Wood and joinery
We use 18mm MCF board, which is ideal as the melamine creates a thick layer which other shelf boards do not have, this makes it more difficult for reptiles and moisture to penetrate the wood. Sadly the wood we got from B&Q for the build was warped and would not except doweling so we had to use screws for the joinery however they will be covered on completion
Glass
glass is often very costly so to keep costs down we asked if it would be okay if the vivarium fronts had wood panels (seen below) this would make us able to buy toughened glass cheaper as we could buy glass shelves and use them as the doors. If the customer had not been happy with this the price of the build would have been substantially higher. We used 6mm thick glass as it keeps the heat levels better than its 4mm counterpart.
Cutting
The first job was to measure and cut the board, the measuring was simple as I had spent a week designing the cabinet and had made sure that each dimension I had designed was accurate, Cutting was simple, I placed masking tape on the edge to stop the melamine surface chipping or lifting and used a jigsaw with a br101 blade.
Joinery
Once we had cut each piece we used various sized screws to join it together, obviously we used pilot drills and countersunk the holes which would be visable
We started by putting together the external framework.
The external framework became stable once we fixed the back
We decided for money saving purposes in accordance with the customers needs we would use domestic light fittings rather than reptile specific fittings. we mounted them on additional layers of board to make sure they heated the vivarium correctly. This board will create the top of the beardie enclosure and the bottom of the Leopard gecko enclosure.
We then fitted the lighted board and inserted two runs for the Leopard gecko enclosure, we also fixed a wall between the Leo enclosure and the live food cupboard.
This image is the same as above but we added what will be the cupboard door so we could see the overall effect.
Interior
at this point we began to arrange the interior of the vivariums, Leopard geckos require an arid rocky climate with hides and bearded dragons require a desert environment, I will add care sheets for both in the coming days with more detail on habitat requirements. We decided to use Polystyrene and Expanding Foam spray to create these habitats.
We began by lining the vivariums with polystyrene and then positioning rock ledges etc where they would look nice and provide adequate basking areas etc.
This is the Beardie enclosure with ledges for climbing and a rock are which can be hidden in etc
This will become the basking area for the Bearded dragon.
this will become a rock hide for the leopard gecko, the large polystyrene blocks will become rocks and will be separated by sand, simulating the natural environment.
this area will become and underground hide for the leopard gecko, I have also included some easy to climb ledges.
This photograph shows the beaded dragons vivarium from a distance, it is clear from here with the lighting at one end and a shaded cover area at the other that the beardie will have an adequate heat difference.
Once we had decided on a design we removed the ledges and sculpted the back walls to make them look lime large rock panels
Next we had to replace all the items we had removed glue them in with expanding foam and grout them. We will return with an update on this project in the coming days, Also keep an eye out for our other upcoming builds and care sheets. Pleas feel free to comment and let us know what you think so far, Hope to see you all soon.
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