Gday all,
so I acquired a 4ft aquarium from a friend who was thinking of throwing it out. (still waterproof) so I decided it was time to upgrade my girls enclosure.
heres a finished shot:
_MG_3084 by insane phototography, on Flickr
The idea behind the live enclosure is that you create a sort of ecosystem, where plants live, you have a watercycle (and table), your soil is alive on a microscopic level and your snake is the main inhabitant.
Basically it's almost 0 maintenance, and she has been living in a live enclosure her whole life. http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-reptile-discussion-42/write-live-jungle-enclosure-133168/
I love the concept and the ease and have found that it works perfectly as designed.
Untitled by insane phototography, on Flickr
basically its a 4' aquarium, and I decided that though that was a good start, it just didn't have enough height for my jungle that loves to climb and sit up high. I looked at the possibilities, and what I could and couldn't do, and came up with the idea to add another box on top, made out of whatever I could get my hands on. That turned out to be aluminium from bunnings, and aluminium fly screen.
IMG_0234 by insane phototography, on Flickr
So I planned it all out in my head, and then started creating. I soon ran into roadblocks and issues, getting stuff from my head down onto actual construction, but I got around most issues and continued.
so the bottom of the enclosure is basically false, with an open pool of water underneath. This is the false bottom. It's made out of "eggcrate" basically the stuff that you put underneath fluoro lights to direct the light straight down.
IMG_0251 by insane phototography, on Flickr
I cut it out to create the shapes I wanted, and used more of the plastic material to make weight supports.
Once the base was in, I covered it in shadecloth and paperbark pot liner from bunnings ( I spent a lot there)
once this is in, I used silicon to glue the aluminium frame onto the top of the aquarium.
After this I used expanding foam to create the background in layers.
IMG_0259 by insane phototography, on Flickr
You can see the waterfall that I created also. basically I just bought an Eheim high reliability pump, and created a spot for it to sit on the bottom of the tank, and then ran a plastic tube up to the top of the enclosure, and surrounded it with expanding foam.
I didn't take any pics of the next process, as I didn't have a free hand at all
I painted the expanding foam black all over (in case I missed anything with the next process)
then I used black silicon, and my hands to silicon the entire background, bits at a time.
Using a mix of coconut fibre, peat moss, sphagnum moss and paperbark, I pressed the mix into the silicon. this created sort of a living "dirt" wall.
for the waterfall, I then used paperbark to line the channel I wanted water to fall down.
The next step in the process was to add the "dirt" and the plants, and pretty everything up.
the soil is a mix of shredded coconut fibre, sphagnum moss, peat moss, shredded paperbark, sand, and some small rocks. This mix is ideal for plants, and is the same mix I used on my old enclosure that worked for the last year.
I then planted the enclosure, using a mixture of plants from bunnings. Indoor, outdoor and water plants, chosen for their ability to suit the climate (warm, damp soil, lots of light) and their looks, as well as how well they would interact with my snake.
I planted 2 water plants in the water holes, 1 at the front of the tank and 1 underneath the waterfall. I used hanging basket plants on the middle shelf, also tall climbing plants and ferns /moss on the wet side.
This habitat I have created for my snake allows her to pick and choose her own environment, depending on her needs at the time. She can have warm or cold, dry or wet, high or low.
At the moment the lid is held on by clamps, but this is only until I receive my package of rare earth magnets from dealextreme, which I will use to secure the door closed.
_MG_3084 by insane phototography, on Flickr
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Cheers,
Dan
so I acquired a 4ft aquarium from a friend who was thinking of throwing it out. (still waterproof) so I decided it was time to upgrade my girls enclosure.
heres a finished shot:
_MG_3084 by insane phototography, on Flickr
The idea behind the live enclosure is that you create a sort of ecosystem, where plants live, you have a watercycle (and table), your soil is alive on a microscopic level and your snake is the main inhabitant.
Basically it's almost 0 maintenance, and she has been living in a live enclosure her whole life. http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-reptile-discussion-42/write-live-jungle-enclosure-133168/
I love the concept and the ease and have found that it works perfectly as designed.
Untitled by insane phototography, on Flickr
basically its a 4' aquarium, and I decided that though that was a good start, it just didn't have enough height for my jungle that loves to climb and sit up high. I looked at the possibilities, and what I could and couldn't do, and came up with the idea to add another box on top, made out of whatever I could get my hands on. That turned out to be aluminium from bunnings, and aluminium fly screen.
IMG_0234 by insane phototography, on Flickr
So I planned it all out in my head, and then started creating. I soon ran into roadblocks and issues, getting stuff from my head down onto actual construction, but I got around most issues and continued.
so the bottom of the enclosure is basically false, with an open pool of water underneath. This is the false bottom. It's made out of "eggcrate" basically the stuff that you put underneath fluoro lights to direct the light straight down.
IMG_0251 by insane phototography, on Flickr
I cut it out to create the shapes I wanted, and used more of the plastic material to make weight supports.
Once the base was in, I covered it in shadecloth and paperbark pot liner from bunnings ( I spent a lot there)
once this is in, I used silicon to glue the aluminium frame onto the top of the aquarium.
After this I used expanding foam to create the background in layers.
IMG_0259 by insane phototography, on Flickr
You can see the waterfall that I created also. basically I just bought an Eheim high reliability pump, and created a spot for it to sit on the bottom of the tank, and then ran a plastic tube up to the top of the enclosure, and surrounded it with expanding foam.
I didn't take any pics of the next process, as I didn't have a free hand at all
I painted the expanding foam black all over (in case I missed anything with the next process)
then I used black silicon, and my hands to silicon the entire background, bits at a time.
Using a mix of coconut fibre, peat moss, sphagnum moss and paperbark, I pressed the mix into the silicon. this created sort of a living "dirt" wall.
for the waterfall, I then used paperbark to line the channel I wanted water to fall down.
The next step in the process was to add the "dirt" and the plants, and pretty everything up.
the soil is a mix of shredded coconut fibre, sphagnum moss, peat moss, shredded paperbark, sand, and some small rocks. This mix is ideal for plants, and is the same mix I used on my old enclosure that worked for the last year.
I then planted the enclosure, using a mixture of plants from bunnings. Indoor, outdoor and water plants, chosen for their ability to suit the climate (warm, damp soil, lots of light) and their looks, as well as how well they would interact with my snake.
I planted 2 water plants in the water holes, 1 at the front of the tank and 1 underneath the waterfall. I used hanging basket plants on the middle shelf, also tall climbing plants and ferns /moss on the wet side.
This habitat I have created for my snake allows her to pick and choose her own environment, depending on her needs at the time. She can have warm or cold, dry or wet, high or low.
At the moment the lid is held on by clamps, but this is only until I receive my package of rare earth magnets from dealextreme, which I will use to secure the door closed.
_MG_3084 by insane phototography, on Flickr
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Cheers,
Dan
