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Building a vivarum - lost URL

whiffin

whiffin

Just Another Member
Hi - long time no speak, haven't been here for ages.

After finding Suzy a temporary (larger) vivarium, it's about time he had his full sized one. Should be finished shortly.

I'm getting to the point where I need to make the "insides".

I saw a web site a while ago about this bloke who stuck polystyrene into the inside, painted it with thinners, then in hard tile cement or something.

Does anyone please have the URL?

Cheers
 
whiffin i've been awaiting more pics and updates on your site. Your site was the first one I went to while i was deciding what kind of snake to get. Suzy won me over easily.
 
Yeah - I've neglected the site recently - sorry.

I'm glad that you used my site - it's amazing how many hits I get and how high it seems to rate in search engines! I can't get ANY of my other sites to rate so highly.

First I need to build Suzy's new vivarium, I have now added a light, heat mat, air ventilation, sliding glass doors etc ... I need to add the rocky backdrop, cover the heat mat and varnish (Yaught varnish) all wooded surfaces. Then I can move SUzy in. ETA 3 weeks yesterday.

Then I'll take a LOT of pictures of Suzy (who is now much bigger and still happy) and the vivarium.

I also will take pictures of two garter snakes that I bought for a friend - they're so sweet.

Back to the vivarium, instead of using polystyrene, is there any reason why this will not work .....

... use tile cement mixed with sand to crete a rocky backdrop for the vivarium. This will be held in place by a wire mesh added to the back whch will set inside the tile cement. This is the same stuff as used in the tutorial that I'm seekin, except with a little sand added for texture.

Cheers guys

A
 
well you just update soon because im looking forward to an update on suzy aight my buddy from across the pond
 
Whiffin,
Your site is really cool, I especially love the graphics, how old is Suzy now? I bet he has grown like a beanstalk :)
 
Thanks for your nice comments the site seems to get around 3000 unique visits a month ... from what I can tell

Suzy is 2 years and 3 months, he has grown and outgrown his 2nd vivaium, hence the rush to build him a new one that will be good enough for his life. This is my priority ... I should get the bulk of it done Sunday - that's the plan anyway.

I'll put photos on the site as soon as the vivarium is finished I promise!

Aaron
 
To your question:

Using Polystyrene has a couple of advantages. It is rather light, insulating and you can form it to a nice background using a blowtorch, lighter or even a hotairgun. Then you can take tile adhesive and cover the whole thing in it twice or three times. Makes it look really nice. Of course you can glue different pieces of polystyrene onto the plate beforehand. That gives your snake a lot of climbing and lying opportunities. Unfortunately i don't know any english websites with a nice explanation but lots of german ones. Maybe i can find one with lots of pretty pictures. I have made a couple of these backgrounds. Send me a PM if you have any questions.

Acradon
 
That's what I was thinkin about - blow torch, good idea.

My viv is going to be quite insulated anyway, so, apart from weight, is their any advantage of polystyrene over just tile cement mixed with sand? I have LOADS of this at home you see ...
 
Well If you wanna form the thing just out of tile cement and sand i can say: happy working. I think the polystyrene is much easier to form and the wall can be made much quicker and easier. The expensive part is the tile cement so if you have it at home just pick up a sheet of PS for a couple of quid.
Don't underestimate the weight factor. I made the mistake once as well, until i had to move house....! My friend who helped me that time still hates me for it :)

Acradon
 
I think I'll go for just cement Main reason - time - I REALLY need to finish the viv as my missus is moaning about me needing to mend her shed. 3 coats will take a while as the viv isn't stored at my house and I work most weekends. This stuff will set in a day

Thanks for your help tho - I'll keep you posted ...
 
Of course. I'll get it finished then add photos of the vivarium and Suzy to my site - then post here and tell everyone

No worries!
 
Acradon - guess you're right. I meaured the back of my viv 3'x1' and reaslised that it's gonna weight around 30Kg and cost me about £40 ($60-$70) in tile cement!

As my local hardware store (B&Q) doesn't sell blocks of polystyrene I've bought some polystyrene ceiling tiles and coasted the back about 1.5" thick with layers of tiles using ceiling tile putty. This will do for teh areas that I'm making holes in.

I then cut out several smaller peices and made mounds again using layers of polystyrene tiles and putty.

When dry I will be able to melt/disolve the polystyrene tiles, and hopefully the hardened putty will disappear too! If not I shall use several methods such as a wire brush on a dremel to eat the background away into a polystyrene rock face. I shall also roughen surfaces lightly with a wire brush and makes holes with pencils etc.

After a coat of tile cement this may actualy work.

As for the time element, I skipped the gym last night as I was tired, a perfect oppottunity to pop to my parents ...

Acaradon - any tips about mking it look "rocky"?

I'll take photos of the current stage so that I can show people the intermediate step.

Wish me luck ...
 
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