It Begins

So, several years ago I bought myself a 2 year old Stimson python (Antaresia stimsoni). She was caught in the wild by a conservationist and rehoused in a reptile store before being put up for sale. I decided to get her over a hatchling because the idea of giving such a creature the chance for a new life warmed my heart. In the wild she was given the age span of 5 years maximum but in captivity she could go as long as 25 years plus.

When I originally planned to buy a snake, I was unemployed and heavily into drugs. So money was tight and I bought everything on a budget. I got a second hand vivarium that was home made and honestly was rather crappy, the lid didn't even close properly and my snake escaped and I lost her for 2 weeks before my mother's boyfriend found it in the bath tub (he was shit scared of snakes, I lol'd). I made a new lid, it was made quickly and rather badly but it did the job the original one was incapable of doing. I had always planned on building a new one but procrastination is something that I have always been good at. Eventually, after several years the old vivarium is starting to fall apart and the patch up jobs just won't hold for much longer. So the plan to build a whole new vivarium was hatched and for some reason I decided I would document the process for anyone else interested but mainly for my own interests.

This is my old vivarium, damn flash and the window of the front door reflecting in the glass. Not to mention the finger prints and various liquid spills running down the glass, got to love the kids. Access is through the lid, honestly that always bothered me, makes it so hard to access the inside and clean it out. Having to reach right down from the top to do anything and also it does not allow for the vivarium to be up high away from the kids. The heat lamp is behind the fake rock attached to the wall on the right, this really was a poor design, well honestly the entire design of this vivarium was bad. Something I will definitely learn from, who ever made this was a douchebag!

 

These days I work as a cabinet maker and have access to materials and machinery that is going to make building a new vivarium easy and very cheap. Thankfully my boss is awesome and lets me use the workshop, machines and tools on the weekend and after hours, this makes it even easier. Most of the build will be done at work, though other parts I will be doing in my shed.

  

IT BEGINS!

It all started the other day, the plans ran through my head and I thought about the ideal size, shape and design to best suit my living arrangement and decided on exactly how I want it built. Eventually what it is going to end up being is a backdrop for my computer desk, so as I sit on the computer (which I do A LOT!) I can sit and enjoy my work and my snake. This will also minimize the room taken up, a win-win situation.

This is what I came up with, I am not the best drawer so the drawings are rather bad. Meh, it works for me and I understand my chook scratchings!

With all that worked out I did some research into Perspex Vs Glass for the front of it and decided that glass was the way to go. Mainly for the cleaning aspect but also because many claim it is rather inexpensive, I've sent a few emails off to try get a quote, though none have bothered to reply. I may end up going with perspex in the end if glass is too expensive as I know that is easy to get and cheap. Though there is plenty of time to make that decision, for now it's time to get the project on its way.

I was really lucky, we had a couple of 3630mm x 1210mm cover sheets that where melamine at work. They had a couple of defects and dents in them but that was easy to cut around or use for parts that won't be seen. This project is turning out to be cheap indeed, again the joy of working as a cabinet maker. So I set to work and got to cutting it all up on the panel saw.

The panel saw made quick work of cutting up the pieces, though the hangover I had, did not!

With only a few minor mistakes, none of which where a big deal. Everything was cut and ready for the next step. Time to edge the seen sides and get it all ready for construction.

Access to the workshop made this part a breeze, plenty of room to work and all the right tools. I could even iron my shirt while I was at it! Also I was lucky again, we had a large roll of iron on edging for melamine, so that is another expense averted.

I got a little bored waiting for the iron to heat up, so I moved some stuff around and took another photo! Then I set to work, ironing like a house wife on a mission and soon enough I had all the smaller pieces with edging on them, I just needed to trim off the excess and smooth them up.

Time was getting away from me, so I set into ironing on the edges to the larger pieces and forgot to take any happy snaps. I worked through my hangover and finished them all up, trimming off the excess, smoothing up the edges and filling any chips with liquid laminate. It was a good feeling to have everything done and ready for construction.

Now I just need to wait till I can spare some more time and I will start building it, for now it's time to rest and get over this hangover. Maybe I should just have more beer...