I've decided to work on a stack this year but slowly. I'm in no rush and I'm just going to be working on it here and there because I'm very busy. It's going to have a height of about 5 ft. The length is mostly 4 ft except the top viv is shorter and provides a spot for one of my small exoterras. It was only earlier today that I decided I would be doing this so my only planning so far has been jotting down the sizes of each enclosure and the size of the whole stack when finished. I've also got a list of things I'm going to need:

- All the wood
- All the glass for doors
- Runners for the doors
- Plastic vents for the back of the vivs
- Screws, tools and sealant etc

Obviously missing out all the rep-specific equipment such as lighting etc.

I'm very inexperienced at DIY and have never built anything like this before, but I'm not stupid and I think I'll be able to do it otherwise I wouldn't bother talking about it. But not being as knowledgeable as the rest of you who have built your own stacks, is there anything I'm forgetting? I've racked my brains and I'm pretty sure my list covers it all. Just thought I would run it by everyone before I started just incase!

If anyone's interested it's going to be a 4x2x2 on the bottom with another 4x2x2 above that and then a 3x2x2 on top of that with a small space for an exoterra glass viv (small). I've got all the dimensions sorted out, I'm just thinking about the materials now.

Cheers.

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- Reptiles -2.2.0 Rhacodactlyus ciliatus1.1.2 Pogona vitticeps1.2.0 Eublepharis Macularius0.1.0 Elaphe guttata guttata- Mammals -0.2.0 Octodon degus1.0.0 Oryctolagus cuniculus2.0.0 Cavia porcellus1.0.0 Canis lupus familiaris- Wanted now! -1.1.0 Varanus acanthuras brochyuras0.1.0 Rhacodactlyus ciliatus1.1.0 Eublepharis Macularius- Wanted eventually -0.0.1 Chamaeleo calyptratus1.0.0 Elaphe guttata guttata0.0.1 Brachypelma smithi0.0.1 Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens

My pet hate: it is impossible to be heterozygous for RAPTOR.

Screw fix and a guy on ebay sells sealant excruciatingly cheap. Its called HA6 i think but i will double check and get you the link.
As for runners and vents i cant help you there because the guy i got all mine from has ceased trading.
Marina

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Hold on to your hopes and dreams
Hold on to who you are
Give in
Take the journey.

Just shout up if theres anything you need mate, i can get runners, vents and door handles.

Thank you, that would be great and I will let you know! Part of me would rather leave the whole thing up to someone like yourself with a great portfolio of vivs but I think it will be quite rewarding to do and since I'm in no rush I think I'm doing the right thing. I'll be working on all the wood first but I'll be in touch to buy some door handles etc from you. I was wondering where I could get the handles

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- Reptiles -2.2.0 Rhacodactlyus ciliatus1.1.2 Pogona vitticeps1.2.0 Eublepharis Macularius0.1.0 Elaphe guttata guttata- Mammals -0.2.0 Octodon degus1.0.0 Oryctolagus cuniculus2.0.0 Cavia porcellus1.0.0 Canis lupus familiaris- Wanted now! -1.1.0 Varanus acanthuras brochyuras0.1.0 Rhacodactlyus ciliatus1.1.0 Eublepharis Macularius- Wanted eventually -0.0.1 Chamaeleo calyptratus1.0.0 Elaphe guttata guttata0.0.1 Brachypelma smithi0.0.1 Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens

My pet hate: it is impossible to be heterozygous for RAPTOR.

I've made a couple of vivs, but I'm hopeless at DIY too. Remember the Nuts magazine add with the woman with the drill. Well thats me!

The only advice I can give really, apart from the obvious, is when measuring, measure it, then measure it ten more times. I made more cock ups from getting dimensions wrong than I did from anything else. I'm also a perfectionist too and found using masking tape I could mark pilot holes for drilling to keep everything straight.

Think of Doc Pepper...whats the worst that can happen?

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Thanks for the advice Vase, much appreciated! Did you just dive straight in or look up a website or book for advice?

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- Reptiles -2.2.0 Rhacodactlyus ciliatus1.1.2 Pogona vitticeps1.2.0 Eublepharis Macularius0.1.0 Elaphe guttata guttata- Mammals -0.2.0 Octodon degus1.0.0 Oryctolagus cuniculus2.0.0 Cavia porcellus1.0.0 Canis lupus familiaris- Wanted now! -1.1.0 Varanus acanthuras brochyuras0.1.0 Rhacodactlyus ciliatus1.1.0 Eublepharis Macularius- Wanted eventually -0.0.1 Chamaeleo calyptratus1.0.0 Elaphe guttata guttata0.0.1 Brachypelma smithi0.0.1 Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens

My pet hate: it is impossible to be heterozygous for RAPTOR.

Making vivs is not difficult providing you take your time to suit your ability. One bit of advice I can offer from my experiences of home made vivs in addition to the measure, measure and measure again advice above (haha)...is keeping things square. When building bigger vivs/stack set ups in the past everything has been measured perfectly but when working on a larger scale it can be more difficult to keep everything aligned as it should.

Use a set square and spirit level regularly to make sure things are lining up...i.e. if you're after a box then make it a box that has all the right angles. I've never had any major problems with it though you can find for example when you put your glass in that the top or bottom of the sides will not sit tight to the viv. I've never ended up more than 3 or 4 mm from top to bottom of glass but it can be annoying if you're a perfectionist!

a home made VIV can be produced to a higher quality than shop bought efforts in my opinion.

I don't see many people using them for their vivs, but for stability I also add a few Screw FixIt Blocks or Corner Joints, the links may be of use if you're interested

Wickes *–*Nails, Screws and Fixings*–*Hardware*–*Fixing Blocks and Angles*–*Fixit Blocks

Wickes *–*Nails, Screws and Fixings*–*Hardware*–*Fixing Blocks and Angles*–*Rigid Joint

Just a suggestion of course, by no means a necessity!

Good luck

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Ignore my silly forum handle - my name is Ash. Long time RFUK reader, fledgling member!

1.0.1 - Bearded Dragons (Darwin and Martinez)
0.2.0 - Leopard Geckos (High Yellow: Ruby, SHTCT: Ofelia)
1.0.0 - Ocellated Uromastyx (Spike)
0.0.2 - Oriental Fire Bellied Toads (No names yet!)
0.0.2 - GALS

Tanks Ash, yeah I have some of them in my current vivs (not built by me). Thanks again for more advice, I did forget to add them to my list!

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- Reptiles -2.2.0 Rhacodactlyus ciliatus1.1.2 Pogona vitticeps1.2.0 Eublepharis Macularius0.1.0 Elaphe guttata guttata- Mammals -0.2.0 Octodon degus1.0.0 Oryctolagus cuniculus2.0.0 Cavia porcellus1.0.0 Canis lupus familiaris- Wanted now! -1.1.0 Varanus acanthuras brochyuras0.1.0 Rhacodactlyus ciliatus1.1.0 Eublepharis Macularius- Wanted eventually -0.0.1 Chamaeleo calyptratus1.0.0 Elaphe guttata guttata0.0.1 Brachypelma smithi0.0.1 Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens

My pet hate: it is impossible to be heterozygous for RAPTOR.

Just dove straight in really. I knew what size I wanted it to be so once I worked out the measurements and what materials I needed I hit B&Q. The first cock up was forgetting that 600mm is different to 2ft. But that was sorted with a jigsaw

Drill pilot holes and if using contiboard and a jigsaw get blades that cut on the downstroke. The one thing that I'm hoping someone can advise you on is how to drill through contiboard without the back chipping as the drill goes through. If you're not using contiboard then no biggy, but it will help you to know. (And me...lol) Check everything loads before cutting, drilling etc and take your time.

Cant for the life of me remember where I got the runners from but people on here sell that. The wife gets acrylic cut for me on a cnc machine and gets it flame polished, so not only dont I have to fork out for glass, I know its safer.

Hope that helps

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This is the dude on EBAY that sells the cheap aquarium (marine grade) silicon sealant.

eBay My World - 2006gaz


Marina

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Hold on to your hopes and dreams
Hold on to who you are
Give in
Take the journey.