A TRUE DIY 4-stack vivarium....

[Kona's Daddy]

Hey, all.

I was surfing around my photobucket account, and found some pics of the 4-stack I built last year. It took me about 2 weeks, and 29 trips to Lowes...but I got it done!

Each of the 4 are 36"x18"x22" (LxHxD)

The bottom three are dedicated to my Cornsnakes...and the top one is reserved for a special BP I hope to get in a few months.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!!!

[cecilbturtle]

Looks great! What did you use to seal the wood?

[BleedingOrange36]

How much $ do you have into this? That would look great in my living room right where my girlfriends book shelf is.... I mean used to be lol

[Kona's Daddy]

Looks great! What did you use to seal the wood?

I REALLY wish I could remember what I used. I do know I spent a couple months on the internet, doing research for all the materials and such. That's how I came to the decision to use oak plywood for the construction...and after sanding and wiping it down, I used a specific stain that came very highly rated (very low fumes). The name, though, escapes me. I have a layer on linoleum on the bottom of each tank, with the heat pad sitting on top of it. Then another layer of linoleum on top of that...and sealed all the way around with silicone. All the interior corners have silicone sealing, as well.

For my cornsnakes, there are two layers of thin linoleum on top of the heatpad, to keep the temps right. Those tanks sit at about 80 degrees, ambient...with an 84-85 degree hotspot for each.

The top one...for my future BP, has a single linoleum sheet over the heatpad. The hotspot temp is right around 90-92 degrees...and ambient temp hovers around 83-84. I think I have the "heat rises" thing going on pretty good.

What is REALLY awesome, in my opinion, is that all four tanks work off of one thermostat. I keep the probe in the top tank, and the stat is set to 90 degrees. Somehow...some way...it just worked out to where all the tanks are at where they need to be to keep all my babies comfy and cozy!!

- - - Updated - - -

How much $ do you have into this? That would look great in my living room right where my girlfriends book shelf is.... I mean used to be lol

All in all - I have about $450-$475 bucks in the tank, itself. Probably another $150 in heatpads, thermostat, and furniture.

To be honest...I spent more than that in materials, due to a couple...um...mathematical errors during the wood-cutting phase.

From start to finish, I spent about $700. That includes buying some extra hardware, an additional sheet of plywood, and a new saw blade.

After seeing what custom enclosures sell for on the net, I figure I got mine squared away for about half-price, easy!!

Not for nuthin', but this thing is SOLID. I impressed the hell out of myself, when it was done. My babies seem to like it pretty well, too!