First enclosure & inside, all diy !

[prexX]

Hey there ! As my first post I thought about showing the enclosure and decoration I'm building for Karma (my bd) with the help from a friend.

All has been studied properly (hotter area, colder area, basking pot) and everything is being taken into consideration as we built it.... Now I know there's a huge discussion about sand being good or bad for beardies so, since I'm not an expert, after reading a lot about this subject I decided to keep 80% of the vivarium with styrofoam floor and 20% sand (in the pictures you can see that the styrofoam area doesnt cover the whole enclosure).

Its the first time I work with styrofoam and its the first enclosure i've ever built so take it easy on the critics However, i'd really appreciate if those who already know a lot about this would give me some advice !!!

(sorry for any kind of bad english or weird sentences, I'm from portugal and my native language is definitely not english )

well.. enj0y the pics so far !!! I'll be updating this as things move forward !!!

The enclosure !


Starting with the styrofoam...


More styrofoam... starting to look like "something".. no stairs and no cave entrance though


Inside view


Now the stairs !


Stairs, top view.


With the entrance and the back panel.


Another inside view...


My mate looking like a fool !


Me looking like a fool !


Waiting for opinions

 

[Sangheili]

That is looking so COOL! O-O
I want to learn how to do that for Tiberius' cage <3

Cant wait to see it finished!

 

[prexX]

it's actually really easy =)
as I said, this is my first attempt on working with styrofoam (and trying to make an enclosure for a reptile) and i'm pretty amazed on how "easy" it is to achieve what you want.

Probably on my case, it's easier cause I wanted to get a pretty natural looking landscape. If you try to actually carve it, to make more "straight edged" stuff, it probably gets a bit harder.... not impossible though !

And i'm telling you, its addictive ! As i'm building this one, i'm already thinking about ideas for other pieces, individual ones, not attached to anything, so I can swap and change it from time to time...

Give it a try, you won't regret it =)
Anything I can help with, let me know !

 

[Deemac6]

Looks so cool, and he is right it is very easy, messy though and depending on what you do it can be time consuming. I did mine up for Thil,

Its all imagination, we went into not really having an idea and this is what we got.

Can't wait to see yours when it is finished, keep us updated on it though!

 

[prexX]

I will =)

just got back from doing some shopping !

Non sanded grout and 2 different colors of paint. A dark brown and another one a bit lighter, more "beige" like. I'm not really sure I picked the right colors for what i want to achieve but well, i'll just try it first on a bit of styrofoam..

My advice for those who haven't done this yet: don't expect an easy or cheap task... just like I read somewhere, everything will cost you money, time and patience... but having an enclosure fully built by you and adapted to your own taste: priceless !!!

 

[alkemisten3]

Looks so cool, and he is right it is very easy, messy though and depending on what you do it can be time consuming. I did mine up for Thil,

Its all imagination, we went into not really having an idea and this is what we got.

Can't wait to see yours when it is finished, keep us updated on it though!

Looking awesome!
Really nice with the "sand pool" is your beardie enjoying it? I.e digging around and stuff? Is it sanitary enough for you?
Thanks