# another DIY tv cabinet/enclosure thread



## Porkbones (Mar 24, 2013)

Sorry guys was having a nosey around the site and thought bugger it i might as well put up pics of my cabinet i got an turn it into something for my 20 month old bredli to live in until he gets to big for it.
so it's pretty much all done.i just gotta add the pics. I took pics for myself just so I could have something to show the transformation from start to finish.
so first of all here is Blaze I hope the photo works doing this all off my phone


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## Porkbones (Mar 24, 2013)

Awwww gawwwd.tht was a fail.looks like my pics are going to be turned.trying to find out how to get them the right way up.all my pics are on my phone


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## Porkbones (Mar 24, 2013)

Here goes nothing.so here is th cabinet I got off gumtree. Then the same day I happened to be in bunnings and saw in the clearance section 3 strip of led lighting for $15.not bad considering a single strip extension was $17.not tht I'm complaining .couldnt wait, so the first night in went the led lights


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## J-A-X (Mar 24, 2013)

I will fix the pic for you, but you'll have to wait until I'm on the PC


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## Porkbones (Mar 25, 2013)

View attachment 286291
View attachment 286292
T

Thanks jax will see how long I last with the mucking around I have to do to get them turned lol
anyway next was the background.i seen hints on APS as to where to go.rang my local Harvey Norman an the guy said come take what I needed.i jumped in the car and grabbed a whole heap.i wanted backgrounds for the back wall and the 2 angled sides.i want to leave the actual side bits for vents and to screw branches into.so I laid down the styrofoam an with liquid nails (suitable to use with styrofoam ) I glues bits here and there and cut out grooves and outlines for individual rocks


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## Porkbones (Mar 25, 2013)

I hope the last lot of pics worked. it came up with (attachment) an not actually showing the pic.but when i click on it, the pics do come up, dont know what i did there.

so back to the build.i put the 3bits of background in the cabinet just to make sure all was going to fit and to make sure I had left enough to allow for render.
i also drilled out the air vent holes on the sides ready for the little round vents from bunnings.
also in 1 of the pics you will see a piece of pine tht I will stain and clear coat.that is for my bottom glass track to sit on


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## Porkbones (Mar 25, 2013)

So after I had all 3 pieces cut out,stuck together shaped and moulded it, it was time to cover and strengthen it with sand/cement mix
So I mixed up a rather sloppy mix of sand cement and used a watery mixture of bondcrete/water to bind it all. It didnt take to long to dry as the days at that time were quite warm here in qld as it was summer.i did use a hint I had seen on APS an I added acrylic paint to the sand cement mix for each layer so I could easily see what was the 2nd or 3rd coat an if I had missed any areas.so after the 3rd coat I was left with a brown coloured background ready for painting.
I thought ild go for a dark grey rock with light grey highlights an done some areas with patches of green for a moss like effect


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## Porkbones (Mar 25, 2013)

so after I painted each section I sealed them with a mixture of bondcrete & water. I tried them in the enclosure, put the led lights on to see what it would look like.once I had them in place I screwed them from the back so they are very secure


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## ronhalling (Mar 25, 2013)

Looking gr8, tks for the pics keep them coming, looks like it is going to be a stunner, well done.......................Ron


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## Porkbones (Mar 25, 2013)

ronhalling said:


> Looking gr8, tks for the pics keep them coming, looks like it is going to be a stunner, well done.......................Ron



Thanks.wasnt going to but glad I did put some pics up


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## justin91 (Mar 26, 2013)

Awesome job man, makes me want to do another DIY project.


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## Porkbones (Mar 26, 2013)

justin91 said:


> Awesome job man, makes me want to do another DIY project.




Thanks. Can't wait till I make him his final enclosure . This is his house till the little spotted hatchie can move into here


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## Porkbones (Mar 29, 2013)

So I had pre drilled the holes in the bottom shelf to hold the piece of pine that ill have my bottom track on it.had also attached the top glass track


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## Porkbones (Apr 9, 2013)

I knew it was going all too smoothly.sat the piece of pine in the gap an sat the bottom track on it.wanted to put glass in an test it to see how it looked & worked.well it turned out it wasn't square.when closed there was a 5mm gap at the top of right hand side and a 5mm gap on the bottom left hand side.so with the lack of tools, some ingenuity and a knife and alot of patience I sliced,chipped an sanded away till both sides sat flush


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## Bart70 (Apr 9, 2013)

Porkbones said:


> View attachment 287971
> I knew it was going all too smoothly.sat the piece of pine in the gap an sat the bottom track on it.wanted to put glass in an test it to see how it looked & worked.well it turned out it wasn't square.when closed there was a 5mm gap at the top of right hand side and a 5mm gap on the bottom left hand side.so with the lack of tools, some ingenuity and a knife and alot of patience I sliced,chipped an sanded away till both sides sat flush



Great work! Thanks for posting. I have a cabinet almost identical that will one day become an enclosure.

As a sidenote, on a recent TV cabinet conversion I had the same problem with the glass not being square. I decided to run the plastic glass 'track' vertically up the sides as well as top and bottom. The track was wide enough to hide the small gap, and made it look all neat and tidy.

Good work...I will be recalling this thread when I do my near identical cabinet in the future.


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## Sarah.c192 (Apr 9, 2013)

Awesome 3D background.... I love it....

How sturdy is the styrofoam? after you sealed it can you clean it and is it safe to use? sorry for all the questions lol but thinking of doing something like this in my smaller snakes enclousure's. Dont know if it would support my 6ft python tho lol


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## Porkbones (Apr 9, 2013)

Bart70 said:


> Great work! Thanks for posting. I have a cabinet almost identical that will one day become an enclosure.
> 
> As a sidenote, on a recent TV cabinet conversion I had the same problem with the glass not being square. I decided to run the plastic glass 'track' vertically up the sides as well as top and bottom. The track was wide enough to hide the small gap, and made it look all neat and tidy.
> 
> Good work...I will be recalling this thread when I do my near identical cabinet in the future.



thanks  I manages to get it gap free.looks ok too.infact I have only just set up the new thermostat in his enclosure an he will be put in there once I know all is running well


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## Porkbones (Apr 9, 2013)

Sarah.c192 said:


> Awesome 3D background.... I love it....
> 
> How sturdy is the styrofoam? after you sealed it can you clean it and is it safe to use? sorry for all the questions lol but thinking of doing something like this in my smaller snakes enclousure's. Dont know if it would support my 6ft python tho lol



the intention when I first started was to buy a yearling spotted an put him straight in.i ended up getting a hatchling, so no need for a large enclosure.bout a month later I got a 20 month old hypo bredli. So i started doing it up for him until the spotted is ready to go in.in the last shed the skin of the bredli was 167cm so he's over 5foot. The styrofoam is very strong, the layers of sand cement mix I use strengthen it, I haven't used render so I can't comment on that but have seen a lot of posts of people using it. I thinks that's strong too but easier to apply.there is noway he will break any part of my background. in saying that tho I haven't really got big ledges for him to curl up on,but if I did do a big ledge(and I will in his next enclosure) I would make sure there was enough support under the ledge to take the weight
yep easy to clean and safe to use


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## Sarah.c192 (Apr 9, 2013)

Porkbones said:


> the intention when I first started was to buy a yearling spotted an put him straight in.i ended up getting a hatchling, so no need for a large enclosure.bout a month later I got a 20 month old hypo bredli. So i started doing it up for him until the spotted is ready to go in.in the last shed the skin of the bredli was 167cm so he's over 5foot. The styrofoam is very strong, the layers of sand cement mix I use strengthen it, I haven't used render so I can't comment on that but have seen a lot of posts of people using it. I thinks that's strong too but easier to apply.there is noway he will break any part of my background. in saying that tho I haven't really got big ledges for him to curl up on,but if I did do a big ledge(and I will in his next enclosure) I would make sure there was enough support under the ledge to take the weight
> yep easy to clean and safe to use



Thanks for the reply =)
im so excited to give it a try, keep posting its interesting seeing the progress and your doing a amazing job


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## bohdi13 (Apr 9, 2013)

Porkbones said:


> the last shed the skin of the bredli was 167cm so he's over 5foot.



just thought i would let you know that a shed of a snake can be up to 1 3rd bigger than the snake so i would say around 4ft.


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## Porkbones (Apr 10, 2013)

Sarah.c192 said:


> Thanks for the reply =)
> im so excited to give it a try, keep posting its interesting seeing the progress and your doing a amazing job



Thank you


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## Porkbones (Apr 10, 2013)

bohdi13 said:


> just thought i would let you know that a shed of a snake can be up to 1 3rd bigger than the snake so i would say around 4ft.



Thanks, never knew tht, I had him outside today and he was enjoying the sun.have put down a tape measure beside him as a rough guide but he never wanted to play the game


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## Porkbones (Apr 11, 2013)

After I got the glass sitting how I wanted, i decided to cover the outer side of the air vent holes with mesh and a wooden frame.dont know why I chose to do it this way as it would of been easier and faster to go with the plastic vents, guess I like to make things lol .after cutting all the timber to size it was now it was time to stain the bits n pieces ( piece of pine for bottom track to sit on, the frame pieces for the mesh and the bare pine on the cabinet itself where I cut it away for the glass to sit flush)


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## Porkbones (Apr 11, 2013)

So the stain is a tad different but will do.i took the door in to bunnings so we could match it,we picked the closest they had. Yes i could of sanded everything back an stained it all, but it wasnt a big deal for me and I know the snake won't mind.so frames are stained and stapled together and the piece of pine put in place with the bottom track attached


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## Porkbones (Apr 13, 2013)

Attached the frame to the outside. Gave it a clear coat on the inside,and also siliconed up all the corners, left it for a long time (easily 4 weeks ) so all fumes were goneski.


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## Womagaunt (Apr 13, 2013)

looks good so far  make sure you post more pictures when your done


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## Porkbones (Apr 14, 2013)

Womagaunt said:


> looks good so far  make sure you post more pictures when your done



Thank you.will post more today sometime


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## marleehorne (Apr 18, 2013)

WOW this is amazing, everyone reading this will look at every TV cabinet they see thinking "That would be an epic enclosure".
Can't wait to see the end product.


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## Porkbones (Apr 21, 2013)

rynoYNWA said:


> WOW this is amazing, everyone reading this will look at every TV cabinet they see thinking "That would be an epic enclosure".
> Can't wait to see the end product.



thanks. but for some reason about a week and a half ago when i tried to add another photo it said im not allowed to upload pics as the file size is to big?? all pics have been taken on my phone and never had this message come up before, so im going to have to transfer them all to computer and then resize them, a pain in the backside as i just started a new thread with a pic, and that took 10 mins to get the pic the right size lol. was so much more easier and quicker for me to work from my phone


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## Porkbones (Apr 21, 2013)

soooooooooooooo hope this works and the pic isnt to small.
now have to move all my photos from my phone to the computer and then resize them all in order for me to post pics on here
anyway in went the heat lamp. i know some dont like the big cage inside their enclosures, it doesnt worry me thats its in there and im sure the snake doesnt mind, its there for a purpose. also as you can see i added a branch (but that will be another pic)


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## RedFox (Apr 21, 2013)

Looking good so far. I bet your bredli will love it. Can't wait to see the finished product.


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## Porkbones (Apr 21, 2013)

RedFox said:


> Looking good so far. I bet your bredli will love it. Can't wait to see the finished product.




Thank you


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## Porkbones (Apr 21, 2013)

Ok this is getting me frustrated now lol, cannot post pics from my phone as all of a sudden they r to big and need to be resized which I have never had to do before.so last pic was from the computer.
the pic never showed straight away like all the others tht iv posted in this thread but instead this time u have to click on *IMG-2590* I checked the pic after I posted and it had worked.now I'm on my phone and have checked this thread and for some reason this pic has all of a sudden turned,what is going on???


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## J-A-X (Apr 21, 2013)

It seems the forum may have an issue with pics that admin may need to look into.

Some patience may be required while its being looked into


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## Porkbones (Apr 21, 2013)

J-A-X said:


> It seems the forum may have an issue with pics that admin may need to look into.
> 
> Some patience may be required while its being looked into



thanks jax 
another thing that may help you in figuring out what's is going on , I just posted a pic in my other thread "I want one of these" and the same *IMG* came up.this didnt happen on th 1st pic in the same thread, after I uploaded it in th manage attachment section it showed up as a cartoon type question mark an I now see that my picture in my DIY Thread has turned into the same type question mark hope this helps you


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## mudgudgeon (Apr 22, 2013)

looks good mate. love the "work bench" in one of your pics 



If you wanted to add water in there, you could find a round plastic tub and cut a hole into the floor so the tub just sits in the hole, easy to take out to clean etc


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## Porkbones (Apr 27, 2013)

mudgudgeon said:


> looks good mate. love the "work bench" in one of your pics
> 
> 
> 
> If you wanted to add water in there, you could find a round plastic tub and cut a hole into the floor so the tub just sits in the hole, easy to take out to clean etc



You had me wondering so I had to go back and look at this " workbench " lol yes unfortunately there was no bench at all in the garage so I had to find other things to act as a bench lol have moved house and luckily now have a bench.
hole in the floor trick sounds good. I have a water bowl in there at the moment and when I get my lazy butt into gear I was going to build something to go around the bowl, like more fake rocks


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## J-A-X (Apr 27, 2013)

Fake surround is easy enough to do, remember to make it wide at the base, it stops it getting knocked over. 

This one just lifts off the bowl and I switch it with a clean one ($2 cake container) I bought a few so if one cracks I've got spares


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## Porkbones (Apr 27, 2013)

J-A-X said:


> Fake surround is easy enough to do, remember to make it wide at the base, it stops it getting knocked over.
> 
> This one just lifts off the bowl and I switch it with a clean one ($2 cake container) I bought a few so if one cracks I've got spares


looks good. I actually brought a ceramic dog bowl for him lol was gonna make something to fit around it but now the tank is finished I just haven't been motivated to do it.
also you haven't found out if theres a problem with uploading any pics?? I was going to put up the last of them but all the hassle I've been having is really putting me off from doing so


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## J-A-X (Apr 27, 2013)

Pics are no problem from taptalk
Give it a try, what's the worst that can happen '


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## mudgudgeon (Apr 28, 2013)

I love the water bowl JAX! after seeing that, I reckon that could be a good way to go


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## Porkbones (Apr 29, 2013)

well i will try again. so after another 10 minutes of trying i hope this works lol. branch is in and a few greens around the place to give it some colour,


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## Porkbones (Apr 29, 2013)

added some fake grass, wasnt far away from getting it finished


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## Porkbones (Apr 29, 2013)

Well seems the pictures have worked


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## Rogue5861 (Apr 29, 2013)

Looks fantastic, im sure your snake will love it.


Rick


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## RedFox (Apr 29, 2013)

Looks great. The greenery really brings it together.


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## Porkbones (Apr 29, 2013)

Rogue5861 said:


> Looks fantastic, im sure your snake will love it.
> 
> 
> Rick



thanks


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## andynic07 (Apr 29, 2013)

Looks good mate, where did you get the greenery from?


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## Porkbones (Apr 29, 2013)

RedFox said:


> Looks great. The greenery really brings it together.



Thanks.i think it def needed it


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## Porkbones (Apr 29, 2013)

andynic07 said:


> Looks good mate, where did you get the greenery from?



The ivy was from spotlight $6 in think and the others were cheap like $2 & $3 from bargin city i think it was


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## andynic07 (Apr 29, 2013)

Porkbones said:


> The ivy was from spotlight $6 in think and the others were cheap like $2 & $3 from bargin city i think it was


Looks really good mate. I have been looking around the cheap shops for some lately but haven't really found anything suitable.


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## Porkbones (Apr 29, 2013)

andynic07 said:


> Looks really good mate. I have been looking around the cheap shops for some lately but haven't really found anything suitable.



Yea I had th same problem.1 shop were selling them for like $9.just keep checking ya cheap shops.just happened to go to 1 tht was selling them for $3


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## Porkbones (May 8, 2013)

so with an ornament placed up on top of the enclosure it hides the top of the light fitting and the bulky part of the thermostat.


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## Porkbones (May 12, 2013)

all done, had run everything for a few days just to check all was working fine, put blaze in there and he seemed to like the tight squeeze under the rock ledge


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## Porkbones (May 12, 2013)

View attachment 289677
View attachment 289678
View attachment 289679


so he came out from under his ledge and checked out his new enclosure


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## J-A-X (May 12, 2013)

Congrats on remembering that testing that it is fit for purpose is always the most important step. 
Never put an animal into a new environment without checking temps over the course of a week. Put the tank where it will 'live' and run heat and water in it (with doors closed) then monitor it and check the following- 

How much does it fluctuate ? Does make the thermostat work overtime ? 
Does the sun hit the tank at all 

This looks good Porkbones. Job well done your mate should love it.


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## Porkbones (May 12, 2013)

J-A-X said:


> Congrats on remembering that testing that it is fit for purpose is always the most important step.
> Never put an animal into a new environment without checking temps over the course of a week. Put the tank where it will 'live' and run heat and water in it (with doors closed) then monitor it and check the following-
> 
> How much does it fluctuate ? Does make the thermostat work overtime ?
> ...



thank you. Actually looking forward to building him 1 once he gets to big for this.but then my spotted will go in here an it will be his home


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## Porkbones (May 13, 2013)

J-A-X said:


> Congrats on remembering that testing that it is fit for purpose is always the most important step.
> Never put an animal into a new environment without checking temps over the course of a week. Put the tank where it will 'live' and run heat and water in it (with doors closed) then monitor it and check the following-
> 
> How much does it fluctuate ? Does make the thermostat work overtime ?
> ...



hey jax just wondering if my last 3 attachments are still working. I have just checked this thread (using an ipad ) and the last 3 don't come up but say "invalid attachment" but the 1 prior to these 3 still still comes up.


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## andynic07 (May 13, 2013)

Porkbones said:


> hey jax just wondering if my last 3 attachments are still working. I have just checked this thread (using an ipad ) and the last 3 don't come up but say "invalid attachment" but the 1 prior to these 3 still still comes up.


Not working for me either mate.


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## J-A-X (May 13, 2013)

I can see all the pictures embedded in the posts via Tapatalk (no link, actual picture - 

via safari (on iPhone) I get a link to an image. ! 

- interesting !!! 

I will let admin know, as only Adam can fix this


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## RedFox (May 13, 2013)

Not working on my tapatalk. A bit of a shame because I really did want to see more pics. 

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Tapatalk 2


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## Porkbones (May 14, 2013)

RedFox said:


> Not working on my tapatalk. A bit of a shame because I really did want to see more pics.
> 
> Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Tapatalk 2



after I posted tht msg to jax I checked on my phone and they showed up.SMH I don't know what's going on.very frustrating


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## Porkbones (May 14, 2013)

J-A-X said:


> I can see all the pictures embedded in the posts via Tapatalk (no link, actual picture -
> 
> via safari (on iPhone) I get a link to an image. !
> 
> ...



actually after I sent you tht msg from the iPad I checked on my iPhone.and when clicked the pictures came up. But not with the iPad.have just double checked again (on my phone)and they are still coming up.could I send them to you for you to put up?they may come up as pictures for others to see and not "attachment" that they have to click on and then it not work


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## J-A-X (May 14, 2013)

It's being investigated, it won't matter if I upload them or not, people using a computer will have an issue seeing the pics, those using Tapatalk may not (I don't seem to) 
Those using Tapatalk 2 may also have an issue, I will check later tonight on the ipad. 

Recommendations include having an external photo manager like Photobucket or Flickr an importing pics from there.


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## Rogue5861 (May 14, 2013)

Using tapatalk here. Post 54 works but the 3 in post 55 dont.


Rick


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## Porkbones (May 14, 2013)

J-A-X said:


> It's being investigated, it won't matter if I upload them or not, people using a computer will have an issue seeing the pics, those using Tapatalk may not (I don't seem to)
> Those using Tapatalk 2 may also have an issue, I will check later tonight on the ipad.
> 
> Recommendations include having an external photo manager like Photobucket or Flickr an importing pics from there.



thanks for that.i might see if I post 1 of those pics instead of 3 if that makes any difference


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## Porkbones (May 14, 2013)

Rogue5861 said:


> Using tapatalk here. Post 54 works but the 3 in post 55 dont.
> 
> 
> Rick



Yea sorry mate.the last 5 odd pics have been resized and loaded from the computer.no idea why done work and some dont


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## Rogue5861 (May 14, 2013)

Porkbones said:


> Yea sorry mate.the last 5 odd pics have been resized and loaded from the computer.no idea why done work and some dont



Could try uploading them to imageshack/photobucket and make the album public.

The pics that i can see are great, im sure your snake loves their new enclosure 


Rick


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## Porkbones (May 14, 2013)

ok so before logging into APS i tried to view my last 3 pics while using the computer and all 3 worked.im going to re post the 1st of those 3 pics and see if it helps those that havent been able to view any of the last 3.if you have tried to view the last 3 with no success but can view this 1 let me know and i will post the other 2 separately


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## Rogue5861 (May 15, 2013)

Working for me now 


Rick


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## Porkbones (May 15, 2013)

Rogue5861 said:


> Working for me now
> 
> 
> Rick



oh cool.i will put the other 2 up this arvo


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## Porkbones (May 19, 2013)

ok so here will be the last of the pics FINALLY!!!! And sorry it looks like im going to have to post them 1 at a time


so for those that couldnt view the 3 pics from a couple of posts ago this is the 2nd of those 3, didnt take him long to come out from under his ledge and explore


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## Porkbones (May 19, 2013)

the 3rd from those 3.
checking out the rock background. i have just clicked too, the last pic i just put up along with this one is once again showing up as a pic and not coming up as "attachment" or "IMG"


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## Porkbones (May 19, 2013)

had enough of the wall and checking out his branch,


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## Porkbones (May 19, 2013)

having a stretch on his branch, he has a spot he likes to lay in, half on the branch and half on the small rock ledge beside the branch


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## Porkbones (May 19, 2013)

ANNNNNNNNNNND finally, i had the thermostat just sitting ontop of the enclosure for the other pics but now as you can see i have stuck it on the front face of the cabinet and on the right hand side is a thermometer stuck to the front so i can see the cold side temp,


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## Porkbones (May 20, 2013)

Will probably do some sort of fake rock or even wood cover to go over his plastic hide


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## J-A-X (May 20, 2013)

He certainly seems to have made himself comfortable  good job to after all the work you've put in.
Admin tell us that the pics should be working ok now, they made some changes behind the scenes. The 'how to' is in the 'noteworthy threads' section


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## Porkbones (May 21, 2013)

J-A-X said:


> He certainly seems to have made himself comfortable  good job to after all the work you've put in.
> Admin tell us that the pics should be working ok now, they made some changes behind the scenes. The 'how to' is in the 'noteworthy threads' section



Hey jax, yea I mentioned in 1 of those last few pics tht it seems to be working as normal (like it did when I started this thread) and once again it showed the pics in my drafts before actually posting it.


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## Porkbones (May 25, 2013)

so here he is having dinner in his new home, gonna try and post up more than 1 pic at a time and fingers crossed it works







oh and these were taken with my phone


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## Porkbones (May 25, 2013)

just starting his dinner


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## Porkbones (May 25, 2013)

and must be getting comfortable


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## Porkbones (May 25, 2013)

nearly done, sucking it down like a bit of spaghetti


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## houdini101 (Jun 14, 2013)

what where you thinking of doing with glass making a slider??


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## houdini101 (Jun 14, 2013)

with the glass where you making it into a slider


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## Porkbones (Jun 15, 2013)

houdini101 said:


> with the glass where you making it into a slider



Hi, the 1st pic on page 6 u can see the glass sitting in the tracks.so I have sliding glass doors.( hope that answered what you were asking)


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