Over the holidays our family decided to undertake a cabinet conversion.
The kids thought it was crazy and laughed about it being a waste of money.
The whole project was fondly labelled the ********* Family Crappy Enclosure.
We started off with a corner unit which we purchased for $10 from a charity store. We took the doors off and hammered most of the shelf out.
We then added 5 vents. 4 at the front and 1 at the rear. These can be seen in later photos.
We painted the base black and the top blue because ... well because my kids wanted to.
We then went to the local pet store and got 4 foam boxes that they were chucking out. The kids all got to design a section. This is where as a parent it is frustrating because I had this image in my head of what I wanted but alas... they had different ideas.
You can see at the back we extended a small potion out and covered the vent with fly screen so that our snake couldn't get up in to the foam where we wouldn't be able to find him.
Next we mixed Bondcrete, acrylic render and water and made our first layer. All the edges of the foam are still visible and I was stressing that we would be able to see them in the end product.
Then the next layer went on.
I wasn't happy that the vent at the back could still be seen so I added a little ledge in the next stage. This layer had red oxide mixed in. I have no creative talent so didn't know where to smear the colour. In the end the kids just wacked it everywhere and it turned out ok. At this stage we also added the fake rock pillar and rendered it on to the ledge. This was never going to be permanent we just wanted it to look like it had cracked off somewhere.
After this had dried for 4 days we coated it with 3 layers of Pond Sealer.
Along the way the kids had made there own fake rocks which were rendered at the same time as the walls. These were added to the final product.
The position of heat in the enclosure changed regularly. In the end though we decided to make a wooden frame for a heat cord and drill a hole for it coming from the back. Through the whole comes the cord and a probe. We originally wanted a full tile but in the end went for small stone tiles.
The heat lamp was added and blew after being turned on 3 times. We haven't replaced the bulb because frankly our little Stimson never comes out in the day so we would have a lamp on for nothing.
We attached some downlights to the front sides and top for all hours viewing.
Put some Bunnings purchased slides on fro the glass.
And tahdah. The final product.
The water bowl will go when the foam and render one has dried for a few weeks. I want it to be totally dry before I add water. Also over the heat at the back is just a piece of timber (an old off cut of the shelf). This will be replaced when I find the perfect piece of natural wood.
And yes I don't like the little set of white flowers but hmmmm.... my kids won again!!!
And the occupant.
The kids thought it was crazy and laughed about it being a waste of money.
The whole project was fondly labelled the ********* Family Crappy Enclosure.
We started off with a corner unit which we purchased for $10 from a charity store. We took the doors off and hammered most of the shelf out.
We then added 5 vents. 4 at the front and 1 at the rear. These can be seen in later photos.
We painted the base black and the top blue because ... well because my kids wanted to.
We then went to the local pet store and got 4 foam boxes that they were chucking out. The kids all got to design a section. This is where as a parent it is frustrating because I had this image in my head of what I wanted but alas... they had different ideas.
You can see at the back we extended a small potion out and covered the vent with fly screen so that our snake couldn't get up in to the foam where we wouldn't be able to find him.
Next we mixed Bondcrete, acrylic render and water and made our first layer. All the edges of the foam are still visible and I was stressing that we would be able to see them in the end product.
Then the next layer went on.
I wasn't happy that the vent at the back could still be seen so I added a little ledge in the next stage. This layer had red oxide mixed in. I have no creative talent so didn't know where to smear the colour. In the end the kids just wacked it everywhere and it turned out ok. At this stage we also added the fake rock pillar and rendered it on to the ledge. This was never going to be permanent we just wanted it to look like it had cracked off somewhere.
After this had dried for 4 days we coated it with 3 layers of Pond Sealer.
Along the way the kids had made there own fake rocks which were rendered at the same time as the walls. These were added to the final product.
The position of heat in the enclosure changed regularly. In the end though we decided to make a wooden frame for a heat cord and drill a hole for it coming from the back. Through the whole comes the cord and a probe. We originally wanted a full tile but in the end went for small stone tiles.
The heat lamp was added and blew after being turned on 3 times. We haven't replaced the bulb because frankly our little Stimson never comes out in the day so we would have a lamp on for nothing.
We attached some downlights to the front sides and top for all hours viewing.
Put some Bunnings purchased slides on fro the glass.
And tahdah. The final product.
The water bowl will go when the foam and render one has dried for a few weeks. I want it to be totally dry before I add water. Also over the heat at the back is just a piece of timber (an old off cut of the shelf). This will be replaced when I find the perfect piece of natural wood.
And yes I don't like the little set of white flowers but hmmmm.... my kids won again!!!
And the occupant.
