Golly's new MANSION

[jamiedennis]

I have said for over a year now to be 'building a new home for my guy soon' well - I spent the last 2 weeks doing it...

The size of the vivarium is 6' long x 2' deep x 20" high.

This is my first attempt at making a vivarium for my beardie. I wanted to use 3/4 Melamine or plywood but the cost of that was through the roof. So we went with what we could afford, and that was 5/8"s particle board. I painted it all in a white latex paint, two coats to seal everything and protect it.

The top was cut to allow for air venting and the slots are 4"x20" spaced every 2" a part. The heat lamp opening is 7.5" from the left, front, and back. The opening is 10"x10". I used 1/2" x1/2" wire mesh to prevent the kids from throwing stuff into the vivarium. The top was pretty flimsy so I added a brace to the top, and bottom and then vertical braces. The top brace is 1.75" thick, and runs the whole length of the top.

The bottom brace is 2" thick and also runs the whole length of the top. The vertical braces are:
far left and right: 1" wide
middle braces: 2" wide.

The plexi glass doors were cut to size, drilled and counter sunk to allow the screws to be as flush as possible. The piano hinges were installed the same way - predrilled, countersunk and then screwed to the vivarium. the plexi glass needed spacers to allow the doors to swing freely with out rubbing or hinderances - so I put washers and lock washers between the piano hinges and the vivarium (The piano hinges cover them) I then had a gap that needed filling so I used weather stripping to fill it.

The front left and right sides are the doors and they open like barn doors. The middle is not a door, but a solid piece of plexi glass to allow the dragon to see the whole room.

The bottom of the floor is covered in solid linoleum - NOT paper backed linoleum. The linoleum was cut to size, laid in and then weighted down to even it out. I was going to secure it with velcro - but that was too strong and was ripping the linoleum so I opted to remove that and cut the next peice 1/8" longer and wider and that filled all voids. I also sealed the inside bottom and sides with aquarium sealant so no food can escape and hopefully no ants will get in.

The ceramic tiles I used were 13x13" and cut down to 11.75"x11.75" so I can lay them in a 4pc square pattern to protect the linoleum and make a clearly defined "hot" zone to bask and such.

The UVB lights were suspended using 'round-all' and bolted to the lights, and then screwed to the top of the tank.

I soaked the tiles in a water/bleach combiniation for a week and then rinsed/soaked them in hot water. I repeated the hot water phase 3 separate times to insure the bleach was cleaned off and no risk of injuring the dragon. The rocks, tiles and climbing things were all backed at 500 degrees F for over an hour to kill all bacteria that may have been on the them... made the WHOLE apartment, and my floor smell bad... hahahaha

So far my dragon seems to enjoy his new home... I plan on making new climbing things for him in the near future so I can make them solid and not so groovy as what he has now. The basking tree has very deep ridges and makes it hard to clean when Golly leaves me 'presents'.

In case the photos dont show up, heres the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66000258@N08/sets/72157629419861174/


IMG-20120401-00381 by jamiedennis1, on Flickr


IMG-20120401-00382 by jamiedennis1, on Flickr


IMG-20120405-00390 by jamiedennis1, on Flickr


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IMG-20120409-00414 by jamiedennis1, on Flickr

 

[triumphtt]

I like how you hung the lights in the cage. I haven't seen that before. I always wanted a way to not put them on a screen because the screen blocks out some of the light. Only thing I thought of was to cut out the screen part under where the light would sit but I like our idea better if I ever have a need for it.

 

[jamiedennis]

I like how you hung the lights in the cage. I haven't seen that before. I always wanted a way to not put them on a screen because the screen blocks out some of the light. Only thing I thought of was to cut out the screen part under where the light would sit but I like our idea better if I ever have a need for it.

I used 'round-all'. They have varying strengths of it, and I have the 400lbs strength stuff, so my 2 lights will not be anywhere near the weight limit.

It comes in a square box and is not expensive at all. Its really useful stuff

 

[Claudiusx]

Wow that looks great! You should be proud of that, especially since it was your first attempt!

-Brandon

 

[jamiedennis]

Wow that looks great! You should be proud of that, especially since it was your first attempt!

-Brandon

Thanks... I am pleased with it, but if I build another one, Im making sure the wood is the right size and I have space for saw blade... I got the wood at exactly 2'x8' long, and 3 pcs of it... So when I cut the boards, I lost some of the size I wanted, and as such it made the parts not fit together 100% properly. BUT the aquarium sealant fixed that issue for me!

hahaha