Viv made out of old furniture

[CountrynCrafty]

Hi ya'll.
I know this has probably been asked and I'm just not looking the right way, but what steps need to be taken to make an old cabinet (china cabinet maybe) or piece of furniture into a viv? I want something that is pleasing to the eye but of course worthy of my beardie Draco (from Dragonheart not Harry Potter) that I'm getting in about two weeks. He's about 10 inches long right now so I figured I might as well make him a permanent cage. I already know that I want to do the styrofoam rock type stuff so I feel that old furniture would be the best for handling the weight while still being pleasing to the eye.

Any help would be appreciated.

Also, just cuz I'm typing...I've read that beardies are solitary animals but I would like to confirm this? If not I'll get another male I think as I have NO interest in breeding. I was told if you do have two and have no interest in breeding it's better to get two males...

TIA!
CnC

 

[dragonov]

Hi, I've never heard of people housing males together succesfully, they tend to fight eachother till the end. Housing females together might work, depending on the size of your enclosure (big..!) and they should be about the same size and not too dominant of course. It's not needed though to house them together, they live normally alone in the wild. If you you already have a male, then you should only add at least two females (not just one, the poor thing won't get a break) but you'll definately get breeding in that case.

The styrofoam rock thing won't be that heavy btw, so if that's your only reason to do it you have other options. (it's only a thin layer of grout over mostly weightless styrofoam) But if you want to convert furniture into as viv you pretty much have to make sure you get a view for both you and your beardie. So a nice window and a convenient way of accessing the whole thing. And think ahead when it comes to putting lighting in there. Other than that it's definately do-able. Good luck with your project!

 

[CountrynCrafty]

Hello,
Thank you for your reply and for letting me know about the 2 males scenario; I will leave him as a single.
The furniture idea was because I would like it to be eye appealing , would keep it up high so that my toddlers couldn't access him without supervision, and would provide storage. I know they like light so I was thinking about putting something white or maybe painting the inside white, getting the clear acrylic to replace the glass front, the carpet for the "floor", having the lights up top, and venting fans on the side and/or back. I was just wondering what I needed to do to make sure that it was safe for him?

 

[HGMedic2012]

http://us.gnbdragons.com/cohabitation

This link pretty much did it for me and beardie cohabitation.

Acrylic makes a good replacement for glass, just be aware that it also tends to scratch more easily and can get somewhat foggy over time. That said, probably a safer alternative with toddlers in mind.

As for the old furniture idea, sounds really cool. I might have some ideas for you if you had a specific piece in mind that you could share pics of? The only thing I would be concerned about is that older furniture especially is made with a lot of oils, varnish, and stains with no sealant applied, which can seep out under heat. I would probably seal any surfaces that are going to be facing the enclosure portion and then allow them to dry, fumes dissipate, and cure under heat prior to introducing your little friend.

Good luck and hope to see some cool pics soon!

 

[JoeRobert]

I always trust on old furniture ideas..They are not only affordable but convincing by all means.

 

[wente013]

I'm thinking of doing something similar! Post pics as you go along

 

[netcontents72]

I was thinking of the same thing until I realised they are not deep enough. If you found a way around that I would love to know.