Exo Terra Vivarium/waterfall w/ Chameleon

The more ideas, thoughts, questions the better. This is meant to inspire other to come up with ideas i haven't that I can use for future projects and for others. That is why I made this thread. Not only to show people but also to get them to ask questions like yourself. I am very confident I have thought or asked the question myself to someone else who know more than I do. I will not be able to tear done this setup as just about everything is siliconed to prevent stagnant water....

I spent many hours at the LFS store with the experts on both reptiles and fish there to come up with this idea. As much as I would like to take the credit a lot of the ideas to make this happen came from them.

So if you are in Calgary Alberta Canada, A big thank you to Piseces Pet Emporium.

Another thing you could do is use perforated plastic cut to the size of the background..

BTW this will only house a juvenile male Panther chameleon. If this is successful i recreate this in a much larger tank. Since I am in Canada I am debating between a dragon strand cage and a exo terra large, x-tall.

Alot of the accessories will be able to be transferred over. all the plumbing accessories, the sump, the pump. The cork bark if carefully removed.

Last input... You would not need the egg crate for support. The foam that i used was bought at the LFS and is supporting everything in the tank just about. I was amazed at how strong this stuff is.
 
I'm not sure how well this will work but its certainly exciting and ambitious! I'll be watching along for sure.
 
RcManChild said:
Neither am I.
I have yet to see anyone attempt this so I figure I would give it a shot...
Click to expand...

I've thought about attempting something like this as well. My plan was to use 2 separate 36" wide/X-tall exos, cut about 75% of the side glass from one panel on each tank, build a corridor/walkway between the two tanks. What I'll have is two separate tanks with two separate environments (heat, humidity, UVB levels, etc) for the cham to choose. Alas higher work priorities and further research needs has caused me to put this idea on the back burner. But it would be cool though :). However, I now just have to live vicariously through you and I look forward to see your dream come true.
 
I purchased 3 cans of the black foam this morning before work. I also got the plastic egg crate for the frame, but admit it appears very brittle. I may just nail together a light wood frame to do this in. Removal for cleaning is paramount for me. So maybe it's back to Lowe's I go to get that, My cork and other wood from Amazon will be in tomorrow, So this is my last night to get building supplies. I really feel rushed as I work until 5pm then have a 45 minute drive home. By the time I get home, I'm in no mood to really start any projects. :( Running out of time....
 
broderp said:
I purchased 3 cans of the black foam this morning before work. I also got the plastic egg crate for the frame, but admit it appears very brittle. I may just nail together a light wood frame to do this in. Removal for cleaning is paramount for me. So maybe it's back to Lowe's I go to get that, My cork and other wood from Amazon will be in tomorrow, So this is my last night to get building supplies. I really feel rushed as I work until 5pm then have a 45 minute drive home. By the time I get home, I'm in no mood to really start any projects. :( Running out of time....
Click to expand...

I would not use wood. To many chemicals and unknowns. If water soaks into the wood you could end up with black mold.... VERY BAD stuff.

Use the egg crate now that you have it. Use the Saran Wrap idea. This will make it still removable. If you decide later it's not strong enough then add some wood to the back.

acarrera said:
I've thought about attempting something like this as well. My plan was to use 2 separate 36" wide/X-tall exos, cut about 75% of the side glass from one panel on each tank, build a corridor/walkway between the two tanks. What I'll have is two separate tanks with two separate environments (heat, humidity, UVB levels, etc) for the cham to choose. Alas higher work priorities and further research needs has caused me to put this idea on the back burner. But it would be cool though :). However, I now just have to live vicariously through you and I look forward to see your dream come true.
Click to expand...

I too would like to do this. Except I would like to make one with 6 more inches wide on each side. And 1 foot taller. Making it 48Wx36Dx48T. Problem is the weight of the terrarium itself. I believe this is possible but need to find a way to accomplish this without it looking messy.
 
RcManChild said:
I would not use wood. To many chemicals and unknowns. If water soaks into the wood you could end up with black mold.... VERY BAD stuff.

Use the egg crate now that you have it. Use the Saran Wrap idea. This will make it still removable. If you decide later it's not strong enough then add some wood to the back.
I too would like to do this. Except I would like to make one with 6 more inches wide on each side. And 1 foot taller. Making it 48Wx36Dx48T. Problem is the weight of the terrarium itself. I believe this is possible but need to find a way to accomplish this without it looking messy.
Click to expand...

Has anyone considered making a complete terrarium from Plexiglass? I was a new Petco yesterday and they had a very nice plexiglass enclosures for their reptiles. They were much nicer than what I've seen at other pet stores. Not as scratch resistant as glass, but very doable if one is familiar with making fish tanks and such.
 
I have not made a terrarium for plexi glass but made cases for other things.

The downside to plexi glass are:

1. Expensive, At Home Depot in Canada a 3' long by foot tall sheet is $120. So for a 12x12x36 cage you need 5 sheets. That's over $600.... Stupid to me... I did call a glass manufacturing place and were willing to make me a terrarium with sliding glass 48Wx48Tby24D for $400.

2. Cutting. In order to glue plexi glass the edges need to be exactly 90 degrees and as smooth as a bumb. Unfortunately silicone peels right off of plexi glass.

3. Glueing. This is really bonding the two materials together. This stuff get all over the place if not careful. You also have to use very very fine sand paper and rough up the edge you wish to bond together.

It is doable and is much much lighter than glass but not nearly as strong.

I was going to build my sump out of plexi glass. But the time i bought the sheets, the glue, the router accessories, a long enough guide and clamps it was about $40 cheaper to buy the $180 sump at the fish store and it was bigger than what I was going to build...
 
Again these are my experiences and am hopefully explaining why I choose what I choose.

By all means people have made terrariums out of wood.... I would not risk it personally.

People have made terrariums out of acrylic (plexiglass) all the time. The other thing to remember is that plexi glass is actually very brittle unless thick enough.
 
A few things...

Bravo for gettin after it. This is a complicated build, being open to ideas and opinions is commendable in of itself.

The humidity will be higher while running, but misting is nessesary, if the humidity is stable, a few shorter showers is good.

Are you separating the water from all the substrate? I worry that you might over saturate the soil. High humidity isn't the real issue, the problem is mold and mildew growing. I'm in the beginning stages of planning a new build (not for a cham), and I'll create a water feature, but it will be a stand alone feature. That way there is no contamination entering filtration, and no chance of oversaturating the rest of the cage.

Plexiglass is not the material you want to use. Use acrylic, this is what high end fish tanks are made of. They are fairly easy to build, though not cheap. When welded together, they create literally and bulletproof barrier.

Again, right on for forging ahead, really look forward to seeing your progress.
 
Goo call on the Acrylic... but again is more expensive as you stated.

I am using a method that the store i go to use for their dart frogs.... waterfall will not be on 24/7 hopefully allowing the soil to dry out inbetween. If it does not I will deal with it then... I will know within the first day or two if this will be an issue.
 
Sorry everyone I got a little too carried away again.

But here is what I did.

Step 6&8:

Once the background was Full I siliconed the branch where I wanted it. I then spray foamed both sides of the enclosure and allowed to dry.

Step 7:

For the plants I siliconed in a pot of similar size to the glass and used more spray foam to hold everything in place. Once again allowed to dry. I cut away part of the walls that I wasnt going to use...

Step 9:
Drill out the bottoms of where the plants are to allow for proper drainage.

Step 10:

This is where I am now. The sump is setup, has not been tested added some rocks, dirt and moss.
 
One concern I have is that the black silicone I was using was marine safe. Then on the forums i read that the Silicone II by GE was good, however it has mold free protection in it. Is this acceptable or not?

Here is a pic:
 
As for the sump here is a pic:



The item in the middle is a uv sterilizer. Pump is off to the left. This is T tapped to a ball valve such that I can control water flow to the tank by adjusting that valve.

This setup will also make water changes much easier.
 
Here is the tank almost complete... Still to add
Hydro balls
Reptisoil
branches
plants (both fake and real)

I am waiting for everything to dry before I add the rest of that in...







I did not leave much room for a laying bin so this will not be a permanent home for any chameleon unfortunately that was a late thought.

On another note my fiance bought me a 36x18x36 Exoterra that I will setup to be similar.
 
so it works. but not in a way I am satisfied. The water is dirty and mercy even after running through a micron sock and filter floss. The bigger problem is that the soil is not draining properly. I either have to remove a ton of soil or replace with marine rocks. I am think of removing the soil such that it is a quarter the depth of what it is now and also where the water fall is supposed to drain come out an inch with rocks. This will allow the bottom to still be soft and allow the water to drain... any thoughts on this proposal?
 
Any advice here from anyone using bio-active soil and how to get it to drain correctly?

I am using reptisoil with added activated carbon to help it drain a little more. But the water is just building up on the dirt rather than draining....

If anyone has some input on how to improve this please let me know...

Thanks
Kelen
 
On the bottom of the vivarium, did you make a hole forvwater to seap through like a bulk head? Or what are the black pieces at the bottom?
 
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