Hi all. I am planning on starting a vivarium soon so that it will be ready by the time my Mojo and Jojo are big enough to use it. I'm wanting to build a double vivarium like the one pictured below(complete with storage for supplies and equipment) but I can't find any good plans for one. I was wondering if anybody here had any? And any tips on building the terrarium and stocking it with furniture. Just FYI for those of you who don't know, Mojo and Jojo are beardies. I'm looking for each enclosure to be about 75 gallons, bigger is fine, smaller is not. Also any help with what wattage of lighting I need to be using to get the correct temps in these bigger enclosures would definitely be appreciated.
that is neat i did not build it i just used a 55 gallon tank but you can look at mine for yoshi and maybe get some ideas
I'm pretty useless here as I have no experience building anything more complicated than a s'mores. I tried googling blueprints but like you I had no luck. I could possibly sketch something up for you if you'd like though. It would be a very basic sketch, but you could work on the finishings (bevels and trims, etc.) according to your own preferences I'd assume. Do you have a certain height you'd like the entire thing to be by any chance? Do you have any idea what thickness wood you would like to build it with? I just ran and looked at my aquarium stand for an idea on that...it has storage shelving and doors which are .5" thick, about 2" thick legs/braces, and 1" thick top base for the aquarium. These things are designed to hold aquariums full of water, so in theory it should hold about 750 pounds. I say "in theory" because it's made from crappy particle board...I wouldn't trust it for an actual aquarium, but for my beardie it's fine...but I digress. Anyways, furniture is really more of a personal preference type thing. You can always browse online for inspiration. We have this thread started up for some of our current member's enclosures, so make sure you post yours when you finish! You can use driftwood pieces, resin aquarium decorations, landscaping stones, or you can even shape your own climbing background like Lisa did. The possibilities are really endless. Do you have any pieces you currently have or have seen that you want to work around perhaps? I'd really like to do something with one of these, personally...http://www.save-on-crafts.com/stumpwood.html. Finally, for lighting, that's highly dependant on your house temperatures. For my 75g beardie tank I have to use a 150w spot light over the basking area with a 100w regular light further over to the right. However, your wood enclosures are going to hold heat much better than my glass tank. You may be fine with just a 100-150w over the basking spot and a much lower (50-60w?) or even just a fluoresecent for light towards the right side. You'll probably have to fiddle with your lighting situation before you get things just right. I know this isn't a very helpful answer but it does take a bit of trial and error. If I had to take a guess I'd start with one 150w on the basking side (Make sure you have a dimmer switch/rheostat.) to see where that gets you and go from there.
