Coffee table Viv. Help/ideas appreciated. New beardie owner

[Joellivin]

Got my beardie, Eli. Last saturday. He is currently living in a 20 gal fish tank...That needs to change.
Ive posted on the introduction section if anyone wants to see the little guy.
So I want to convert a coffee table into a viv here is the coffee table im starting on;

The large tempered glass top is removed in the pics, I will tint it so Eli cant see out and get freeked out, I found some tint that is like a blue sky with cloud picture.
Im about to make a bottom for it out of plywood. Im pretty crafty and love to make and design things, I want to make sure to get this right, it will be a centerpiece of my living room.
I plan to do some fake rock type of back ground things out of styrofoam like ive seen many times on this and other sites. I will probably do a slate bottom, on top of the plywood. The open side I will make a fold down hinged door with glass and wood frame. I have some fair wood working skills but I could use help and ideas from you guys.

I do have some questions;
The living area for Eli will be 3 1/2 feet by 2 feet by 16.5 inches tall.
Is that big enough? I was thinking it would be bigger, but I just measured it.
Also, What type of light should I put in? I am ordering it soon. I am going with an arcadia, but seeing as how he willl be fairly close should I order a 6% instead of a 12%? The guy on the website (forgot his name, sorry) emailed me and suggested the 6% if the beardie will be closer than 18 inches or so. I will mount the light on the top corner on the door side of the enclosure (probably, nothing set in stone yet), or I may try to encorporate it into whatevery I build on the other side out of styrofoam.
Should I put a "sand pit" in? Ive seen others do that, not sure what the purpose is, unless he would poop there every time.
Also, the areas above the wood side walls, I was thinking of doing plexiglass with vent holes cut into it. Any better suggestions? I may tile the side walls below that as wel, I dont know, or just paint whatever I dont cover with fake rocks? Need your input.

I look forward to hearing all the ideas Any ideas and suggested as far as layout would be much appreciated.

Ill get the bottom installed, while you guys come up with some great ideas :help: :wink:

 

[KDK241]

I think the size would be fine. The minimum recommended cage size is a 40 breeder and they measure 36x18x16, of course more space is always better I'm not sure where you were planning on putting the floor but looking at the pictures it looks like you could maybe put it a couple inches down on the legs to give a little more space (think sunken living room). It would be shallow enough that you can still get in there and clean but deep enough to allow more decorating/lighting options. I also think the 12% light will be fine. My basking area is set up so they can get anywhere from 6-10 inches from the light and I use Repti-sun 10.0s. Just remember to put the light next to the basking light and have it cover at least 1/2 the basking area, they have to be directly under it in order to benefit from it. You can get under counter lights at Walmart for cheap and they work great for UVB lights. They are also fairly narrow so they don't stick out as much.

I would re-consider the fold down door. You have to think about how far it will stick out when open and how you will reach into every part of the cage to clean/change bulbs/move things/etc. (Trust me, I learned that the hard way) I would do sliding doors or if you want a hinged door have it a side opening door so its not in the way. Plexiglass with vent holes would work fine but plexiglass tends to warp and discolor under high heat. If it were me I would use plywood unless you really want to have windows on the sides, then use the plexi but plan to replace it in the future. If you go with all wood then I would put one vent on the top and the opposite side on the bottom for better cross ventilation. Put the bottom vent on the side where you plan to put the basking area (unless its in the middle) so all the heat doesn't go right out the vent.

Sand pits are for beardies that like to dig or for gravid females that need to dig to nest. Its not necessary and completely up to you. There is a chance Eli won't ever use it though and its best to make it removable so you can thoroughly clean it.

If you are going to paint it I would do that before adding the background. Tile would look nice too and be easy to clean. You can also use the same grout that you use for the background if you want it to blend together. I can't help much on the layout...it takes me forever to plan out the simplest things in my reptile cages and its always the little things I don't think about :roll:

 

[Joellivin]

I made a lot of progress on the coffee table viv today.
Got the bottom put in and secured, I was able to get it a little lower than I thought I would so that will give him 17.5" of living space (before tile).
I bought plexiglass and trim for the side upper windows, just need to cut the trim to fit, stain it and install it.
I picked up some real slate tiles at lowes on sale, only like $1.30 each. I bought enough to do the sides as well as the bottom. Stil dont know if I will do the sides in tile or not though (input welcome).
Once I tile I will make some of the fake rock with grout matching the tile grout to cover the bourds in the back two corners, as well as the bottom corners of the whole thing.
I hope the tile isnt too hard to cut, all I have is a scoring knife.
I ordered this as well; http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/34t5hofihouw3.html
I will hang it, kind of suspended under the glass top, maybe run some steel wire from each side to hold it up, Ill figure that out when I get it in the mail.

some questions; for the vents on the plexiglass, should I try and find some sort of premade vents to install? Or should I just drill a series of holes? And how big should the holes be? Maybe 1/2", I could do a section of about 9 or 16 of them on each side.
I am thinking of ordering this for the door; http://www.amazon.com/Knape-Vogt-P2...1346558383&sr=8-1&keywords=sliding+door+track
How would I secure the door closed? Any cool ideas out there?
This thing is getting expensive though. Been many trips to the home improvement store. Hope its worth it.

 

[SeanFred]

you can secure the door with a display case lock, either key or there may be child safety locks available also.
http://www.amazon.com/CRL-Chrome-Sliding-Glass-Door/dp/B000L02DSG

 

[KDK241]

You can get pre-made vents or drill holes, its really up to you. Just be sure that crickets can't climb out if you use holes. (If you feed in the tank)

It looks great and will be worth it when you're done. I built a 55 gallon vertical for my knight anole and it seemed like I was running to the store every 5 minutes for something else.

Slate tiles are not easy to cut without a tile saw. It splits very easily along the grain and leaves jagged edges. Careful with the little splinter pieces too, I stepped on a tiny piece and it went all the way into my foot like a razor. They are easy to smash into pieces with a hammer and screwdriver though but that might defeat the purpose, lol. That is the right track for the sliding door or you can make it out of a piece of wood and just cut grooves into it for the doors to slide on with a table saw. A lot of people use jeweler's locks for their sliding doors.

Have you thought about doing an entire background and sides out of the same grout/styrofoam that you were going to cover the frame in? Kind of like this but as a background instead of a structure http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/Fake-rock-wall-complex-construction.html

 

[Joellivin]

Yes, Ive been on lizard landscapes quite a bit, gotten a lot of good ideas from them. What I was thinking though is that I would like it to be removable easily. So I may do about three pieces that I can slide into the corners and one in the middle, that should cover up the boards in the corners except the boards closest to the door. Do you think they would be ok left how they are? its untreated. should I seal them with something or leave it as is.
What I was thinking with the back middle is to tile the sides and break a few of the tiles to have it slant down in the middle exposing a large section of the MDF that is there and paint that section like a sky with clouds. I have acrylic paint (dont know if I have the skills though).
Then in the left corner do a food dish (kind of like the hobbyist page on lizard landscapes did). On the right side do a basking area and hide and maybe even a tall shelf like structure accross the back to add space to the enclosure. I am going to do a burried dinosaur bones thing somewhere, like this http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/reptile-cages.html halfway down that page is the dino bones, looks great and my kids absolutely love dinosaurs. I want to do a dino footprint somewhere as well, dont know how yet, but Ill figure it out. My rocks will be a little lighter than that, got the camel colored grout, and reds and white acrylic paint to add detail. So it will be more of a desert motif and contrast with the dark tile nicely.
Guess its time to get back to work on it, I will try and post some more pics later today, my goal is to get the side windos mounted and get the bottom tile done, then I will decide what to do about the walls.

 

[KDK241]

If you're going to paint or leave any of the wood exposed I would definitely seal it. Minwax Polycrylic is water based and safe to use. Just make sure it dries and airs out well. You can also use whatever you are using to seal the grout with.

I always loved the dinosaur bones idea but could never find a model to do it with. I love the footprint idea too. Maybe make the food dish out of styrofoam in the shape of the dino print? (Hmm, I might try that)

The nice thing about paint is if you don't like it you can always cover it up again. For a softer, cloudy look use the foam brushes and get most of the paint off and dab it on. One thing you could do is find a cloudy sky picture that you like and print it out to size and glue it on, or use the poster command strips to hold it on, and then modge podge over it.

 

[Joellivin]

Food or water bowl dino footprint idea... BRILLIANT!
I am totally going to try it. I just hope I can carve well enough so its recognizeable as a dino foot print.
For some smaller footprints around the structure I was thinking of just grabbing some dino toys, my sons have plenty, and stamping it into the grout on the last thick layer. Dont know how that would turn out.

So I cracked open the box of tile and found that they gave me the wrong stuff, I had 4 pieces of the slate and she handed me a box and said there were 10 more into it. But instead of driving back to the store (they were out of the slate anyway) I made lemonade out of lemons, and I think its a blessing in discuise. No cutting this way and I think it looks great! I used one of the slate tiles that was the same thickness as the mosaic tiles they gave me, check it out;

I think I have enough of the mosaic tile to do the sides and then stair step down the back from each side down to about one row in the middle revealing my painting (or if it turns out that I cant pait worth a darn, then whatever picture I buy and stick up there).
I may try to get in and paint now, idk, have to stay off that tile for at least 12 hours.

 

[KDK241]

I think it looks great! I can NEVER find slate tile here so I have porcelain.

Just a hint on the footprint (and I do this for almost everything I make) if you Google dinosaur footprint coloring page it will give you a ton of outlines that you can print. I just save it and re-size to the size I want, print and then cut it out and trace. It will at least give you the general shape and definitely seal the dish. I would probably use it for food, even the best sealer doesn't hold up well under constant standing water unless its silicone and that won't dry clear. I think the toys is a great idea! Pick the largest one with the biggest feet, lol. When you get around to the carving and grouting remember to make it about 1/4" smaller than you want so it will fit after you add the grout.

Now I feel guilty for not starting on my cages. I have 3 that I need to make. That is one lucky beardie you have there!

 

[Joellivin]

Got the back painted;

Ive never really painted anything before so Im pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Now to start up on some tile... Its getting late, but I really want to have all the tile in so I can grout it tomorrow... So tired though :-|

 

[KDK241]

That looks amazing! You can't even tell its paint and I might have to steal that idea when I build mine.

That's the problem I always have when building something. I'll be so tired but I just want to get that one last thing done and the next thing I know hours have gone by :roll:

 

[Joellivin]

Got the tile on the sides put in;

Still need to grout once everything dries. Hopefully the grout will look nice. Its gonna be hard to edge the stair case type of thing. I had to use a butter knife to get the mud in just the right areas to stick the tile on.
I still have to;
Wait for my arcadia lighting to arrive
Wait for the door tracks to arrive
trim and drill holes in the plexiglass windows, and install them using oak trim.
Then comes the fun part of building the fake rock. Still trying to figure out the best layout.

Will I need more than one heat lamp for this thing? gonna have the 36" arcadia light kind of floating in the middle right under the glass top. Need to figure out how many and the best placement for the heat lamps. My house stays around 74 to 76 degrees.
An idea that I had is maybe somewhere in the middle or close to the front by the sliding glass door maybe I could do a balanced rock formation out of the polystyrene, make it tall, to where it almost touches the top glass, then I could recess a bulb in the top rock, kind of bury it in there and have it aiming at the basking area maybe 8" away. I would make the rock tower/formation to where there is no way that Eli could climb it. Thoughts?
I dont know how the polystyrene creation would handle the heat and also I dont know what type of fixture to use to recess into the rock. Ideas?
Besides the long UVB and heat for the basking area will I need another light as well?
I want to build this thing zoo quality because it will be in the middle of my living room, so if there is a way to recess the lighting in fake rock that would be amazing. The back of the UVB fixture will be kind of an eyesore, but I dont know if there is anyway around that...unless I did a really huge fake rock formation to bury it in.

 

[KDK241]

That looks really nice. Its hard to say if you will need another bulb or not until its all done and you can check temperatures. I wouldn't think so though. You can also close off some vents if you need to to get the right temps.

Do you know where you are going to put the basking area? If it were me I would put the UVB light right along the back and put the heat light in the back corner. That light lets off a lot of UVB and they need an area to get away from the UVB also. Too much of a good thing can be just as bad and if they look at it for too long it can cause eye problems. If you did that then he could still go under it when he wanted too but also get away from it and regulate his UVB needs. You could probably take a section out of the fake rocks in the back and make a spot for it to wedge into and then use something to hold it onto the top just for added security. I know something that would work but its just not coming to me right now. With the tint on the top glass it won't stick out so much and you can always paint over or cover the top of the light with something to help it blend more if you need to.

I don't know if I would recess the heat light. I would worry it would overheat and cause a fire. I know there are recessed light fixtures that are rated to be insulated over and those might work but you'd have to ask at the hardware store. You might be able to use a recessed or can light and then make sure to leave a minimum 3" clearance all the way around and drill some holes to vent out the back. The fake rocks should be able to hold up just fine, the basking areas get up to 120+ on some and they don't have a problem. I would probably test with a scrap piece first though You could also use a small ceramic fixture and leave at least 2-3" clearance around the bulb and put vents behind it also. I would put some small holes in the fake rocks too so some heat can get out that way. Just make sure to vent the light no matter what you do, all that heat coming off the light bulb that normally would be going out the top of the cage is not going to be able to do that and it could make it hot in there.

 

[Joellivin]

what is a good distance from bulb to basking spot? And about what wattage?
I am going to go to the hardware store to look for some recessed lighting cans, maybe they have a good ceramic one that would reflect heat out. Im kind of waiting for mud to dry so I wanna start with some other things I can get done.

 

[KDK241]

Distance is whatever distance you need to get the right temp without him being able to reach it. I try to aim for 8-10" since that's how far they have to be from the UVB light anyway. I think a 50 or 60W bulb would be fine. I have a 60W on Emerson's and its about 8" away and its at 110* in the hottest spot.