new beardie viv from the ground up: picture log!

[Doesj]

Hey all,

I've been lurking around these forums for a good 4 months now, and I finally have the time, space and money for my first beardie!
As a testrun, I built a fake rock wall for my Moorish gecko (see http://massis87.wordpress.com for pics)

Now it's time to build the beardie viv!

Size: 55" x 19.5" x 21.5" (yes that's a weird measurement in inc, but in metric its 1.4m * 0.5 m * 0.55m)
material: waterproof multiplex
technology:
- double lid
- 2 built in 30° tiltable 50W halogen spots for daytime heating and the basking spot
- 1 100W CHE for general heat
- 2 thermostats (i'm getting these for free from a guy who uses professional thermostats to build large cooling cells as his job)
- 1 reptisun 10.0 UVB tube (48")

I've made the entire design and had it checked by a few people for flaws and it came out okay, so I've ordered the wood. Local store asks $65 a board (12ft*4ft) but I knew a guy in the wood trade who can provide me the same boards for $45 a board, which is great.

The heating is managed like this:
- one thermostat linked to the CHE, keeps the entire tank at 75°F 24/7
- one thermostat linked to the 2 50W spots , on a timer, heats up the tank to 85°F (cool side) - 105°F (bask spot) during daytime
- one UV tube on a timer, provides light and UVB radiation during daytime

the UV has an on-off switch built in to the front of the viv to cut it off if needed. The 50W spots have dimmer built so I can readjust the temperature if needed (if the lights are constantly off due to overheating for example)

I've got 7.5kg (15pounds) of gray grout (powder type) ready for the background, which will give the same colour as spike's tank (see the link above). I will mix the last layer with red sand to give it the Australian outback look. flooring will be partly grouted background, partly slate tiles. There will also be a removale sandbox for him to play in.

here are some first pictures:

dimmer switch (pricy! cost me $20 and doesnt even include the dimmer itself!):

one of the 50W spots with a supply of styrofoam in the background

random needed material: (tec7, sealer, brushes, expanding foam)

my dubia colony:

with the lid on: (the other containers are storage, not dubia's)

his basking log: (needs to be recut, it's a bit too high now)

The beardie itself won't be here for at least 3 weeks, but I've already reserved one. He's 13-14 weeks old at the moment, so not really a baby anymore, but his colours are just sooooo gorgeous!

he's one of the last up for sale from this happy bunch:

so I'm expecting his colours to get quite a bit brighter!

His name will be Daku, which is Aboriginal for "sand".
His dad is a Redhypopastel x Sandfire Red/Gold Tigerfase X Redhypored (50% poss. Het Hypo ) from dutch breeder MB dragons
His mom is from Dachiu USA and is a RedhypoRed x Orange German Giant x Het. HypoRed.

Total price so far: €266 = $320 , this is beardy (€50 - $65) and wood (€125 - $150, for 2 tanks as I'm building a gecko tank aswel) EXCLUDED

total price estimate including EVERYTHING for this viv and the gecko's new viv (which will be 3ftx1.5ftx2ft) will total about €700 or $800

 

[chrismnc]

What a lucky beardie you will have! Congrats on the soon to be! Question, how are you heating your dubias?

 

[Doesj]

half the dubiatank is on a heat mat. Been checking temps multiple times a day. They range from 75°F cool side to 95° hottest spot

first problem has occured: my dimmer doesn't work with my spots!

 

[babydragondaddy]

first problem has occured: my dimmer doesn't work with my spots!

2 questions:
Is it the style of dimmer which must be placed inline with the power wire of the bulb? ie. you have to cut the normal power wire.
Are you in the US?

 

[jargonchipmunk]

looks like a fun project! I wish I'd thought to start taking snapshots early in the stages of my viv's construction. People here will have to be happy with finished pics lol. (which I've dangled on a line for a couple months now without producing lol) It's ALMOST done. Anyway, Your lights/che setup is about exactly what mine is. I like your dimmer switch too. Interesting look.

 

[Doesj]

I'm in Belgium (a tiny country in the EU the size of New York city orso ) and it's the kind of dimmer that sits between the power plug and the transformer for the lights.

problem was it was a 60-300W dimmer and my spots are 50W. Brought it back and exchanged it for a cheap , uglier one , but this one does the job

 

[babydragondaddy]

I'm in Belgium (a tiny country in the EU the size of New York city orso )

Good waffles... sounds like you got what you needed then.

 

[Doesj]

good waffles, and Belgian fries!

about the dimmer: it dims the lights (duh!) but they still twitch quite alot... Doesn't really matter though, there's about 3-4 "settings" i can set it to at which point they're stable, and the dimmer is only for really hot days so they still have light instead of just heat...

 

[Doesj]

picture time!

I've bought new spots (traded the old ones) which are 230V ones, no transfos, so they work decently on my dimmer. Also bought some tubing (for the thermostat probe to go through). Picked up my wood and 65kg of slate along with 25kg of white sand. Finally I went to the Netherlands (45min drive ) for my nighttime lights (blue "moonlight" leds by lucky reptile) and my sliding glass profiles.

gecko's viv wood:

Beardie's viv wood:

first corner locked:

pre drilled:

and screwed:

second side on:

back added:

size reference:

some more dubia pictures (they're doing great, but they eat massive amounts of food!)

 

[Doesj]

Made quite a bit of progress yesterday. First had my front panels recut (the guy I ordered them from gave me 140*80cm instead of 140*8cm...). After that I went to work with Tec7 (universal glue/sealer), styrofoam and Expanding stuff:

Cave (without top), inside measurements are around 10" by 14" by 6" high

Cave on the left, 2 tubes for thermostat-probe added

Slate (dry ones on the left, washed ones on the right)

layout:
cave on the left
slate rocks in the center
platform will be just grouted
right will be sandbox

some close ups

planning for tonight:
- cut PU-foam (expanding stuff, added it last night but it had to settle)
- make rocks onto back wall
- write "Daku" in rocks on back wall (Daku = beardies name)
- wash slate stones
- add slate to bottom
- add first layer of grout

Afterwards:
- next layers of grout
- paint
- varnish (yacht varnish)
- mount front panel and add vents & sliding profiles for the glass
- add all the holes for the tech-stuff to the fake ceiling
- add holes to top front panel for thermostats and dimmer switch
- measure and order glass windows

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Looking good so far!! :wink:

 

[Doesj]

thanks!

I've finished the first layer of grout. Especialle the inside of the cave (with removable lid thank god) and the underside of the platforms (stupid expanding foam) were hell!

I've also noticed the basement I'm building the tank in is way to moist. It takes 36 hours orso for a thin layer of grout to dry, so this might set my planning back by quite a few days.

I've also bought some more stuff, like red colorant and aluminium vent strips.

pics will follow tonight or tomorrow!

 

[Radioflyr]

I so want to build one fo these I have made alot of things out of wood Nightstand, Coffee tabe, HUGE computer desk, bookshelf. Im just intimidated to build a viv. But I want to so bad. Your is looking fantastic so far BTW great job.

-Steve

 

[Doesj]

don't be intimidated. I've never really used any power tools (electric saw, drill, big hole drill, ..), but I just ordered the wood I needed and went ahead and did it!

your tank can be as simple as 7 pieces of wood screwed together! (left, right, bottom, top , back, lower front and upper front) Then all you need is runners for the glass and 2 windows and there you go, a viv!

Here's another update with some decent pictures:

I've added ventilation to the lower front (had to recut the ventilation panels because they were too deep to fit in), added the 3 50W spots & the CHE to the fake ceiling, tested my red colorant and finally tested the tubes to see if the thermostat probes fit (which they to )

The final color will be a bit lighter and will have a bit more grey in it:

 

[Radioflyr]

Wow lucky beardie. It is really coming together that thing looks beautlyful already. Thanks for the encouragment I think once my guy gets bigger I will attempt one of these. In the mean while Im building a fake rock midevil castle

-Steve