6ft vivarium??

[beaniethebeardie]

I recently rehomed my second beardie, and she came with a 6ft x 3ft cupboard which her previous owners had converted into a set of three vivariums, as seen below. I've tried to get as many pictures as possible so you guys know what I'm talking about.

As you can see, the owners have created a rock wall-type feature as a background for Mazikeen's vivarium. It looks like they've made it out of expanding foam, and painted it black. It needs a few touch ups, but I'm not sure what type of paint they used, so could anybody recommend a non-toxic, beardie-friendly type of paint?? Maze's tank is seen below:

Also, the rock wall background has taken up almost all of the floor space in the vivarium, so she doesn't have anywhere to move around. For some weird reason, there's two large circle holes that've been cut into the bottom of each shelf, or vivarium 'floor', one of which is pictured below:

I'm not entirely sure why they've been put there, but I was planning on taking out the wooden circles and putting in either a ramp or one of those thick rope hammock things, so that Maze can climb up and down easily, and has access to all three vivariums. That way then, she's got an entire three story vivarium. There's already a heat lamp in her viv and another one in the bottom viv too, so if I kept the middle vivarium without a lamp, she'd be able to move freely up and down the entire thing, and she'd have two basking spots and an entire section that's cooler to regulate her temperature. She's a lot more docile than my other beardie, and she sits still for hours on your shoulder while you go about your day, so she wouldn't be spending all day in her tank anyway, but I understand it still needs to be perfect for her.

I apologise for the state that the vivarium is in at the moment. She really wasn't being taken care of properly and it was a last minute kind of rescue, so I didn't have time to properly prepare. I also don't have the money just yet to buy her a whole new vivarium, which I'm a little embarrassed about, because I want the best for her. Right now, she's got a red heat lamp, she's not able to get anywhere near high enough to bask properly, and she doesn't have a shelter from the light. I've put in two temporary platforms so she's a little higher up for the time being.

If anyone has any ideas on how to improve this vivarium and turn it into a nice home for her, it would be much appreciated! I don't have much experience with DIY tanks, unfortunately!!

 

[CooperDragon]

That's a lot of space (vertically anyway)! If the foam background is taking up too much space and impeding movement, I'd just remove it. I like your idea of opening up the floors to create some levels. The more options you can offer, the better. I'd replace the red light and install a PAR38 halogen flood light for basking. Does the enclosure have a good UVB light with it? If so, you may want to lower it a bit or build access to get closer. With these larger setups, I often suggest checking out Taterbug's enclosure. It's 4x2x2' if I remember correctly. Her site has some photos and suggestions for lighting configuration that may be helpful https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/photogradient