KC's DIY'd Vivarium.

I changed my mind and decided to post pictures of the first step of the built-in burrow. These crappy pictures are from my cell phone as I didn't want to get my nice camera covered in clay!


First, I patted out a disc of clay and formed it over a ball of aluminum foil.




Then, I sawed the back of the burrow out with a plastic knife.




I smoothed and shaped the back of the burrow so that it hopefully lays flat and secure against the side of the glass to serve as a viewing area.




I flipped it around and began to scoop out the entrance of the burrow. After I got it to my liking, I smoothed it out like I did with the back.








Finally, I smoothed the entire structure out. I didn't feel capable of sculpting the clay to look like rock-work and if I want it to blend in with the background, I'll just apply foam and grout over it before it's installed.






Now, I wait for it to cure! Then, I'll take sandpaper to the whole thing and make sure there is nothing sharp inside that she might hurt herself on. I have some sealant that I will use to make it as resistant to water as I can so that it can be cleaned regularly and won't absorb any moisture that might cause damage to the structure.

After the background is built, I'll work on finishing the burrow to make it look like an extension. If that doesn't work out how I like, I'll seal some EE onto the outer surface and seal that so that bedding can just be scattered on the top of the burrow and blend in. We'll see!

Yeah, me and the wife had the same dilemma so we decided to hold off the full custom viv until little Plissken is a bit bigger. We're gonna do an Escape From L.A. post apocalyptic theme.

I have at least three months on my hands to keep myself busy while I wait for her, so I figured there's no harm in working on things even if they aren't used for very long!

That theme sounds awesome and I hope you do a build thread on it!

I am really thrilled with how well this clay is behaving so far!

It is an air-dry clay that I got on sale with the notion that if it didn't turn out, I'd just go back and get polymer clay like I had intended to anyway. I love working with clay and was going to have a kiln last year, but my computer died and that money went into a new one.

Anyway, I read reviews on the clay and they were definitely mixed. Some people loved it, others hated it. It honestly sounds as though the people giving negative reviews didn't follow the directions. I'm not experiencing any cracking so far and it is already firm enough to remove from the foil form so that it can start drying even faster.

The real test will come when I paint and seal it. Because of the nature of this clay, sealing it will be very important. Luckily I will have several weeks to test and monitor the piece in the vivarium before my baby girl arrives.

I've heard mixed reviews of most air dry clays. Standard stuff you probably read, biggest complaint being cracking during the drying process. But yeah, as long as it doesn't crack all you really need to do is slap a sealant on it and it should be good to go! Glad to hear it's working out in your favor.

Yes, same readings here. Very mixed reviews. So far I have precisely zero cracks, so I think I'm in the clear right now. As long as I can get it to the point where I can get it sealed and get the sealant dry, I can't imagine what would happen other than literally twisting it in half to break it.

I saw a video review of someone saying how easily it breaks, and they actually had to put quite a bit of force to get it to break! I think there's just too many variables, like what exactly it is you're making, the shapes and thicknesses, how you put it together... the list goes on.

We won't know until we know, but then at least I will be able to either recommend it to others or steer people away! That's part of the greatness of DIY. The other part is that it was a totally fun project and it isn't even done yet!

(Totally off the topic, but I already have a ton of ideas for your post-apoc theme. Can't wait until you are ready to do it so that I can flood you with comments.)

Being absolutely barren of any artistic talent, I will welcome any and all comments when that time comes. Luckily I have the wife, who's much more artsy than I. But we're both really open to ideas for themed ways to accomplish functions (hides, water, background, etc)... that's about the most difficult part of it all, at least for me.

Sorry to derail the topic a little.

We now return to our regularly scheduled Viv creation

In DIY news, my clay hide is still drying wonderfully with no cracks and no signs of fragility so far! I will continue to monitor it for about another week before making any definite decisions about the success of the project.

In non-DIY news, the very last of all of my supplies have arrived! As far as I've calculated, I now have everything I need for my baby girl except her food.

I'm still working on cleaning out the tank more thoroughly and fitting in the initial back slab of the background before I begin the undertaking of assembling the rockwork on the background. It will likely be done in many steps as time allows and to stretch the viv creation out as long as possibly while I wait for my baby to hatch!

Just wanted to say it's so awesome you're doing all of this *before* getting the snake. I had forgotten you don't even have your baby yet. It's not too often people go through the entire viv creation and setup process before getting the snake. It's great that you are, because you will be sure everything is proper and adequate for when your baby arrives.

I couldn't imagine doing it any other way, Nythain!

I want everything to be perfect before she gets here rather than scrambling and having the viv seem like an afterthought, if that makes sense. Plus, I want to be able to let her slither into her new home and let her be for a week without having to get in there and move or mess with anything.

I know that not everything will be perfect the first time I set it up, so I'll have plenty of time to mess around with it and get it to my liking before she gets here. I doubt she'd appreciate me getting into the viv constantly to rearrange things and add/move decor, etc.

Plus, it will be nice to look at in the living room rather than an empty tank on the shelf!