vivarium/bookcase in the works...

This photo is a full length view of it. The bottom is my photo equipment storage bin. The middle section is for my books and my humidor. And the top is my snakes new top floor studio apartment... :D

https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...5/100_0837.JPG

This is the living area closeup. I have a sheet of glass suspended 1 1/2 inches over the bottom with the heat pad stuck to the bottom of it. The center support stud is a Dr Pepper bottle top.

https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...5/100_0835.JPG

Here is the heat lamp. I still have to install a screen over it for saftey.

https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...5/100_0828.JPG

And here is the snakes master bedroom. Another one is going to be constructed for the colder side of the cage. It is made of plexy glass.

https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...5/100_0832.JPG

I will line the bottom glass with astro turf and velcro on astro turf to the hide boxes for easy removal and cleaning. I also have to get the front glass hinged on and trimmed out. Then it will all be sent out to the paint shop (my front porch with a rattle can) :D .

I also want to build a feeding door on the side of the cage. I also plan on providing plenty of climbing limbs and plastic vegitation for him to feel comfortable in.

I plan on painting the outside black but haven't decided if I want to paint the inside of the cage black also or leave it white. Let me know what you think...

Also all the joints are siliconed and the cardboard backing has been overcoated with plexy glass.

So far it looks nice, and I think you are doing an excellent job- but, I am a bit worried about the dimensions on it. Are you planning on housing your bp in it for life? From what I can tell, this is a shelf unit you are converting. Length from side to side seems like it wont be long enough, and width from front to back seems to be falling short too. For the most part, bp's are ground dwelling pythons, I think even if you put all kinds of branches in, he wont really use them. And how do are you going to provide proper ventilation?

The cage is not going to be his home for life, just until he gets too big for it. After that another home will be constructed and I will find something else to live in this. Proper ventilation, this is still not complete, when it is there will be ample vent holes in it. I got done what I could until my son had to go to bed and could not run noisy power tools with him asleep so like it says, its still not finished.

On everything I have been reading, everyone says a BP can live its entire life in a 20 or 30 gallon aquarium. The footprint on this is larger thatn a 20 gallon tank, in fact it is comparable to a 30 gallon tank.

When measuring for comparison, all you need to compare is floorspace, and a fully grown bp should definitely not be housed in a 20 gal or 30 gal tank its entire life. According to the dimensions here, a 30 gallon has 13"x30" of floorspace, which is only 2.5' of floorspace. That's great for a 2' bp, but not anything bigger. A ball python should have floorspace approximately equal to one foot more than its length. Therefore a 4' adult male should have about 5' of floorspace, which means a 55 gallon, at 48"x13" is barely adequate.

I've also considered converting furniture to herp enclosures, but I've been concerned about having enough space for the animal and about how to clean the enclosure. Lining everything with plexiglass seems like a workable solution if you can remove the plexiglass for disinfecting. Keep us updated on this project!

Very nice!

It looks like it'll be a nice looking setup when you get it all finished. :) I'm all for re-cycling cages when one critter out-grows them! :wink:

As for painting the inside black or leaving it white...I think black would make it more secure feeling for the snake. They are nocturnal animals. A solid-white home might make them feel vulnerable or stressed because it's so "bright" all the time.

Very nice! I like that alot, I have considered doing the same for some of my herps. That would be good for a ball for a while, but I dont think life.
You should consider an aboreal snake for that enclosure. I think it would work nicely for an ATB.

I think that I will paint it solid black. I figure that he will need bigger later but I have had this in my head for a long time and wanted to do it. I was originaly going to do an aquarium in it but decided not to. I like the built in look, in fact when I build another enclosure for him later on it will be built into furniture also.

This is definantly not the cheap way into a housing for him but it looks cool and is efficient for cleaning and such. By useing the glass bottom and plexy glass backing it makes being able to clean and sanitize it a snap. I plan on useing astro turf for substrate so cleaning should be even more easy.

Sweet!

Careful on using black in exteriors heated via light - it can bump your ambient temps up way further than you might expect when it is absorbed into heat.

I have thought of that also, my under the tank geater seems to be doing fine by itself so I think I am going to down the wattage on the bulb and just use it for lighting. It should work considering the highth of the cage.