thegreybush
Juvie Member
Its project time! I'm working on a new viv for my beardies. I've never had a problem decorating something that already had structure or modifying a piece of cabinet style furniture, but this is a first. I'm building from scratch and somebody is getting an upgrade! I haven't decided who the lucky winner is yet, but I wanted to share my progress thus far with y'all.
ITS A BOX! OMGOODNESS I MADE A BOX! Two vents for cross ventilation. 3/4" melamine for the box, all edges sealed and seamless in appearance. Drop down door (couldn't find materials for a slider locally). The goal was a unit that had nothing protruding from any side other than the face and the back wall to allow it to be replicated and stack-able either top to bottom or side to side for the reptile room. All fasteners are covered with melamine tape so it looks nice and clean.
After some interior decorating and initial lighting. Using a 3 halogen bar fixture for ambient light. Basking light is on the third tier. Getting ready to run heating wire along the ceiling for ambient heat and hang a 30" UVB next. Oh yea those tiles? Not slate tiles! I found these great looking moisture proof tiles with adhesive bottoms that you can cut and re-size with a razor knife. Its more like 1/8" gypsum board to work with. Its rad and they're only a dollar a piece. Cuts down on weight when it comes time to move that cumbersome box.
Will update with more pictures of progress as it comes along.
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So after the UVB went in and I turned it on with the halogens I said to myself, "Awww crap! The UVB is brighter than the halogens!" But I turned off the halogens and realized that they saved the day on keeping the true colors lit up. The UVB as you know shines blueish grey on everything. Combined with the halogens, though it actually looks great. Just the heating coil to run now.... And I'm getting frustrated with how many plugs this is all taking. I might end up stripping and combining the 4 into two so It only takes one dedicated outlet.
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Lighting and heating is installed. I'm waiting for it to all warm up to see what the temps look like. If the heating wire doesn't give the kick I'm looking for then I'll apply a thermal tape over it to help it radiate more. If that still doesn't work I'll drop $50 on a temperature control unit. Not looking forward to that but whatever.
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basking temps fluctuate between 102-104. Ambient temperature on first tier is at 88 right now so I'm happy with that. No need for a temperature control unit. Made minor adjustments to how the door was sitting. It was slightly out of square and that leaves me with two more steps before its completed: Adding weather stripping to the bottom of the door frame, and final interior decorating!
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Done as done can be. As I get new decorations I'm sure I'll change it up but I'm on a budget and had to use things that were laying around. These guys are my focus group. :lol:
ITS A BOX! OMGOODNESS I MADE A BOX! Two vents for cross ventilation. 3/4" melamine for the box, all edges sealed and seamless in appearance. Drop down door (couldn't find materials for a slider locally). The goal was a unit that had nothing protruding from any side other than the face and the back wall to allow it to be replicated and stack-able either top to bottom or side to side for the reptile room. All fasteners are covered with melamine tape so it looks nice and clean.
After some interior decorating and initial lighting. Using a 3 halogen bar fixture for ambient light. Basking light is on the third tier. Getting ready to run heating wire along the ceiling for ambient heat and hang a 30" UVB next. Oh yea those tiles? Not slate tiles! I found these great looking moisture proof tiles with adhesive bottoms that you can cut and re-size with a razor knife. Its more like 1/8" gypsum board to work with. Its rad and they're only a dollar a piece. Cuts down on weight when it comes time to move that cumbersome box.
Will update with more pictures of progress as it comes along.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So after the UVB went in and I turned it on with the halogens I said to myself, "Awww crap! The UVB is brighter than the halogens!" But I turned off the halogens and realized that they saved the day on keeping the true colors lit up. The UVB as you know shines blueish grey on everything. Combined with the halogens, though it actually looks great. Just the heating coil to run now.... And I'm getting frustrated with how many plugs this is all taking. I might end up stripping and combining the 4 into two so It only takes one dedicated outlet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lighting and heating is installed. I'm waiting for it to all warm up to see what the temps look like. If the heating wire doesn't give the kick I'm looking for then I'll apply a thermal tape over it to help it radiate more. If that still doesn't work I'll drop $50 on a temperature control unit. Not looking forward to that but whatever.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
basking temps fluctuate between 102-104. Ambient temperature on first tier is at 88 right now so I'm happy with that. No need for a temperature control unit. Made minor adjustments to how the door was sitting. It was slightly out of square and that leaves me with two more steps before its completed: Adding weather stripping to the bottom of the door frame, and final interior decorating!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Done as done can be. As I get new decorations I'm sure I'll change it up but I'm on a budget and had to use things that were laying around. These guys are my focus group. :lol:
