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Fun viv ideas?

amanda007

amanda007

Read, read, read!
My hubby and I are about to get our first corn, and for now he/she is going to be in an plain old aquarium. But once he/she gets older and bigger, and needs a bigger place, we'd like to build one instead of just getting another tank.

We were at a thrift shop the other day and saw one of those old 1960's-70's tube TV's in the big wood cabinet, with the speakers on each side, and thought that might make a fun viv. Especially since my hubby is really handy, and says that he could even wire the TV knobs to turn on/off lights inside the cabinet!

Had anyone ever converted a TV? Is the screen clear glass once you get the parts out, or are we going to have to replace it with plexi?

What other fun things have you made viv's out of? We'd like something a little different.
 
I've seen afew tv's turned viv in my travels around the internet, so I'd say go for it! Unfortunetly I cant provide any info...but I think its a great idea.
 
Bear in mind that the snake you are about to get is going to be a hatchling (as you mentioned in a different thread). Keeping it in a small aquarium, 5 gals. is ideal, will make your snake feel more secure than if you provide a large aquarium. Read up on some of the threads in this forum regarding heat gradients, substrate, hides, etc.
 
amanda007 said:
My hubby and I are about to get our first corn, and for now he/she is going to be in an plain old aquarium. But once he/she gets older and bigger, and needs a bigger place, we'd like to build one instead of just getting another tank.

We were at a thrift shop the other day and saw one of those old 1960's-70's tube TV's in the big wood cabinet, with the speakers on each side, and thought that might make a fun viv. Especially since my hubby is really handy, and says that he could even wire the TV knobs to turn on/off lights inside the cabinet!

Had anyone ever converted a TV? Is the screen clear glass once you get the parts out, or are we going to have to replace it with plexi?

What other fun things have you made viv's out of? We'd like something a little different.
Click to expand...

That would be a real novel idea. I have thought about doing something similar for my frilled dragon. I have an old dresser, closet thingy in my basement that I want to convert to a terrarium for him.

I suppose that if you removed all the components and had a good luck at the make up of the inside, you can decide what it will need. I think you would have to put something on the bottom that would make it water resistant, in case the dish spills. Also, varnish or paint the inside with a good, non toxic paint. Check the thing real good for any holes, because the corn will seek out and find any little thing to wiggle through. The possibilities are endless, with such a set up.

As far as the screen glass, that will all be part of the tube and have to go. I am sure you can come up with a plexiglass or maybe even a real glass front some how.

Take your time on this, because as already mentioned, a viv that big, would probably intimidate and stress out the little snakey.

I would love to see a progression thread when you get going!

Good Luck,

Wayne
 
I have a 5gal to put the little one in, and a 10gal for when he gets a little bigger. The TV wouldn't be used as a viv for a year at least, and maybe more depending on how good of an eater our snake-to-be is.

An UTH is already hooked up and plugged in to the homemade rheostat courtesy of http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19168. This weekend I'll be getting all of the necessary things like bedding and a climbing stick. Once the substrate is down, I'll be monitoring the UTH to make sure it's at the right temp. Our snake will be here on Tuesday, and I plan on being prepared! I have been reading constantly for the past week about corns, and this forum has been really helpful. I was especially thankful to find the feeding schedule sticky that everyone seems to more or less agree with, as I was always finding conflicting info on feeding, especially when it came to babies. Some places were saying to feed a hatchling every 3 days, and I was like, "Wait, doesn't it take 24-48 hours for them to digest?!"
 
Fun vivs can be cool, just remember the main points of a viv when you make it...
It needs to be escape proof.
It has to maintain a set temp.
It must be easy to clean
It must be easy to get the snake into and out of.
I don't know about US tv tubes but over here they are a complete unit, so plexi glass will be needed with ours....
 
Yeah, the tube is complete. Which sucks, but oh well.

I actually posted a wanted ad on craigslist to see if anyone had one lying around in their garage, and had 3 responses. Still waiting for pics on 2 of them. One guy says he has one from the 40's, which would be beautiful (as the rest of my living room is very mid-century), so hopefully he doesn't want too much for it. (Especially since he says he's "cleaning out" his landlord's garage, which means it would otherwise be thrown away probably).
 
So the jerk that was selling the beautiful old set (which was really from the early 60's I think, but still cool) told me his landlord wanted $50, which I thought was steep for a set that didn't work and was scratched up, so I said I'd give her $40. And the jacka** was like "Well I thought it was a great deal, so I bought it. But I'll sell it to you for $200."

So I told him that I wasn't an idiot, and that a non-functioning, un-refurbished TV from that era was worth what I offered, and basically that he could go to h*ll. I was pretty peeved, in case you couldn't tell ;)

But whatever, I'm sure another one will pop up soon enough.
 
snakewispera snr said:
Fun vivs can be cool, just remember the main points of a viv when you make it...
It needs to be escape proof.
It has to maintain a set temp.
It must be easy to clean
It must be easy to get the snake into and out of.
I don't know about US tv tubes but over here they are a complete unit, so plexi glass will be needed with ours....
Click to expand...

It definatly needs to be snakes are notorious for escaping if they can get there heads out there gone.
 
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