Vegas Chad
Avid Member
Well, I got a little bored tonight and decided to finish up a terrarium project that I have been putting off completing. Darci has locked herself in the office and says that she is busy wrapping the presents that the reptiles got for me; I suspect however that she got them for me!
I started off intending to take a step by step process of how I made them however I got into it and just started working away... I came away with 5 shots, before and after, haha.
I started off with a small glass tank that has a swinging front door, these are really nice... They have a screen top, door that stays closed really well and it was only like $40 bucks at LLL. The size on it is something like 12x12x20, I would get up and measure but im veg’n on the sofa. If you really want to know just ask and I can let you know.
Out of box:
UnPacked:
I started off by laying out 2 pieces of cork flat that I had, 1 I kept in tack and used it as the main piece the other I broke apart and used to take up the empty area. It should be noted that cutting cork is not easy with a small hand saw. I like to cut/score the back to get the shape I want them give it a judo chop to break it. I like the broken look better than a clean cut.
Insert picture that I did not take here:
Once everything is laid out get your calk gun, load up a silicone tube and go to town getting the cork put into place. Lay it flat and put something with weight on top to keep everything in place.
Insert another pic I did not take here:
Once I had the cork in place the fun began. Start by soaking your pillow moss, let it be for at least 30 min, this will help to bring it back to like and make it pliable. Add in a layer of the clay balls, then a layer of batting, a layer of charcoal more batting then stop with the layering. I then began to fill in all the cork gaps with sphagnum moss. I toss a big clump into a bucket of water to plump it up... Pack it into the cracks nice and tight because you don’t want anything getting behind the backing. Do all you want, I like to pack in a lot and leave a bit hanging down just because I think it looks cool.
Another pic... Do’h... forgot to take it.
After that I started to add a few plants... the one on the bottom right and the air plants on the top, I then started to fill in some moss and dirt around the bottom... I cut a cork tube that I had, set it into place and then planted some vines inside that for a cool effect... Add in some more dirt, add in a few more vines. Then arrange some pillow moss, a few nice looking rocks... Give everything a once over and boom, your done!!!
Now here are a few pictures of my completed gecko tank... I will hook up my repti fog, and herp mist when I get the new pets. I love building these things, they are a bunch of fun to do and they always change. It looks a lot better in person, im not too crazy about the pics.
You can also make something like this for pygmy chameleons.
I started off intending to take a step by step process of how I made them however I got into it and just started working away... I came away with 5 shots, before and after, haha.
I started off with a small glass tank that has a swinging front door, these are really nice... They have a screen top, door that stays closed really well and it was only like $40 bucks at LLL. The size on it is something like 12x12x20, I would get up and measure but im veg’n on the sofa. If you really want to know just ask and I can let you know.
Out of box:
UnPacked:
I started off by laying out 2 pieces of cork flat that I had, 1 I kept in tack and used it as the main piece the other I broke apart and used to take up the empty area. It should be noted that cutting cork is not easy with a small hand saw. I like to cut/score the back to get the shape I want them give it a judo chop to break it. I like the broken look better than a clean cut.
Insert picture that I did not take here:
Once everything is laid out get your calk gun, load up a silicone tube and go to town getting the cork put into place. Lay it flat and put something with weight on top to keep everything in place.
Insert another pic I did not take here:
Once I had the cork in place the fun began. Start by soaking your pillow moss, let it be for at least 30 min, this will help to bring it back to like and make it pliable. Add in a layer of the clay balls, then a layer of batting, a layer of charcoal more batting then stop with the layering. I then began to fill in all the cork gaps with sphagnum moss. I toss a big clump into a bucket of water to plump it up... Pack it into the cracks nice and tight because you don’t want anything getting behind the backing. Do all you want, I like to pack in a lot and leave a bit hanging down just because I think it looks cool.
Another pic... Do’h... forgot to take it.
After that I started to add a few plants... the one on the bottom right and the air plants on the top, I then started to fill in some moss and dirt around the bottom... I cut a cork tube that I had, set it into place and then planted some vines inside that for a cool effect... Add in some more dirt, add in a few more vines. Then arrange some pillow moss, a few nice looking rocks... Give everything a once over and boom, your done!!!
Now here are a few pictures of my completed gecko tank... I will hook up my repti fog, and herp mist when I get the new pets. I love building these things, they are a bunch of fun to do and they always change. It looks a lot better in person, im not too crazy about the pics.
You can also make something like this for pygmy chameleons.
