my first build - custom cabinet build

[Johnb43]

Hey guys,


I had planned to post this a while ago so that I could ask questions as I go but theres so much good information on here that I never got around to having to ask my own questions.


I bought two of these display cases from someones front yard for 20 bucks a few months ago. They've just been sitting in my room since, so I decided it was time to do something with one.


So heres what I started with.




I painted it and coated ever inch of the inside in silicone





I drilled a hole in the back for a 1/2 inch tube that will go to the humidifier. I also drilled 5 holes in the base that will lead to 1/2 inch tubes for drainage. I came up with this idea so that I would never have standing water in the base. Even though I have taken many steps in waterproofing everything, I still didnt feel comfortable with standing water. This leads to my decision to not do a waterfall, as I had originally planned. I just didnt want any worries concerning water since the whole frame is wood.


After the silicone dried, I put down 2 thick coats of polyurethane and 2 coats of spar varnish.

Next I bought a fan for air circulation. It was a bit difficult to find what I needed because I don't know wiring too well. People said to get a 120v computer fan, of which this was the only one i could find. Its from radio shack. I then just bought a normal power cord and cut off the end and attached it to the fan. This fan is a little loud which I did read in the reviews, but I'm fine with it for now.





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And heres the tube I made from corrugated plastic





I put cut off pieces of a wire hanger through the corners for the fan to sit on





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I mounted the tube to the back with silicone, siliconed in the side glass, and then put down a base layer of Great Stuff.





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Planned the layout of the wood





And then foamed in all of the wood, rocks, and planters.





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The next day I came out to see that people weren't joking when they said that Great Stuff expands more than you expect. So after carving it back some, I started the headache that was siliconing eco-earth to the foam. I completely underestimated how much silicone I would need for this. It took 6 tubes. I should also say that the enclosed area of this terrarium is 40x17x13. So thats 40 inches of foam to cover.





After a few hours, I had covered pretty much everything i could see, but once I started to look closer I noticed a lot of crack anc crevaces that I couldnt get to with my fingers, so I just covered them up with moss. Some of the moss is sheet moss from Josh's Frogs, and some is Exo-Terra Forest Moss.





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As you can see, I also siliconed in a piece of glass to keep in substrate as well as any critters that are on the ground.


So then I distressed the paint a little to fit in with my taste.








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I bought this light from Petsmart.





Theres 2 60watt equivalent cfl's in there, but I think I'm gonna want a little more light.


I also bought this humidifier from Walmart after searching all over for a humidifier that vents from one specific spot rather than a general area.





I chose to do the fogging system this way because I read too many bad reviews on the Repti-Fogger, and also because this can run for 18 hours before being refilled. I was having a problem with it shutting off after a few minutes, but I think that was caused by the fact the my tubing was too long, so on its way to the humidifier it had to make a turn back up, allowing water to build in the line. I think that the humidifier was sensing a block and shutting itself off.


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Last night I moved it up to my room (getting it up the steps by myself was fun).





I also found some sweet moss in the woods. I hope it lasts in here





I have some more ABG substrate coming tomorrow as well as a culture of springtails.


So the next step is to plant it. I also want to find some isopods for it.


I'm not sure whats going to be going in it. I wanted to get it all set up and running to see what kind of temperature and humidity it could maintain. right now its at 73 degrees (my ac's on) and about 80% humidity.


Im leaning towards Red Eyed Tree Frogs or Crested Geckos, but I would love your oppinions on what species of frog or reptile, as well as how many. As I mentioned, it 40x17x13, minus obviously some room from the background. Theres a reptile show that I'm going to on the 20th, so hopefully will be getting something there.

[kueluck]

Love it!!

[deranged chipmunk]

looks awesome! you did an excellent job, but i have a question. you said you put down silicone first and then poly and spar on top of the silicone? is that correct?

[Adam R]

creative look i love it

[Johnb43]

looks awesome! you did an excellent job, but i have a question. you said you put down silicone first and then poly and spar on top of the silicone? is that correct?

Yeah, I was originally gonna just silicone the gaps and the corners, but decided that I'd just be better off coating everything. But then the spar varnish wouldn't adhere to the silicone at all, so I sprayed everything with polyurethane instead. Then I thought that maybe the varnish would go on the poly better, and it did, so theres 2 coats of that on top.

[deranged chipmunk]

ok. i was curious about that. thanks.

[deranged chipmunk]

btw, i love the victorian (?) decor. that's not a pinhole camera is it? i'm no aficionado, but i love antique technology.

[Sidius]

Now that is pretty neat!!...Nice work.

[Johnb43]

btw, i love the victorian (?) decor. that's not a pinhole camera is it? i'm no aficionado, but i love antique technology.

No, thats a 4x5 camera. I have over 20 old cameras in my room right now haha

[tinkgirl77]

Omg! It's gorgeous

.:* Lisa *:.
laissez le bon temps roulet! :-)

[DartEd]

There aren't any truly arboreal darts but there are quite a few that climb and would utilize that space. Anything that climbs a bit would love that space. That being said, Bill is right, with that height, it screams tree frogs. The fogger looks great and the set up with the fan is right on point.

Kudos to you. You have skill.

[tinkgirl77]

Ok this has me so inspired ( my hubby is so not thrilled lol bc he is recognizing my addiction hehe ) bc we have an antique shop in New Orleans that does a 50% off sale once a month And they're prices are extremely reasonable. They have gorgeous corner cabinets that would be perfect for this. But being a newer person to these big builds, how and where do the fans go? And what are you doing for heat?

.:* Lisa *:.
laissez le bon temps roulet! :-)

[Johnb43]

There aren't any truly arboreal darts but there are quite a few that climb and would utilize that space. Anything that climbs a bit would love that space. That being said, Bill is right, with that height, it screams tree frogs. The fogger looks great and the set up with the fan is right on point.

Kudos to you. You have skill.

Thank you!

Ok this has me so inspired ( my hubby is so not thrilled lol bc he is recognizing my addiction hehe ) bc we have an antique shop in New Orleans that does a 50% off sale once a month And they're prices are extremely reasonable. They have gorgeous corner cabinets that would be perfect for this. But being a newer person to these big builds, how and where do the fans go? And what are you doing for heat?

.:* Lisa *:.
laissez le bon temps roulet! :-)

haha well thank you! The fan is in that tube that is in the base of the background. Right now it is blowing down, but I guess it could also blow up, pulling damp air from the bottom up and out of the terrarium.

right now I'm not doing anything for heat. It depends what I end up putting in there, whether or not I end up having to add heat or not

[mdtalley22]

Oh my word, you could fit so many clown tree frogs in there!

[Johnb43]

Oh my word, you could fit so many clown tree frogs in there!

Thats actually another frog i was considering. I think theyre beautiful, and it would be cool to get a lot in there. How many clown frogs do you guys think i could do? Or how many red-eyes or tiger-legs? If I did red-eyes i was thinking 4

[Mentat]

From looking at this photo it appears that you removed the curio's wood top. If that is true, can you explain what replaced it and the steps involved? Thank you !

[Johnb43]

Well I had originally just cut out a square so that I could get to the fan from the top. But then I started to run into problems figuring out lighting so my best bet was to cut out the whole top so I could put the light on top and not have to worry about it. As of now it's egg crate set down about 3 inches inside the top, with foam supporting it as well as acting as a border. I'm going to cut out the middle (basically the negative space that isn't foam/ecoearth) and either put glass or just screen. I was thinking that I would need glass to keep humidity held in but yesterday was the first full day on a times cycle with the fogger and fan and when I got home it was at 80% humidity. And that's with a wide open top basically, so I'm thinking I'll just screen the top before I put anything in there

[Mentat]

Thanks for response John! Since reading your thread; every time I look at the tall curios in bedroom... they shake in fear . However; since they costed me a little fortune, will probably start with some used ones like yours. Then if that works... we can go crazy.

Only thing that worries me with this design is the height of it combined with tall door. Can see myself watching a frog jump off the higher area and landing/crashing on floor from 4-5 ft. above. If it get's hurt I would be very unhappy. Good luck and keep pics coming !

[tglynn]

Amazing! I'm going to follow in your footsteps hopefully!

[Johnb43]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, I'd be worried about doing this for the first time with anything expensive. I bought two of these for 20 bucks haha.

And I definitely will have to be careful when I open it up, but thankfully (for the frogs at least)I have carpeting in my room, so that'd help a lot if one did jump