okay my wife (suz)wanted a new viv as her royal is getting bigger.

I cant take any credit for the build of the viv,thats all my dads handywork.

The viv is all made of contiboard,including the back,he cut slot in the side panels so he could slot the back in aswell as screw it together this has made it very solid,the glass runners he made himself out of wood as they looked better than plastic(probably easy if your a joiner like him).He also built the drawer in the bottom so you could keep a few essentials to hand.

The doors are my favourite part as he has made them with toughened glass,all edges are ground(nice and smooth),The handles are fitted into the glass(holes drilled a couple of mm smaller than the handles)you just put your fingertip into the holes in the handle centres and they glide open,The glass was also drilled so the glass lock could be mounted through it.



now comes my part.....sorting the interior



The right hand side here shows how i started off,basically i glued 2"polystyrene to the rear of the viv,and 1" polystyrene to the sides.....and set about carving it.

Each time i was happy with what id carved....i covered it in tile adhesive.





i decided the hollow at the bottom would be ideal for a hide,so i built this clump of rocks...to push up against it(hollow inside).






it is removeable if not needed.

one end all grouted



time to start the other end...again building a removeable hide







im now at the stage of just starting my basecoat of paint,need to add lots of colours..seal it etc,and add plants etc.







And this as far as i have got so far.....but its getting there.

Very Nice Build.
I Like the storage underneith, very smoothly done.
What is it housing?

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royal python

that's ace.....i bet mine wont look anything like it

WoW, im sure he/she/they will love it

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My field is with apex predators, hence your crocodiles, your snakes, your spiders. -Steve Irwin

looks the nuts mate, although i'm guessing you think it might have been a better idea to do the background before putting the glass in?

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doesnt matter to be honest as i can take it out in seconds,i have done a few times lol,thats why its still covered in fingerprints.

so today i have started dry brushing on the next colour,dry brushing (for those that dont know)is basically loading your brush with paint,then brushing it all off on scrap paper or similar till no more will come off.....basically a dry brush.

if you then use this brush on a rough surface(like the rocks)the high points will pick up paint that is deep in the bristles....will do this with a couple of colours to try and get a weathered and realistic look too the rocks.

Excellent looking vivarium you have created there. What ever occupies that will certainly benefit.

Just a quick question but where do you get the lock style you have on your vivarium? Reason being we hate the conventional style locks.

Thanks

Victoria

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