Finally Finished my Mac/Bearded enclosure

[justin91]

So, I got excited and thought this deserved a new thread. If need be, I'll understand if you put this in my old thread mods.

So I finally finished my enclosure a few days ago, (just been getting heat temps right and purchased my new lil bearded today).

So here is a few photos from start to finish.

I owe a few thanks to people, mainly Jax and Grunni. So, thanks you two.

Pic 1: The day I got it.
Pic 2:Start of the rock wall.
Pic 3: Designing rock wall.
Pic 4: Finishing it.
Pic 5: Painted.
Pic 6: One rock wall in.
Pic 7: Designing desert theme rockwall for bearded dragon.
Pic 8: Half rendered.
Pic 9: Both rock walls in.
Pic 10: Enclosure painted black (so much better )
Pic 11: Changing it around a bit.
Pic 12: Vents going in.
Pic 13: Trying to move it from garage into house by myself, stupid idea, its 207cm tall, doesn't fit in any doors and weighs a tone. Got it stuck here and had get a mate come give me a hand after work lol.. Stupid male pride..
Pic 14: Bottom enclosure all done and turned on.
Pic 15: Full enclosure all done.
Pic 16: Top enclosure all done (except my cave/rock which just needs one more coat of pondite).

This thing took me a lot of effort and I'm so proud of my efforts. I'm not a DIY person and I nearly gave up so many times. I did all the wiring myself, running a 40w spot glove with a 10.0 UVB light in top enclosure. Bottom one running just a standard tube light and a 20w heat mat connected to a thermostat. I have 2 thermometers in each enclosure with 2 vents in each one on opposite sides.

The tracks I got from bunnings, 5mm, and I used 4.5mm acrylic because its so much cheaper then glass, looks as good and they didn't have 5mm so went with 4.5mm which IMO perfect.

I have vines and more plants coming in the mail but there taking forever so I'll upload another photo when they arrive and installed.

 

[J-A-X]

Well done Justin , it looks great
Now all you have to do is plan your next one
Glad I've helped in some some way.

 

[dragonlover1]

it looks great mate,my only concern is the top tank I assume is for a beardie and you have that kritter krumble or similar.This is possibly the worst thing you can put a dragon on as it leads to impaction and death,you are much better off with sand which is their natural substrate or even use that fake grass you have in the bottom just make sure it is the type with no loops to catch their claws.

 

[ronhalling]

Bl00dy beautiful enclosure m8, if i was 190kg lighter i would live in it myself, love your rockwalls, not over the top just simple and look gr8, that is going to be my next project for my next build, hope it comes out as good as yours.........................Ron

 

[Gruni]

Awesome effort... double thumbs up mate!

 

[Virides]

Good to see some of those finger grips going to good use

 

[Barrett]

Awesome job mate! glad everything went well

 

[dragonlover1]

Good to see some of those finger grips going to good use

I love your finger grips I have several

 

[justin91]

it looks great mate,my only concern is the top tank I assume is for a beardie and you have that kritter krumble or similar.This is possibly the worst thing you can put a dragon on as it leads to impaction and death,you are much better off with sand which is their natural substrate or even use that fake grass you have in the bottom just make sure it is the type with no loops to catch their claws.

Oh I didn't know that. I did research and ask about using the cat litter; breeders choice and didn't find anything. I also read several times by several people + the breeder told me herself that I shouldn't have sand with hatchlings as they can eat it (by accident) and get digestion problems.. I'll look into it more and I'll change to fake turf/newspaper/sand

Good to see some of those finger grips going to good use

There so awesome. They just give it that bit more detail. So worth it. I'd recommend them to anybody that asked about them.

Awesome effort... double thumbs up mate!

Thanks mate, I nearly gave up on it a few weeks ago. So glad I didn't. Also, with the heat mat, I chose to put it in bottom, front right corner 5cm below a vent, on top of 6 13mm holes drilled into the cupboard below which has a vent right below the heat mat, so shouldn't overheat, then I layed ply wood same size over the mat so it wasn't under the grass. Hopefully you understand that haha

Bl00dy beautiful enclosure m8, if i was 190kg lighter i would live in it myself, love your rockwalls, not over the top just simple and look gr8, that is going to be my next project for my next build, hope it comes out as good as yours.........................Ron

Haha thanks mate. Yeah bottom one is very simple. Top one I tried add more detail. The top one I just used red concrete coloring, mixed it into the concrete mix and didn't even put a bit of paint on it. Turned out well.

Awesome job mate! glad everything went well

Thanks, definitely worth the hard yards

 

[Gruni]

Not sure the ply will warm up properly, several layers of newspaper would have been fine or else a bathroom tile about the same size... But if you keep a bit of an eye on it with a temp gun you'll soon work it out.

 

[justin91]

Not sure the ply will warm up properly, several layers of newspaper would have been fine or else a bathroom tile about the same size... But if you keep a bit of an eye on it with a temp gun you'll soon work it out.

It seems to be getting to 32 degrees but yeah, might be making my thermostat work harder so dunno. I did buy a tile, miser well use it right? Haha.

 

[lizardjasper]

epic man!!! that is a cool hang out.

 

[dragonlover1]

Oh I didn't know that. I did research and ask about using the cat litter; breeders choice and didn't find anything. I also read several times by several people + the breeder told me herself that I shouldn't have sand with hatchlings as they can eat it (by accident) and get digestion problems.. I'll look into it more and I'll change to fake turf/newspaper/sand

true they can eat it by accident but no problem,the only time that dragons get ingestion problems with sand is through poor husbandry and improper temps.I have had all my dragons on sand from day 1 for more than 6 years and never a problem,remember they naturally live on sand as they come from the desert.I currently have 4 babies (2 centrals & 2 pygmies) all on sand and they do not eat sand.DO NOT BE AFRAID OF NATURE.