Completely New...Mostly Clueless...

[Pittylova]

Well..the title says it all I've never had a terrarium or anything of the likes before. However I have a few anoles that I got a few weeks back (I've always loved reptiles, just never could have them). It was a bit of a spur of the moment thing, but I'm loving every minute of it! It just so happens that I have an entertainment center that I was going back and forth over what to do with it. It was a gift from my deceased grandfather who I was very close to, but...I no longer have a use for it and it's been collecting dust. After looking over the web researching the Anoles I decided that it would be great to turn it into a Vivarium. I get to make use of it and not feel guilty about getting rid of it. So, the ideas are flowing, but I'm clueless about where to start and a lot of the instructions that I find on the net are extremely vague for somebody completely new to this. Not to mention I'm not very handy and the only person I know that could be of help is lazy and refuses to give me assistance.

So what I have is a solid oak entertainment center. The back of it is a crappy piece of wood that I planned on replacing as it keeps falling off (just plywood). Now I'm thinking of having the vivarium have two clear sides instead of getting wood for the back.

1. How the heck do I attach glass to the wood, and how do I make a door? How much does glass usually cost?

2. Should I just seal the wood or does it need some other type of barrier to protect it, and what should I use?

3. Obviously there needs to be lighting...how to I get it set up properly? Where do I put it? I saw people mention that the lights are inside their enclosures. Won't the lizards get burned if they touch them?? Also, what type(s) of lights should I have? As I said...I'm completely new and want to be sure I do the right thing.

4. I do know that I want to put up rock walls on either side where the wood will be, and a waterfall coming down one of the sides into a pool. What equipment do I need to create the waterfall? I did find great instructions on making the stone walls.

5. Egg crate or gravel drainage??

6. I saw some vivariums online with screen instead of glass. What's the difference? I know screen obviously adds more ventilation, but what are the cons to using it?

7. Is it true that the vivarium doesn't really need to be cleaned as the plants will use the feces as fertilizer?

8. How is ventilation best created?

Ok...I know that's A LOT of questions, but as I said, I want to do it 100% correct. Thank you in advance to anybody willing to help me out I'm sure many more questions will come!

[kells236]

1.use plexi instead of glass. silicone works well, i used black instead of clear, i think it looks better, the door can be made the hinges but be sure it is secure so no one gets away
2.also u will need to do something with the wood, viv are very humid and wet, the wood will mold, try plexi glass there too
3. on the top place a screen and you can put the basking lamp there too this way anoles cant touch lamp, also you can use a plant grow light in addition the screen will also provide needed ventilation, try useing a little computer fan or something to help cirulate the air
4. waterfalls are great but expensive in the store, again use silicone and plexi glass, 1st put in your pump and tubing by silicone to plexi then add rock over and you can make your own custom water fall...for the pool i find it easiest to make a remocable pond to make cleaning easy, anole like to poop over the water
5. egg crates are great for the 1st layer then place screen over it and add gravel then dirt mixed with coconut fibers...you can place a removable tray under if your crafty to help with claenign and to keep the water away form the wood to stop it from rotting ..yea it is a lot of work but it will save you work later,,,,this is also a great set up for plants
6. you need both screen and glass, glass holds in humidity and the screen provides ventilation...putting the screem opening on eaither side of heat lamp with creat better circultion than just one opening, the reast should be closed off with plexi
7.yea this is true plants do help, but upi still need top spot clean have good drainage and air circulation to cut down on cleanign time
8. i think i covered this one already, lol
i hope helps....you gotta lot of work ahead of you...good luck

[smaug]

For right now Im only gonna touch on one subject.I would not use wood for a vivarium for high humidity critters and plants.Despite your best efforts it will get moldy and the wood will rot.I am rather new to viv keeping and my first effort is a 20gal recycled fish tank.I have seen wood cabinet terrariums before and they can be very nice but they are probably the more maintenance extensive option.If you skip the waterfall and the built in drainage it would be much less humid and you could still have a pool of some sort with a self contained water feature that wood create much less potential splash and wetness.Im at wrok right now so as ideas for help come to me Ill post more.

[beefcakemighty]

1. you could use plexi glass and make a sliding door.
2.epoxi to seal the wood.
3. you could cut out the top of the set and put mesh screening on and let the lights sit on top of it. lighting would have to be UVB and UVA with a heat lamp as well.
4.for the waterfall you have to look around since theres all different ways to set one up.
5.eggcrate is better for false bottoms cause its lighter then gravel
6. all screen cause the humidity to drop to low so you wouldnt beable to keep most tropical reptiles in them. screens are good for chams and snake mainly.
7.if you have the skill and can set it up right you could gfet way with leaving but thats almost impossible so you would have to spot clean feces from time to time.
8.if you have the top screened and then cut some holes in the sides and screen them you should be good to go.

[beefcakemighty]

you could do a false bottom jsut like this but then you would add dirt and moss on top of the gravel, this is a photo just before adding dirt to my 55 gallon croc skink tank... i havnt got the skinks yet so one of my water dragons was hanging out in it

[Rainfrog]

Use Marine Epoxy for the wood. here is a good link Geothermal Aquaculture Research Foundation Home Page go to the DIY pages and look at tank building.

[Pittylova]

I'm starting to get the things I need to make this vivarium. I have a friend that's going to help me put it together. Somebody I know is giving me plexiglass that is basically just the right size for both sides and some of the top. I'm searching craigslist for screen. I'm going to go get some epoxy this week. I'm so excited to get started. Thanks for all of your help!