# Another TV cabinet conversion! New and exciting!



## konp69 (May 12, 2012)

Picking up a new snake tomorrow, a bredli, and I figured I'd take the weekend to build an enclosure for when he's big enough out of an old TV cabinet I had lying around gathering dust. So far I've been at it for a total of about 6 hours and I've already installed the vents, gotten two coats of polyurethane on it, installed the glass runners and installed a litter dam (that wound up being a little taller than I expected).

In my eagerness to get it done, I didn't take any "before" shots but here is where I'm up to now. The cabinet used to have a set of doors on it, I was trying to make them work for this but they wouldn't cooperate so I ditched them. The vents are sink strainers in pairs, one inside one outside - I wanted to go drain grates but at 10 bucks a pop I wasn't interested. $1.25 per strainer was a much better choice economically.


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## Python-Lover4lyf (May 12, 2012)

Kool ... Some great ideas there. How old is your bredli that your getting and who are you buying off?


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## konp69 (May 12, 2012)

Python-Lover4lyf said:


> Kool ... Some great ideas there. How old is your bredli that your getting and who are you buying off?



3 months old on the 16th and off jham66. Can't wait to get it. My gf is purchasing it for me as a belated birthday pressie.


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## Python-Lover4lyf (May 12, 2012)

lol kool as .. your so lucky! I recently purchased a 6 week old hypo bredli ... he's now 12 weeks old (3 months) You'll be so happy with your little guy. Bredli's are amazing and i wouldn't change mine for the world.


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## konp69 (May 12, 2012)

Python-Lover4lyf said:


> lol kool as .. your so lucky! I recently purchased a 6 week old hypo bredli ... he's now 12 weeks old (3 months) You'll be so happy with your little guy. Bredli's are amazing and i wouldn't change mine for the world.



Yeah this one's a hypo as well. It was actually really fortuitous that I found the thread where he was selling them, because like a day or so before I decided the next snake I wanted was a bredli.

Just a question - how big are they at 3 months? My spotted is just under a meter and he's about 5 years old, and I know bredlis get much bigger than that.


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## Python-Lover4lyf (May 12, 2012)

My 3 month is about 45cm - 50cm. Alot smaller than i was expecting him to be. 

Haha my first snake was a spotted to and my second a bredli. What's your spotted's temperament like? My spotted is pretty nasty  IMO hypo bredli's are the best looking pythons and one of, if not *the* most placid. But everyone has their own oppinion.


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## konp69 (May 12, 2012)

Python-Lover4lyf said:


> My 3 month is about 45cm - 50cm. Alot smaller than i was expecting him to be.
> 
> Haha my first snake was a spotted to and my second a bredli. What's your spotted's temperament like? My spotted is pretty nasty  IMO hypo bredli's are the best looking pythons and one of, if not *the* most placid. But everyone has their own oppinion.



He's super-friendly. Doesn't mind being handled now that he recognises me, is happy to have hands in his cage, doesn't get snappy or strikey. He doesn't flick his tongue though. Like, ever. I got him from a friend who could no longer care for him and even then I never recall seeing him tongue-flick.

I'd be more worried about that if he had obvious problems eating or was otherwise unhealthy but he'll be 6 soon so clearly it's not causing him problems.


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## balthazar (May 13, 2012)

Why use a TV cabinet when you can use a TV.


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## konp69 (May 13, 2012)

Lighting's done, along with adding some screws to the sides of the litter dam to hold it in place. The fitting is just a little $22 twin 20W low-profile halogen downlight wedge from Bunnings. Lights it up really well though as you can see.


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## konp69 (May 26, 2012)

$30 worth of glass and a bit of dremel tooling later, and it now has glass doors!! The tool worked quite well at getting the corners rounded. Not so fantastic for the edges but it took the sharp edge off mostly evenly. It's safe to run your fingers along the edge, at any rate.

Next up is a set of THESE and then it will be almost complete. Just have to sort out a shelf on the inside, and the background, and then it'll be ready to go. The housecat will not be a permanent resident though. He was just "testing" it.


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## Python-Lover4lyf (May 26, 2012)

Lol a good tester. It's looking good and it's lit up real well. That might be a bit big for a 3 month old bredli but as long as you have heaps of hides, can keep the temp at a constant and your bredli doesn't seemed stressed and eats without problems it should be fine! Here's my hand to show the size of my bredli. My hands are small btw lol


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## konp69 (May 26, 2012)

Python-Lover4lyf said:


> View attachment 253282
> 
> 
> Lol a good tester. It's looking good and it's lit up real well. That might be a bit big for a 3 month old bredli but as long as you have heaps of hides, can keep the temp at a constant and your bredli doesn't seemed stressed and eats without problems it should be fine! Here's my hand to show the size of my bredli. My hands are small btw lol



Eh, he's not going into it for a while. I was considering putting my spotted in there when it's finished, and putting the bredli in the spotted's old enclosure until he gets bigger. Then I'll just do a swap.

Unless there's some reason I shouldn't do that? Their scent or something?


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## Python-Lover4lyf (May 26, 2012)

There's no reason you shouldn't do that. Just give the enclosures a good scrub between swaps


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## Ambush (May 26, 2012)

My Coastal was in a big enclosure straight away. Just gave her plenty of branches and hides. She was fine and still is. She fitted into a chinese food container then.


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## Python-Lover4lyf (May 26, 2012)

pic didn't work Ambush


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## Ambush (May 26, 2012)

hhmmm not sure why. Fixed... That was taken this afternoon. Got lots.. went snap happy with the iphone.


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## konp69 (May 27, 2012)

Ambush said:


> My Coastal was in a big enclosure straight away. Just gave her plenty of branches and hides. She was fine and still is. She fitted into a chinese food container then.
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 253312



But he's so tiny, I'd be afraid he'd find the one spot I didn't properly seal or something. At the very least I'd have to get some thin ply strips or some thick felt and glue them down the inside of the right-hand pane and the outside of the left-hand pane to close that gap.

Maybe when he's a little bigger. Seriously. So tiny right now.


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## Python-Lover4lyf (May 27, 2012)

lol That's what i was worrying about konp69


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## konp69 (May 27, 2012)

*I AM A GODDAMN GENIUS*




So for a little while I've been wondering about utilising the space the two bottom drawers of this cabinet took up. My girlfriend and I bounced ideas off one another as to how exactly to achieve this - I was thinking a hinged acrylic panel, whereas she was... well actually I had all the ideas, she didn't think it'd work very well and would be "more trouble than it was worth" (due to her thinking there was a piece of wood horizontally across the front between the two drawers requiring removal). I was just removing the drawers and taking them outside when I saw the old doors from the top half. And I thought to myself "I wonder..."

Turns out I should be some kind of engineer or something because the door fits PERFECTLY across that space whilst looking really awesome. Now all that's required is a method for locking it to the cabinet when closed so it can't be nosed open (I'm thinking one of those big locking bolts for sliding doors you can get from bunnings) and a piece of wood across the bottom so it's not bare tile, and cutting a rectangular hole in the surface that's the "bottom" of the cabinet so that he will be able to get between the two spaces easily. That way he can go down there when he wants to get away from the light or whatever.

I'm quite proud of myself for coming up with this solution, to be honest.

-ninja edit-

Also, I've started working on a background using random styrofoam shapes from the packaging of our TV. It's intentionally not as tall as the cabinet so there's room for a light cage.


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## Revell13 (May 27, 2012)

thats looking effing amazing mate, keep up the great work! Going to be stealing your ideas for my snake enclosure, this is my foam "rock" wall and furniture if you want some ideas?

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/diy-zone-5392/first-attempt-terrarium-furniture-186546/


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## konp69 (May 27, 2012)

Revell13 said:


> thats looking effing amazing mate, keep up the great work! Going to be stealing your ideas for my snake enclosure, this is my foam "rock" wall and furniture if you want some ideas?
> 
> http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/diy-zone-5392/first-attempt-terrarium-furniture-186546/



Go nuts, man. Just make sure you pay me royalties if you get famous or something


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## Revell13 (May 27, 2012)

Haha deal! Same goes either way right?


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## konp69 (May 30, 2012)

I've hit a snag. I'm not sure where to place my 100w heat bulb and cage in the cabinet. I was initially planning to put it in the bottom section so he could have a nice warm hideout, but I'm worried about fire hazards (even though the fitting, cage and bulb don't radiate enough heat to ignite wood afaik) and I'm worried about him getting burnt if I place it badly.

I was originally gonna mount it horizontally in the side of the bottom section, but realised that he might try to crawl on top of the cage and meet his doom. Then I was thinking vertically in the back left-hand corner but that will be awkward and will lead to a spot inside the main cabinet either being dangerous or needing to be blocked off (with a small frame and wire mesh to allow it ventilation without being a burn hazard).

The worst part is I need to plan what I'm doing before I do it because I'll ruin the cabinet if I start drilling trial holes everywhere.

Anyone have any ideas based on my most recent photos?


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## CaptainRatbag (May 31, 2012)

Scrap the heatlamp and for heating use a heatmat & thermostat instead imo

Nice job btw


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## konp69 (May 31, 2012)

CaptainRatbag said:


> Scrap the heatlamp and for heating use a heatmat & thermostat instead imo
> 
> Nice job btw



I already bought the ceramic fitting though...



CaptainRatbag said:


> Scrap the heatlamp and for heating use a heatmat & thermostat instead imo
> 
> Nice job btw



I'm thinking make a shelf about halfway up the side to give him a basking spot or something. 

So here's the background before I paint it in a sand/cement + brown oxide + pva glue + water mix. I used gap-fill plaster to fill in a bunch of holes towards the middle, and my missus used her paper mache skills to even out a few other problem areas. I sculpted it with a box cutter knife originally but that was hard and messy. Moved to a hot coathanger which was ineffective because it cut too slow and cooled down too fast. Then my girlfriend had an idea.

Sturdy butter knife + propane blowtorch = cutting ease.

And she was right. I heated the blade til it was a dull red and then it cut through the foam as if it wasn't even there. Allowed me to sculpt a bunch of different shapes into it, took out a few sharp edges that looked "wrong" and let me blend areas into areas next to them.

Can't wait to see the final product.




-edit-

I have tried to post this as a separate reply so the thread updates 4 times now, and the board software refuses to see it as anything other than an edit to the previous post. Quite bluntly, that sucks and needs to be changed.

test


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## CaptainRatbag (Jun 3, 2012)

Sell the fitting to someone with lizzards or has an arboureal snake..... or use it for a basking lamp (not too strong)

Heatmats and cords with a thermostat will save heaps on your power bill 

The reason you cant put multiple updates unless someone posts after your last post.... is so people cant bump thier own threads back to the top 8)


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## konp69 (Jun 3, 2012)

CaptainRatbag said:


> Sell the fitting to someone with lizzards or has an arboureal snake..... or use it for a basking lamp (not too strong)



That was the plan, put a shelf maybe halfway up the wall so he can go up there to bask if he wants.

The enclosure is like 99% done!! All I have to do now is make a light cage so he can't touch the halogens and get burned!!

Here's a pic of the background finished and glued to the back. I used a cement australia sand+cement bag, a container of brown oxide, pva glue and water. The brown turned out magnificently as you can see, and it's got a nice rough texture to it.




-edit-

Aaaand it's done!! Light cage is installed, it's just a wooden frame with aluminium mesh flyscreen nailed onto it - it prevents him getting to the light whilst allowing most of the light through. Made a small frame around his tile (it's got a heat cord under it) so he can't wedge his face in there. Opening to the bottom section won't be done until he reaches a bigger size. But for now, it's good to put him in there!! When he's a bit bigger, maybe... The white line down the glass is a piece of foamcore board to clog the gap - if I do put him in there now, I don't want him nosing out through the gap in the glass panes.




We decided to put the other snake's enclosure on top of it seeing as it was basically the exact same footprint size as the top of the cabinet.


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