New vivarium construction revealed… long post

[swkirrel]

Some here have asked me to detail the construction of my new vivarium. First of all, I am a novice when it comes to snakes and terrariums, but I did things to the best of my abilities.

I will keep it brief but give as much detail as necessary…

1. it’s a 40 gallon screen top Critter Cage. I covered the back and sides with black foam board from wall-mart. It keeps temps steady.

2. I am heating with a Zoo Med 100W ceramic heat bulb on a rheostat. And lighting with a 24” florescent fixture from Ace Hardware.

3. The water fall is an aluminum cake pan (so it wont rust) with a Zoo Med Micro Pump at the bottom. A small Pyrex glass dish is nestled into aquarium gravel that fills in the pan. The waterfall was tricky. Once I got the water flow the way I wanted it, I calked the rocks together so the waterfall became a solid unit. If the hole setup could run 24 hours on my counter without a single drip getting out, I figured it was ok for the vivarium.

4. The plants are philodendron and English ivy. They appear to be indestructible and look nice. I plant them in glad-ware tubs with the rims cut off. I cant wait for them to grow and fill in parts of the vivarium.

5. Everything is held in place with a plywood false bottom. Mine is 2” high. If water does get under, it won’t get the bedding wet. I made it in 2 pieces for serviceability and the cutouts are very tight so the snake cant get under it.

6. I filled the vivarium in with reptile bark and more aquarium gravel. Once done, none of the pots and pans can be seen.

Nothing in the vivarium is permanent. If I have a problem with one feature I can just pluck it out and fix it.

That is it. Its all juts stuff from Wal-Mart, hardware stores, a local pet store, and stuff I found on the ground outside.

It is a little more work than newspaper and a dog dish, but I think much more rewarding.

[pythontricker]

wow, looks nice! one thing though. keep any of those pieces of wood (that are not living and are just drift/scrap wood out of the water). it can be really bad if it molds up. I noticed a stick was really wet towards the bottom. you don't want the snake to get an RI.
looks nice though.

[monk90222]

That looks good.....I just wouldn't want to be the one to clean it each week!

[swkirrel]

It looks wet in the pic, but everything is dry except the waterfall and the gravel next to it. An inch from the fall the gravel is dry. The water that flows out of the bowl just wicks its way strait to the bottom.

[snakecharmer3638]

It looks very nice!! But I'm not seeing a hide. Perhaps you could build another rock structure on the other side for a hide.

[swkirrel]

The hide is on the far right. I originally had a hide made from rock but he wouldn’t go into it!? As soon as I put the log in he was happy.

[snakecharmer3638]

The hide is on the far right. I originally had a hide made from rock but he wouldn’t go into it!? As soon as I put the log in he was happy.

Sorry. I see it now, that you pointed it out. It blends in really well.

[STORMS]

Very cool waterfall! I'm diggin the setup Wouldn't want to clean it though Too labor intensive for me

[JLC]

That's really beautiful!! I wonder if I made something like that, if my hubby when then allow (tolerate!) having a snake displayed in the living room? LOL Thank you for sharing that....it's very inspiring!!

[littleindiangirl]

It beautiful, your creativity really made that an awesome snake haven!