Went to Bunnings....

[Smittiferous]

Went to Bunnings, bought some stuff:

Gonna make something.

Stay tuned, will include progress photos. Like this one:

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[pinefamily]

I feel a new monitor enclosure coming on.......

 

[Smittiferous]

Bingo. 1800x900x600, with a removable partition in the centre. It's going to house my young feller and another rather young flavi I purchased but haven't collected yet. They'll each have 900x900 to run amok in. That'll do them for the next six months, when I'll be building another of the same size, removing the partition and they can each have about 1.6 square metres to frolic about in for the next couple of years.

Snagged about 5 metres of flexible aggie drain today at work, for burying to make an epic tunnel network. Sincerely hope these guys love it!

 

[Smittiferous]

More progress...

Beardy Hilton that is awaiting glass... Two levels, each level 1500x600x600 plus cupboard space down below

Detail of waling plates for roof support, for those interested in building their own box soon...

Set down 18mm from top of side panes, so the roof panels sit flush. Roof will be made up of two 1800x450 FJ pine panels.

I use FJ pine panel for all exterior faces, looks so much nicer than melamine, ply or interlocking pine lining panel/mouldings (which I will be using for the rear wall)

Also, pro tip... Phillips head screws can go rust in hell. Square drive next time, for sure.


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[Smittiferous]

Test fit of roof:

Advertised 18mm FJ panel is actually 19mm, woe is me for not checking thickness more thoroughly before fixing the offset waling plates they sit on. Bleh...

Still deciding how great my tolerance is for that inherent comfortable level of "wrong" with home projects....

Few more beers and it'll be flush fit


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[pinefamily]

My wife always tells me if my DIY was perfect, it wouldn't have that DIY feel, lol.

 

[Smittiferous]

Today wasn't so productive, spent most of the day flitting between Bunnings, Masters, local aquarium and Amazing Amazon collecting materials and supplies.


Removable partition fitted:

150mm deep shelf/platform at the front, will have some tiles atop it, to keep sand buildup from the front air vents

Bought a box of these tiles, 300x300, some cut in half for the shelf and the rest to be used for stacks.

All that remains in terms of woodwork is the back wall and cutouts for vents. Tossing up whether or not to use mouldings to hide the discrepancies with the pine panels. Would look much nicer but I'm still having nightmares from all the mitre joins on the mouldings with the beardy Hilton....

Regarding stack tier sizing, would all levels the same size be acceptable? I'm thinking having the bottom level full size and progressively trimming 50mm from one edge for each tier up, making the top tier 300x150. Any thoughts from those who know better? These guys are currently only about 150 (flavi) and 175mm (gouldii) SVL, give or take, should be adequate for the next six months?


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[pinefamily]

We have only put tile stacks in with our ackies, but we kept the tiles the same for all the levels.

 

[Smittiferous]

Ok cheers! Another concern has arisen, as to suitable adhesive for bonding the tiles to the stand-offs that keep the levels of the stacks spaced. My worries are how things like liquid nails hold up to heat, and whether or not they give off noxious stuff when continuously exposed to heat. Seen it written that it's fine, I looked up the MSDS but that only contained info on while it was wet, not once it had cured.

 

[pinefamily]

I used liquid nails and small blocks of wood as spacers.

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[Smittiferous]

Glass in, electrician wired up the lighting, stacks assembled. With added cat.

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[pinefamily]

3 for heat, 1 for UV?

 

[Smittiferous]

Two spot heat, one UV and one for ceramic emitter for background heat when necessary. I may change that up though, once I see how well/poorly the enclosure maintains heat.


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[pinefamily]

As long you're getting the required temps at the basking spot it should be fine

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[Smittiferous]

Final fit and finish I guess. Glass is out for the photos. Back wall in place, all vents fitted. Kinda done.

Not impressed with the paint used for the back wall, it marks so easily. No matter though, I'll be making a feature to hang over it at a later date.

Will also be adding mouldings and a stain of some kind in the coming months, next clean-out day I'd imagine, once it's warm enough for them to spend a day in the outdoor mesh setup catching some real UV.

Critique welcome


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[pinefamily]

Nice job. Have you sealed the wood?

 

[ronhalling]

[MENTION=32194]Smittiferous[/MENTION], no critique needed on that job bud, it is fabulous and i can imagine how good it is going to look with a 3D background, i only have 1 question though: why is the front glass area so small would it have not been better to have a 1 inch bottom section for the glass runner so you could display your animals to their fullest? .........................Ron

 

[pinefamily]

Ron, I don't know what Smittiferous' reasoning is for doing so, but having a higher lip helps prevent sand getting in the tracks (and on the floor!). Sandy's fling sand everywhere when they dig.

 

[Smittiferous]

[MENTION=38465]pinefamily[/MENTION] Yes, internally, with a non-toxic clear seal.
[MENTION=36030]ronhalling[/MENTION] The front bottom strip is so high to allow a nice thick amount of substrate for them to dig around in, without having it pile up against and inside the glass tracks or air vents. If I had the right tools I'd have ripped it to be slightly shorter, but I don't, so had to go with the stock sizes at Bunnings.

I sorta went into this project knowing what end result I wanted but kind of designed it in my head while I was buying the materials, not the best way to go.


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[Smittiferous]

So it is now furnished and occupied.

Jonesy the space cat, my original critter, giving his new home a thorough inspection:

Meanwhile George, the new addition (alleged flavi) just sits and chills:

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