# Revell's DIY Thread



## Revell13 (May 17, 2012)

Hi guys, 

I am a new member to Aussiepythons but I have been reading a lot of your posts in relation to my new water dragons and getting lots of tips and ideas about everything from husbandry to heating.

Tonight I came across the DIY section and thought I would share my progress with building my own terrarium furniture for my little guys 

So, where to start, I suppose I should start with the Lizard Landscapes youtube videos that made me believe this was all possible, so after watching a few of their videos and getting my supplies (thanks bunnings) I got started, just a simple little bridge between the land and water sections of my terrarium (4ft x 2ft x 2ft, glass, sliding glass doors)

This was attempt number one!


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## Marzzy (May 17, 2012)

Kinda looks like you put foam in a plastic bag and called it a bridge?


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## Timmeh103 (May 17, 2012)

^^ seconded, did you just upload the wrong photo??


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## Revell13 (May 17, 2012)

As you all can see, this is a garbage bag, full of broken bits of foam and liquid nails, so, as I have never tried to build or create anything before in my life (no joke, I fail at anything "hands on") I decided on a design approach!

Yay, pencil to paper and I have a much better idea of what I'm trying to accomplish!

So now, with attempt one well and truly in the bin, designs in front of me, a mock up of my terrarium (glass terrarium was still on lay buy at this stage) and $85 worth of foam (yeah ouch) I started!


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## Marzzy (May 17, 2012)

Not very artistic ? I've got my foam just gotta buy a backboard not game enough to do it, I not very artistic so it's probably gonna suck.

Looks like its going alright went overboard with the design lol can't wait to see the finished product marked out so well.


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## Revell13 (May 17, 2012)

You can see from the 4th photo that I have decided to make the furniture in 4 parts, the back wall, the hide, the basking platform above that and another platform that juts out over the water section of my terrarium.

This was so I could take out pieces individually without having to take the top off my enclosure.

In the last photo is the somewhat completed hide, less embellishments.



Marzzy said:


> Not very artistic ? I've got my foam just gotta buy a backboard not game enough to do it, I not very artistic so it's probably gonna suck.



I'm not only not artistic, I basically fail at everything DIY man, honestly, give this a shot, great fun, and a lot of red drunk and cigarets smoked in the garage completing it


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## Marzzy (May 17, 2012)

Are the sides all gonna be covered with a stone effect or is it going to be rock here wood there hide here wood there ?


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## Revell13 (May 17, 2012)

Marzzy said:


> Looks like its going alright went overboard with the design lol can't wait to see the finished product marked out so well.



I'm much more of a draw things person than a build things person lol, and more pics/info/storyline coming!


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## Marzzy (May 17, 2012)

I can build anything, when it comes to something with an artistic side it ends in the bin lol. Much like your bag hate to stuff up on 80 bucks worth of foam did you try Harvey Norman,Good Guys ?

I'm tryin to get a mate to do a fish tank one while I do my snake one. 600x900 3 walls


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## Revell13 (May 17, 2012)

Marzzy said:


> I can build anything, when it comes to something with an artistic side it ends in the bin lol. Much like your bag hate to stuff up on 80 bucks worth of foam did you try Harvey Norman,Good Guys ?



I got my foam from a packaging company in Wollongong that had to freight it in from SA, I couldn't find any foam worth using in Bunnings or the local hardware places. In the end I went with 20 sheets of medium density 120cmx60cmx60cm (1cm thick) and I have a fair bit spare.

Ok so we are at the "building things out of foam" stage, which took WAY longer than it should have, but as I said, first attempt and building ANYTHING so I was learning as I went 

Here is the hide and the start of platform 1







Next we have the embellishments on the hide (all done in foam, scratching it with fingernails to get the rough look) and the start of platform 2.








OH LOOK, A BACK WALL!




Now I have everything I need made, I waited till I could pay off the tank so I could do a final double check to make sure everything fits before I start grouting, and this is the result!




Whilst still creating the dragons furniture, I "acquired" some common garden skinks, and decided they needed a home as well, so using the same method, I built them a 1 piece "rock" wall and hide, used a sand and herringbone fern substrate, threw in some driftwood and pinhead crickets, and I now have a family of skinks living on my computer table 




Would love some feedback around now?


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## Skelhorn (May 18, 2012)

That looks awesome mate, how long did it take you to pull that off?


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## Revell13 (May 18, 2012)

Skelhorn said:


> That looks awesome mate, how long did it take you to pull that off?



Up to that stage, including the design phase was about 4 weeks, I had to wait a week for the foam, could have been done in around a week and a half if I knew what I was doing, I'll upload some more recent pics now 

This is the grout stages, there are 3-4 layers of grout total on every piece, making them quite strong as its only made of foam otherwise.





As you can see, the pieces are different colours, I had this tip from the guys at Lizard Landscapes so that I will know where I'm up to at each grout phase and so I make sure I don't miss any spots from layer to layer, my grout was white, I just threw some cheap acrylic paint in to each mix.

The timber in the second photo here is getting holes drilled and its going to become the water feature/filter outlet, that 3rd of the tank has been sealed (badly, I'm still waiting for 2nd attempt to set D: ) and its going to be around 5 inches deep, a perfect little swimming pool for my WDs, and also home to a few fresh water guppies


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## maddog-1979 (May 18, 2012)

looks pretty nice mate.....way too tedious for me,lol


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## Revell13 (May 18, 2012)

maddog-1979 said:


> looks pretty nice mate.....way too tedious for me,lol



I understand the feeling, but as I am a uni student living at home, it gave me an excuse to chill out in the garage, drink red wine and smoke till my hearts content, all under the guise of being "constructive"


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## bohdi13 (May 18, 2012)

hey mate did you say acquired garden skinks as you took them from the wild or bought them ?:\


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## dragonlover1 (May 18, 2012)

looks pretty good mate pity I haven't got the time to make stuff like that


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## Revell13 (May 18, 2012)

bohdi13 said:


> hey mate did you say acquired garden skinks as you took them from the wild or bought them ?:\



I said, quite pointedly, acquired. 

OK, ill be honest, the first one was a rescue attempt, I found a badly mauled skink in my pool and tried to save it, "Champ" as he is now called is living very happily in my skink enclosure, his tail is starting to grow back and he has put on weight (maybe even a little bit fat ) He gets around on 2 and a half legs, his right side is almost undamaged besides some scaring, but I had to amputate his back left leg entirely, and he was already missing his front right foot. All encompassing, I saved him from certain death in the wild, as he was in large amounts of shock from the dog attack and the subsequent amputation and was not in a fit state to remove himself from harms way, nor did he attempt to when I first attempted to release him.

The subsequent additions to my skink enclosure came about whilst I was mowing the lawn, I "rescued" the little critters from certain death by either whippersnipper or lawn mower.

Whilst I know (as I am a licensed reptile keeper in NSW) that it is illegal to capture reptiles from the wild, I believe there must be a loophole somewhere that allows me to rescue and rehabilitate reptiles caught in my own suburban backyard.

Footnote to this post, please don't report me to the authorities, honestly these little skinks have a pretty sweet pad here, plenty of food, fresh water daily, shelter, warmth, steady diurnal UVB lighting and me to look after them.



dragonlover1 said:


> looks pretty good mate pity I haven't got the time to make stuff like that



Honestly I did it half drunk in the back shed, the reason I'm posting this is to let people know its EASY, give it a shot even if it is just one night a week, you will be amazed at what you can create 

Now where were we, AHHA! grouting finished, four layers on each piece of furniture, and its time for PAINT, I ended up using a mildly sandstone coloured exterior paint mixed in with clean sand and then a slightly darker brown for highlights, here are a few more happy snaps to show the progress




First layer of paint. ^






Second layers with darker highlights and sand. ^

Now, in relation to the aforementioned piece of wood/waterfeature/filter outlet, I finished drilling the holes in them just tonight, did a quick test with the hose running water through them to check the flow patterns, and it appears to have worked! 

Once the silicone has dried tomorrow (I put it in last week, waited 7 days etc) I'll fill the water side of my terrarium and see if it holds, if we are in luck, I will be able to post fully completed photos of my setup tomorrow night! If, however, the silicone leaks again it will set me back another week in the build process and I will be devo.


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## Venomous_RBB (May 18, 2012)

Looks good, interested to see the final product


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## Becceles (May 19, 2012)

Looks pretty sweet! What's going in there?


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## Revell13 (May 19, 2012)

Becceles said:


> Looks pretty sweet! What's going in there?



Going to be putting my baby Eastern Water Dragon's in there 

Just about to fill the water side with water, wish me luck the silicone holds! I'll post again once its (hopefully) finished tonight 

HAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA IT WORKS! 

Posting pics now!

So I've spent the entire day putting the finishing touches on my water dragon enclosure, and I'm finally done, here are the pics, would love you guys to tell me what you think!








And the little rascals seam to be fitting in just fine


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## White Wolf (May 20, 2012)

Looking good !!  your water dragons look very happy


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## Revell13 (May 20, 2012)

White Wolf said:


> Looking good !!  your water dragons look very happy



Thanks mate, they all seam to be doing well, but none are eating very much at the moment, maybe partial brumation? finger length EWDs should be eating more than one small cricket a day yes? I'm starting to get a bit worried tbh.


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## White Wolf (May 20, 2012)

I know nothing about EWDs, but would think that they would be eating more. Hopefully someone with more knowledge than I will pop in and help you out.

Good luck hope they start eating more soon !!


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## Emilie (May 20, 2012)

Feeder fish in the tank might be good?


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## Revell13 (May 20, 2012)

Emilie said:


> Feeder fish in the tank might be good?




Yeah I have 8 colourful guppies, 2 paradise fish and 2 others who's name escapes me at the moment, I got relatively cheep fish incase the dragons want seafood


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## ForgottenXo (May 21, 2012)

This is awesome! I really REALLY wish i was this creative. It has given me some awesome ideas, i think ill have to work on designing something awesome for my little lizardy friends. I especially love the built in water feature. It is deffinately more aesthetically pleasing than a tub full of water. I MAY have to draw something up and give it a go. You will never know how successful you are going to be until you try...
^ Thats right isnt it? 
Great job 

Kayte Xo


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## Revell13 (May 21, 2012)

ForgottenXo said:


> This is awesome! I really REALLY wish i was this creative. It has given me some awesome ideas, i think ill have to work on designing something awesome for my little lizardy friends. I especially love the built in water feature. It is deffinately more aesthetically pleasing than a tub full of water. I MAY have to draw something up and give it a go. You will never know how successful you are going to be until you try...
> ^ Thats right isnt it?
> Great job
> 
> Kayte Xo



Absolutely Kayte, this is my first try at building ANYTHING, the main reason I posted this was to encourage people to give it a shot themselves, its easier than it looks! Check out the photo's of my original designs, they really helped me craft this to completion!

Once I'm finished the waterfeature/filter system (hopefully tomorrow) I'll post more in-depth pics on how I have it set up so that the water filter outlet turns the log in the water into a full flowing water feature/waterfall.

Thanks for commenting!


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## Revell13 (May 26, 2012)

*Final Picture* with everything in and all finished, fish in the water, filter running properly, dragons happy and well fed, reptibark substrate and live plants.


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## pretzels (May 26, 2012)

thats wicked! did you make the rock wall and shelves too?


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## Brenny10 (May 27, 2012)

Dude, just went through all this thread.. TBH, I hate people that are like "I can't do this, I blow", then come out and make shizz like Jesus! hahaha. I would buy EVERYTHING you've made.. Lol. Everything looks awesome, bro! 

I actually AM really 'spesh' myself at making stuff like this, but I just love how it all comes out. Gotta say, you've given me a fair bit of inspiration to do this (besides the $80 for foam, deal.. hahaha, I was thinking "Where the fugg can I rack foam from?!?!". hahahah) 

Would look awesome NOT JUST for my EWD, but for my scorps, aswell. 

Just chucking in my 2 cents on your last few posts; 

I've got a 14-16 week old EWD who was eating like 6 small crickets a day, then I went up to medium and he was smashing like 2, sometimes 3 a day. Only problem with this, though, is that I needed to actually hold the crickets with my tweezers and dangle them infront of his face for him to start getting keen... I still do feed him with my tweezers! If I was to just chuck a cricket in there, 90% of the time he would be keen for it, but wouldn't run around and try and catch them, etc.. lol. He'd act all lazy, but then other days he jumps like 40cm to the ground to mess a crickets day up! haha.

Let us know how you go with yours but, dude.


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## Revell13 (May 27, 2012)

pretzels said:


> thats wicked! did you make the rock wall and shelves too?



Yeah made the whole thing myself, it was great finishing it, I felt such an amazing sense of achievement, you can have a look at the first few photos of the drawings, they were my original plans and I sort of just went from there, it changed a bit as I went and found some things worked and others didn't. 



Brenny10 said:


> Dude, just went through all this thread.. TBH, I hate people that are like "I can't do this, I blow", then come out and make shizz like Jesus! hahaha. I would buy EVERYTHING you've made.. Lol. Everything looks awesome, bro!
> 
> I actually AM really 'spesh' myself at making stuff like this, but I just love how it all comes out. Gotta say, you've given me a fair bit of inspiration to do this (besides the $80 for foam, deal.. hahaha, I was thinking "Where the fugg can I rack foam from?!?!". hahahah)
> 
> ...



Ive been watching the little rascals lately and they have been eating a bit more and they all seam to be a pretty healthy weight, I want them to remain self sufficient when it comes to getting food so for the most part the crickets are in their enclosure and they can eat whenever they want, occasionally I will hand feed one and they are all taking the hand feed food 

I would be more than happy making you a small custom feature for your scorpions, just tell me L x H x W of your scorpion enclosure and some ideas for what you want in there and ill make it out of the leftover foam I still have, free but you pay for postage or come pick it up. I can also give you a step by step guide to the build process of that item so you can take the instructions and make something larger for your EWDs 




Rascal finishing off a cricket


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## pretzels (May 27, 2012)

i did see your drawings. they confused me lol. iv got sheets and sheets of plans for my tv unit conversion. feel free to come and build mine! im stuck on how to do all the actual building stuff lol


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## Revell13 (May 27, 2012)

I haven't played around with building with wood or anything yet, mine is ALL foam and grout, but its started a passion and now I want to try and build all sorts of things (to varying degrees of success)


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## pretzels (May 27, 2012)

yer i cant build at all..but im hoping my brothers will do most of that...either that or bribe my uncle haha.


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## Mitch_89 (May 27, 2012)

*lookin good*

Looks good i just finished my first as u no and im trying to sell it to get funds for a mssive rainforest one... next project ill do a step by step like u have here....


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## Brenny10 (May 27, 2012)

Yeah, awesome dude! I've just got one of those EXO TERRA $90 packages for Desert scorpions (pretty sure).. Don't know the dimensions but I can find out pretty easily.. I'm getting some Rainforest scorps in 2 days and I have been thinking about what I can do for them.. I am gonna have something communal, so maybe a number of different little holes in medium sized hide would be alright for atleast 2 to live in (I will have 5). I've got a bunch of little ideas that I would like that would be pretty simple (compared to what you've already done) so I am definitely interested!

Where are you located, man?


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## Revell13 (May 28, 2012)

Im down in Wollongong, if you give me the exact dimensions and a rough (even a REALLY ROUGH) sketch of what your after ill see what I can do, Ive just started plans on a flexarium for another bloke on here thats going to be held together by magnets, this building thing is great fun 

As I have recently been in contact with NPWS about keeping wild caught Lampropholis delicata (common garden skinks) and how I am not allowed, all of my garden skinks have been returned to the wild.


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## Brenny10 (May 30, 2012)

Revell13 said:


> Im down in Wollongong, if you give me the exact dimensions and a rough (even a REALLY ROUGH) sketch of what your after ill see what I can do, Ive just started plans on a flexarium for another bloke on here thats going to be held together by magnets, this building thing is great fun
> 
> As I have recently been in contact with NPWS about keeping wild caught Lampropholis delicata (common garden skinks) and how I am not allowed, all of my garden skinks have been returned to the wild.



It'll be "really rough" whether you like it or not, mate.. hahaha, I am a terrible drawer (yes, even lines).. lol. 

I'll hit you back when I get home tomorrow  

Just got my new scorps today so pretty interested within the next fortnight on purchasing some cool little caves?? 

I'll draw you a pic tonight and post it when I'm done of something small I am after taht maybe you already have.. 

Ta.


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## Revell13 (May 31, 2012)

Pretty sure this is what your after, did you want a divider between sections 2 and 3?





Sorry about the ****ty drawings, its 2am and I've just polished off a bottle of red and 2 valium


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## Brenny10 (May 31, 2012)

That's exactly what I was after, dude.. - and yes, a divider between 2 & 3 is what I'm after.. 

- and yeah, on the 3rd section, I just want it like carved in so it's a slope that the scorps can walk up, then perhaps on the side of the 1st section, there be a slope going down again. I dunno man.


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## Skelhorn (May 31, 2012)

Revell13 said:


> Going to be putting my baby Eastern Water Dragon's in there
> 
> Just about to fill the water side with water, wish me luck the silicone holds! I'll post again once its (hopefully) finished tonight
> 
> ...



That looks awesome, makes me wish I had the motivation to pull something like this off haha. Amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it tho, GOOD WORK


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## Revell13 (May 31, 2012)

Brenny10 said:


> That's exactly what I was after, dude.. - and yes, a divider between 2 & 3 is what I'm after..
> 
> - and yeah, on the 3rd section, I just want it like carved in so it's a slope that the scorps can walk up, then perhaps on the side of the 1st section, there be a slope going down again. I dunno man.



too easy mate, ill do up a pro to type tonight to scale and send you some photo's so you know what your getting before I start grouting.



Skelhorn said:


> That looks awesome, makes me wish I had the motivation to pull something like this off haha. Amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it tho, GOOD WORK



Cheers Skel, hopefully I've inspired some other people to give it a crack, as Ive said before, this was my very first attempt at making anything


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## dragonlover1 (Jun 2, 2012)

Revell13 said:


> Going to be putting my baby Eastern Water Dragon's in there
> 
> Just about to fill the water side with water, wish me luck the silicone holds! I'll post again once its (hopefully) finished tonight
> 
> ...


very nice work you should be very happy with what you've done



Revell13 said:


> Thanks mate, they all seam to be doing well, but none are eating very much at the moment, maybe partial brumation? finger length EWDs should be eating more than one small cricket a day yes? I'm starting to get a bit worried tbh.


did you give it time for the paint and sealer to dry and air out before you added the dragons,paint fumes can be a killer


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## Revell13 (Jun 2, 2012)

dragonlover1 said:


> very nice work you should be very happy with what you've done
> 
> 
> did you give it time for the paint and sealer to dry and air out before you added the dragons,paint fumes can be a killer



I ended up using an expensive exterior paint and no sealer, but yes, the pieces spent almost a week out in the sun drying and de-fuming so that my reptiles are all healthy, good question and nice pickup, I should have explained that more thoroughly.

Since posting all of these pictures I decided to add a strip of natural wood to the top of the perspex in the middle of the enclosure, in the process I broke the seal on the silicone and flooded my (carpet) bedroom 

Now, having re-sealed EVERYTHING in the enclosure, I'm waiting the final few days for the sealant fumes to disperse so I can reestablish my critters environment.

Lesson learnt, DONT F#*! WITH PRE EXISTING SILICONE SEALS! It really made me have a bad day.


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## tyson001 (Jun 3, 2012)

Looks amazing would love to build one like that.


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## Revell13 (Jun 3, 2012)

tank+lighting+building materials+filter = i don't want to know, easily $900+
time = around 40+ hours
worth it? 
Absolutely. I love it.

Tank still not up and running, still can't get the seal right, I can only now just STRESS to everyone and anyone trying this setup themselves to get a tank with an aquarium sealed bottom, my corners are still leaking and its driving me up a wall!

Finished Product.


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## mudgudgeon (Jun 13, 2012)

Looks good, similar to what I did for my EWDs. Only problem is, the buggers grow FAST. Mine are 18months old, one is 60cm, the other about 50cm, I'm flat out building a huge indoor enclosure for them.


Was going to say, chuck a heap of crickets in the enclosure, they will hunt them down, but sounds like you have that covered ;-)
My little guys started out very shy and would hunt at night after their IV light was off.

They're great fun, my biggest is a male, he'll sit on my shoulders now while I walk around the house


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## Pink (Jun 13, 2012)

That's come up really well! I wanted to do something like that when I had plans for an EWD too, but sadly not enough room here at the moment.


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## Revell13 (Jun 13, 2012)

Thanks guys, yeah they have a constant supply of live crickets in the enclosure, and in turn the crickets have food and wet cotton balls so they don't die before being eaten lol.

Go for it anyway Pink, thats only a 4ft tank, you must have 4ft of room somewhere


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## crocka79 (Jun 13, 2012)

Top effort! DIY is very addictive. if anyone needs foam in the adelaide area ive got a whole heap in the shed that isnt needed. all packing foam from whitegoods, tv's etc so no flat sheets cheers


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## Revell13 (Jun 14, 2012)

Just been told off on Mad's 4400 thread for hijacking so all my other DIY stuff is coming over here, ill repost a bit, then move on as each new item comes up 

This is one of 2 new "gecko only" hides I will be attaching to the glass side walls near the front of my enclosure, its Gecko only because you have to be able to climb glass to get to it 




This is the scorpion rock/hide I've just finished making for a mate up in QLD.







This is the start of my copper tailed skink rock/hide.
Ill keep you guys updated on this one as its the current project 





Also doing a small water dish in the "ReptileOne" fashion, no pics yet.


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## Venomous_RBB (Jun 14, 2012)

These all look so good, love your little EWD 
They all must be so happy living at your house, lol. Would love to see some pic's of your skinks


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## Revell13 (Jun 15, 2012)

Thanks BH92! 
Ive got a pic of my 2 copper tails around here somewhere, ill see if I can find it 




Also... Tonight I came to the realisation that all serious DIY'ers have a pyramid of sorts that they have created (Mad's looks awesome! check out his thread http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/diy-zone-5392/mad-4400-hides-fake-rock-162898/ ) and so I did some research and started my first pyramid.

Its Incan inspired, and is 300mm by 300mm square, and is going to be the centrepiece to my (soon too be bought) 45x45x45 tank.

Photo time!

This is the 2nd layer of paint for my Skink rock/hide, I'm going to go back to the blue grey for the last coat because so far all my creations are this tan colour and I'm over it 




This was the prototype I made last night to see whats involved in making a temple shape.




This is the Temple I started tonight 











Bottle of red cracked (Mr. Noir, pinot) and a bit more work done this afternoon, got the steps in and all the in between steps (they are fiddly as hell) finished off then managed to wreak the top bit and had to remake it 3 times to get it right again lol.

Just letting the liquid nails dry a bit (like, after dinner) before I make up some grout to get started on this one 

To all the budding DIYers out there, GET OUT THERE and start creating  






Liquid nails dry, and its time for grouting, I wanted to try something a little different this time, so I mixed up 40:40:20 water/exterior paint/bondcrete and did my first layer with that mix, I think its worked pretty well, went on nice and smoothly and gripped to the foam very well.





Also did a bit of "dry-brush" work to a few of my older pieces, this was my first attempt and dry brushing and I'm in love! It makes such a difference to the final product, a much more natural look. 

Got the final layer of paint onto the copper tail hide rock, will dry brush it tomorrow with silver and black (just to be different) and move the little guys in on Sunday so long as the paint fumes have gone (it will be sitting outside in the sun all day Saturday)

Would love to hear what you guys think, and IM RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS!!! HELP!!! =D


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## dragonlover1 (Jun 18, 2012)

looking good revell,keep it up


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## Grogshla (Jun 18, 2012)

I love the Mayan Pyramids!!!!!


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## McFly (Jun 18, 2012)

Gday everyone ive never been one to make the hides and stuff I've made an enclosure but would like to give this a go. Just a quick one where do you get all the styrofoam and wats it covered in?


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## Revell13 (Jun 18, 2012)

If you read the first page of this post I explain the whole process, but quickly for what your after in your post, I got the foam from Supplies Direct but most packaging/storage/freighting places should have some to sell, and its covered in Dunlop SuperFine Flexigrout x3 and then a high quality exterior paint x3 with sand mixed into the 3rd layer. Once thats all dry, do the last bits of dry brushing till you get the desired rock/tree/aged look you are going for and 2 coats of cromelins(?) clear pond sealer.



Grogshla said:


> I love the Mayan Pyramids!!!!!



I'll keep you updated on the build of this one so you can keep me on the straight and narrow for how it should look  Anything you think I should add so far? Im not sure how decorative I should go, I'm trying to build a "new" pyramid, not a ruin, and I'm also unsure of the final colour.... help me out bro


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## Jaws07 (Jul 2, 2012)

This is so cool! I'm hoping to do something like this for the 36x18x36 Exo Terra I will be getting for 1 or 2 water dragons in a couple weeks. A couple questions, where did you get the foam and which type of foam is it? Also is it water proof?


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## Revell13 (Jul 3, 2012)

Jaws07 said:


> This is so cool! I'm hoping to do something like this for the 36x18x36 Exo Terra I will be getting for 1 or 2 water dragons in a couple weeks. A couple questions, where did you get the foam and which type of foam is it? Also is it water proof?



Your going to need a much bigger enclosure than that for EWDs lol, good while they are hatchies but in 12months time they will have outgrown it.
The foam is from a packaging supply company in Wollongong and its waterproof only because it has been grouted, painted and sealed.


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## Jaws07 (Jul 4, 2012)

Okay thank you, I am only needing for the water dragons to be in there for 12 months because then my angle headed dragon will be taking the enclosure and I will be building a HUGE indoor enclosure


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## Revell13 (Jul 4, 2012)

Jaws07 said:


> Okay thank you, I am only needing for the water dragons to be in there for 12 months because then my angle headed dragon will be taking the enclosure and I will be building a HUGE indoor enclosure



Very nice mate I'm jealous, I'm looking at getting angel headed dragons at some stage in the future, let me know how they work out for you


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## Venomous_RBB (Jul 5, 2012)

Aww your skinks are adorable, love your temple, looking awesome


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## Jaws07 (Jul 7, 2012)

Revell13 said:


> Very nice mate I'm jealous, I'm looking at getting angel headed dragons at some stage in the future, let me know how they work out for you



Thanks mate, would love to see some updated pics of the DIY enclosure for your water dragons.


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## oOLaurenOo (Jul 8, 2012)

Fan-freaking tastic! lol love it. All of it looks great.


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## Revell13 (Jul 9, 2012)

Got a few more things going at the moment, a wall and separate hide for my marbled gecko (looking at getting more and breeding in the future) and once I get his tank, a back wall, hide and basking platform for my new beardie who was a giveaway from the parents of a teenager who stopped looking after it. It has some shedding issues, skin growing over claws, looks to be suffering from a lack of eyesight in one eye at least, vitamin D and calcium deficiency... Will take a while to nurse this little guy back to health


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## Jaws07 (Jul 9, 2012)

Okay great, when you get a chance just post some more pics of your DIY and your reps.


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## cathy1986 (Jul 12, 2012)

can you make me a snake hide plzzzzz


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## Revell13 (Jul 13, 2012)

Hahah, yeah I can make you a hide, just give me specs and ill post it to you in 2 weeks


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## Jaws07 (Jul 30, 2012)

revell, how are the little guys going? any updates? I've actually started a thread on a new DIY background I'm doing.


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## Revell13 (Aug 3, 2012)

Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long since my last post, I've been busy at college. I have just finished (as in, half an hour ago) my centralian bearded dragon's (BDee's) enclosure, it's a back wall and combo hide and basking platform, I'll post pics after I finish watching the diving (go Aussie go!)

Alrighty, photo time! My plan with this enclosure was to double up on the hide and basking platform as I was limited for space in this 90x45x45 ReptileOne enclosure. This was my first time playing around with "Foam in a Can" but sadly I didn't get any photo's in foam stage, so here it is, from grout, to first and second layer of paint and finally drybrushing with a few different colours to get the effect of shadows and highlights.






















Hope you like it / get inspired to try yourself 

And now all finished in the enclosure 





Also, I mentioned a while back I was moving my Marbled Gecko and 3 Peron's Tree Frogs into a separate enclosure, this is them on the back wall I made, sorry for image quality, iPhones can only give so much...


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## Revell13 (Aug 16, 2012)

So work has begun on the Peron's permanent enclosure, its "Foam in a Can" onto the glass that I coated in black pH neutral sealant, which I have then waterproofed, and have decided where I am going to be placing the fake plants, in a few days once the black sealant has fully cured I am going to use selleys silicone over EVERYTHING and then cover that in dry coir peat, then sphagnum moss and other assorted ground mosses with pebbles for the bottom, in time (like, next pay day) I'm going to be getting a exo terra high pressure misting/rain system to hook into it, its not going to run often, only enough to replace the water lost due to evaporation each day, posting photo's once my phone has charged enough to hook up 

Photos! 








Ill be finished in a few days, I'll keep everyone posted


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## Revell13 (Aug 26, 2012)

Frogs are all finished now and I have a photo of my four enclosures all set up


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## Vincey (Aug 26, 2012)

Looks bloody great ;D


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## Revell13 (Aug 27, 2012)

Cheers man, been a fair bit of work getting it all together


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## Jaws07 (Sep 2, 2012)

Man, those setups look amazing! What are all the herps in your collection now?


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## WomaBoy (Sep 2, 2012)

Man they all look soo great !, love the two baby water dragons tank, love the idea of live fish ! I wish i was good at DIY


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## J-A-X (Sep 3, 2012)

bit of time and practise is all that is required for DIY BenjiBoy, in my case a huge dose of pig-headed-ness helped too.


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## WomaBoy (Sep 3, 2012)

Okaay thanks , i might try built a hide for my womaaa soon


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## Revell13 (Sep 3, 2012)

I agree with Jax, time and pig-headedness 
I've currently got: 1 marbled gecko (sticky), 2 thick tailed gecko's, 5 Eastern Australian Water Dragons, 2 Jacky Dragons (Pike and Spike) 1 Eastern Australian Water Skink (Flash), 1 Yellow Phase Centralian Bearded Dragon (Bdee) and 3 Perron's Tree Frogs (The Three Musketeers) 
Thanks for all the positive comments on this thread guys, I was just chatting to Fay (mod) about how nice everyone on APS is


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## Venomous_RBB (Sep 3, 2012)

I am so jealous, with all of your set-ups, they all look great.


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## Revell13 (Sep 4, 2012)

BlackHeaded92 said:


> I am so jealous, with all of your set-ups, they all look great.



Thanks man, remember these are all just basic glass enclosures that I have put some time and effort into, anyone can have enclosures that look like this


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## Jaws07 (Sep 6, 2012)

Wow youve got a nice collection now, anyway I was wondering what you used to shape the foam for your beardies enclosure?


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## Revell13 (Sep 6, 2012)

Jaws07 said:


> Wow youve got a nice collection now, anyway I was wondering what you used to shape the foam for your beardies enclosure?



I sort of cheated with Bdee's enclosure, I used a semi pyramid shape for his hide/basking platform and 3 sheets of foam for the background. After that was done, I threw on a disposable glove and attacked it with a couple of cans of foam-in-a-can, while that was setting i kept moving it around with said gloved hand, then just the standard, grout, grout, grout, paint, paint, paint 

- - - Updated - - -



WomaBoy said:


> Man they all look soo great !, love the two baby water dragons tank, love the idea of live fish ! I wish i was good at DIY



Honestly bro I'm not all that great at DIY, just watched a bunch of "how to" videos on youtube, had a chat to Jax here on APS and gave it a go, just try and you will be amazed with what you can create, and there are heaps of us on here willing to offer help and advice, join the DIY group and check it out 

Oh, and there are 4 baby water dragons in there  and about 30 fish but they keep getting eaten, my dragons and eastern water skink have become great at fishing lol.


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## mudgudgeon (Sep 8, 2012)

What fish do you have in there? I'm thinking about catching puppies out of an uncle's dam for my EWDs.


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## Revell13 (Sep 8, 2012)

I have a range of fish in there, it's only 35 litres of water but the filter turns that over 10 times an hour, I have 10 neon tetras, 10 tiger barbs, 2 paradise fish, 2 platties, and about 8 guppies, 2 catfish and 2 sucker fish, but my water skink has learned how to fish so I'm losing about one a day lol


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## Womagaunt (Sep 11, 2012)

Thats so Mad Must of taken ages?


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