Picasso's new home!

[kjinxx2]

Finished building Picasso's new viv a few days ago - here are some pics

Before finishing:

Artie, the cage guardian

Hope you enjoyed

 

[Katie007]

This looks great! And it seems less complicated than some other DIY vivs I've seen on here. I've been looking for ideas for DIY I can manage...how much did this all cost you?

 

[kjinxx2]

For everything I spent < $250.

Melamine: $50
Melamine Edging:
Tile: $10
Glass: $80 (You can probably get this much cheaper)
Vents: $20
Lights: $15
Hinges: $7.50
Glass lock: $20


Total: $222.50 - I'm sure there are a few items that I left off (screws, screw caps, etc.).
One warning if you use melamine is that it is very very heavy. I had my brother come over to help me carry it from the basement to the second floor and we were both sweating by the time we got it upstairs.

I'm sure you could make something like this for much much cheaper, if you use white melamine from Home Depot, it will be about $12 cheaper and you don't have to order the edge band off the internet, they usually stock it. I'm sure there are other methods of locking the glass also (or you could do sliding doors, which is undoubtedly cheaper, but something I wanted to avoid) that are cheaper.

Let me know if you have any questions I'd be more than happy to help

 

[Katie007]

Id like to have glass doors that swing out from hinges and stay put with either a lock of some kind, or some strong magnets (not sure if the magnets would work though). I don't like the idea of sliding doors cause it seems like stuff could easily get in the track and it could be hard to clean. Do you know of any other (maybe lighter) materials that would be good to use? This will be my first semi-major DIY project ever. lol

 

[kjinxx2]

A lot of people use oak plywood or birch Just remember that you have to stain/seal these woods in order for them not to absorb moisture (and poo )

 

[Katie007]

lol thanks. I wasn't sure which woods were good to use because I know some are toxic to beardies. Im also trying to make a two level viv, so maybe wood would be my best bet for that.

 

[nanyque]

Beautiful! I like how simple it is. I'm leaning towards hinged glass myself. I'm not so worried about the tracks getting dirty, since I want to put a 2" baseboard in front, but it just seems simpler to do hinged. At least to me. :dontknow:

 

[kjinxx2]

I plan on putting a "litter dam" behind the glass, sort of like a baseboard

 

[nanyque]

I'm hoping I can get away with $100 or less (not counting any of the electrical stuff. Btw, where did you get that fixture for your tube light?), since i think I'll be doing plexi glass at first. Tempered glass is expensive... ><

 

[kjinxx2]

I got the fixture from Walmart, my glass isn't tempered - just normal glass. It was originally 60 but I tipped the guy lol.

 

[nanyque]

Ah. See, my husband insists we need to use tempered. :/