Custom Chameleon VivS - and other custom jobs

[knighty]

although i have a larger flexi ready to use, i am looking at ideas for buliding my own viv as it gives you much more posibilitys. i like the idea of being able to style the viv any way i like with out having the bounderies and limits of a flexi. bits can be bulit in and the viv can have a much more unique look, plus you are able to have greater control over temps and humiditys.

so if any one has built a custom enclosure for there cham,lizard or snake and has any tips, tricks or good advice they would be willing to share then please post away. also any advice on making reptile safe Custom backgrounds would be good.

Also please keep to RFUK rules and be sure to post PICTURES

[htd100]

hiya.

What sort of limitations do you have? I found the best vivs dont fit through doors or go down stairs with out taking them apart.
Its pritty easy and relativly cheap if you can work within a room.
Fast walls can be put up with shade netting and polystyrene sheets(wickes) can make optimum use of a bulbs effency. All my regular bulbs are mounted with those Ikea lamp holders.

If the room is cricket proof then the use of very smooth surfaces like acrylic sheets can be used to section of the chameleon from where it should not go.
Having the cham have access to a window with some morning sun is always good. On this I have put caution to wind because it could proved fatel if it cant cool itself(arnt yemens great!). I dont know about UV permiablity but the crazy thing is that old glass reduces in UV blocking properties with age.

Anyway ive had alsorts of ideas that might or might not work but all of them depend on the situation. Ill try and make progress on getting the pics up when I converted the loft. It worked out that it could be cheaper than the conventional caging set up if you were to buy one. What make it work in the winter was that it had a radiator which I double rapped in shade netting. Although I do admit in mid winter the temps were dipping below 65 degress at night.

To me this subject is endless and it depends what level of stadard you can put up with in a house. I think the ulimate dometic set up would be a enclosure attched to the outside of the house in which you could gaze into it from a window within the house. thats just me daydreaming,.

[htd100]

[knighty]

thanks for your reply, your set up looks ace! is it open plan?

dont have to many limitations, the only things are that the cham must be contained within the enclosure and must DEFO be cricket/hopper proof, they get around my house enough as it is. LOL

i am looking to build something to fit dimensions 6 feet high x 3 wide x 2.5 deep. would also like to construct a 3D background that i can make "cups" in to put plants into, think it will add to the potential for climbing and it will add to the effect of the viv. have seen a similar thing done on frog tanks with expanding foam and polystyrene.
i also want to think about a false bottom so that the plant pots are hidden. my only other aim is to have the lights and heat lamps built into a unit on the top of the viv so that they are also hidden.

[jrf23]

I have to agree with Knighty, that looks ace! How big is it?

[htd100]

Thanks,I learned alot from that attept and now if I was to build somthing in the future I would stick to a strict code no matter how tempting it would be to get it astheticly pleasing. Working with plants and animals can be a pain especially if the main feature is based around a live plant.

I think the height of the roof is around 7 feet and I just worked with the features in the room, the hot water boiler was in the room aswel so it did give of a bit of background heat which helped.

Ill try and get some of the walls I made out of storage and photo them.
They realy are easy to make as long as you can see past the intial stages when it looks nothing like what you want it to. A picture explains it better but I found with expanding foam you realy have to play around abit and get used to its propertys. Wickes used 2 sell to big cans of it for 12 quid but last time I went they were selling them for 8 each.Wickes also sells some masive polystyrine sheets for around 6 quid although they dont fit in cars too well. Sombody told me a good way of sticking them together was to use spray carpet addsesive, which is totally toxic stuff but it litteraly welds it together, just make sure to give a good coat over with somthing.

. A good way to get a realistic effect is after you have sprayed it on the base wait a few seconds then lightly press on it and pull away the surface layer to break the surface and then leave it.
TBH it looks good no matter what you do when its painted well. One thing, it is better to do it in small layers just make sure you clean or cut the can tube after you finsh so you can re use it.
As for paint, im still trying to find a better make of paint that fits the job.I asked at west midlands safari park they told me to speak their art department, ill let you know what I find out. I use blagdons because I know its pond safe but they only do it in black,grey and blue, it isent the best paint for foam. I saw on this forum that somebody sugested an eco paint. www.dartfrog.co.uk has some good stuff in the equipment section for coating foam. Dry brushing and ink washing can make the foam realy come to life and is very easy once you have practiced it a little bit before.

The reason im so keen on passing this on is because ive been looking into this subject for a while now and still havent got it totally sort, theres always somthing that might not stand to test of time in the terrium.

good luck!

[Babygecko]

My boyfriend's Mum's Boyfriend built this today! It's not finished yet, but it's well on its way! The top two compartments are being vivariums and the bottom one is just for storage

[jrf23]

I can't wait till I have the space to make something as big as that! I'd love to dedicate a room to chameleons, and just let them roam! It'd be awesome! Anyway, snapping out of the dream for a second here are some bookmarks I kept that might help you with making a backgroud!

DendroBoard.com • View topic - 60 Gallon construction
DendroBoard.com • View topic - 100Gal Vivarium Construction Complete!
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/lizar...arium-pic.html

I had more, but I can't find them! I think I pasted them into a notepad document and can't remember where I saved it! Typical!