

The dimensions are 72 H by 49 long by 18 deep. (The interior dimensions are 48 inches long by 18 deep

We got the wood at Lowes, I believe its birchwood and the part we used for the shelves already comes in 48 by 18 sheets, so we didn't need to cut them. My boyfriend cut the sides, and the backs from bigger pieces though. Whatever kind of wood you choose, choose something that will look nice when stained. Everything is nailed together with a nail gun, except the back, the back is plywood, and is screwed into the frame.

The back went on at the end, once everything was stained and polyurethaned, and the heat pads were installed, so it was easier to drill out the hole for the heating cords to poke through the rear. The rear is not one piece, its 2 separate pieces of plywood, cut at the middle, its just easier that way.

I used Minwax stain, and minwax polyurethane. I did 2 coats of stain and 3 coats of polyurethane, sanding after every polyurethane coat. You want it to be smooth like glass.

We had some left over linoleum, so I ended up using that for the bottom of each section, and then used a small layer of silicone to seal that down.

The heat pad is stuck to a tile, then I tape the corners of the tile with heat tape so nothing can get under the tile itself. The heat pad does not sit on the linoleum, it sits on an aluminum foil square, covered in heat tape.



I thought I took pictures of what it looked like with the tiles in place, but I cant find them, so I went back and took a few after the fact so you can see what I mean. I think the tile/heat pad is pretty common anyway.

Heres some pics of the process

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Linoleum bottom with silicone seal

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The back piece of plywood has a rectangle cut out for the vent to go over

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Because the plexi glass is so long, its more vulnerable/bendable the longer you make it, so we had to add more hinges than we anticipated to keep it from being pushed for an escape. We used 5 for each compartment.

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Wow thats really Impressive.. I'm definitely going to have to steal this idea..I don't know if you said it and I missed so I'm sorry ahead of time for asking if you already gave a answer but how much all together for the end result?

Sent from my XT1028 using Tapatalk
 
I would say for everything minus the plexi, was about 150$ (wood being the most expensive). The plexi glass is pricey, those large pieces are about 46$ a sheet. Just because its the thicker .22 and long size. Maybe 200$ - 220$ total. You can use different hardware and not include lights. Silicone, hardware, hinges, stain and polyurethane are relatively cheap.
 
Wanted to add, the most time consuming part is the polyurethaning process, the sanding and 3 coats.....I also let this air out for about 3 weeks before putting snakes in it. It will smell for a while so be prepared to have it somewhere airing out.
 
It's beautiful! Great job! How thick is your plexi? Mine only has 2 latches/hinges, and I was worried about the same thing. It really isn't that hard to push out in the middle.
 
It's beautiful! Great job! How thick is your plexi? Mine only has 2 latches/hinges, and I was worried about the same thing. It really isn't that hard to push out in the middle.

The longer the plexi, the more it bends, but if you add a latch AND hinge in the middle, itll secure it. Basically the longer your plexi, the more hinges and latches you need.
 
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