This week we were lucky enough to come across three gorgeous male Cresties that were being sold in our local area. I had a really great experience with the previous owners, finding out that we go to the same college, and I got to learn a little about their cozy family and promising future in a new state. Since this was a re-homing, I was very fortunate enough to get an amazing deal on the three guys. Previously 2 of them were housed in custom made bins with mesh and a great network of bamboo rods and foliage. I already decided that over the summer while I am working, I am going to go tank by tank and turn them into live vivariums. So I took the initiative to custom build two tanks while I had a little time before school starts back up here in a week. I was so thankful that Fired up Geckos had provided a DIY tank tutorial. I made a few adjustments and off we went!
Click here for the tutorial! :)
(Btw the tape is there JUST in case the hinges come off. I should have used two hinges, and ones with more coverage, but I am stubborn and want to make these work hahahaha. Also I was pressed on time and messed up a couple parts of the spray paint I was unable to fix. I will be fixing these spots when I do the live vivarium build during the summer. Also I found some things out to make the hinges look better I will do next time.)
Now everything can be purchased at your local Lowes, which they also will cut your plexi glass. For two tanks, all the supplies and some personal extras, I spent $100 total. I purchased a 10 gallon and a 15 gallon btw. Now that right there is a great price for two tanks. An Exo terra 12 x 12 x 18 is about $60 before taxes, and the same for ZooMed. In that $100, there were a lot of one time purchases, like a hacksaw, spray paint, caulk gun, etc. So it was only like $40 a tank. If you are interested in purchasing a custom built tank like this, let me know. I would charge cost of supplies, labor and shipping. Each tank took about 6 hours of labor not including dry time for glue and spray paint coats. So you are looking at about $75 for a 10 gallon, $100 for a 15 gallon and $120 for a 20 gallon before shipping costs. Choose any color of spray paint for $5 more, this stone spray paint was awesome! Even feels like stone. If you are in the area, there are no shipping costs, and will only charge a small delivery fee (depending on distance, cost of gas past 30 minutes) if it is more than a 30 minute drive. If you want to pick it up, then no charge! :D There are some things I would do differently next time, like picking more reliable hinges over look. They do their job, but I should have at least done two instead of one. Other than that, these are awesome tanks that will be AWESOME when I get them to be live vivariums. I absolutely love the door setup though, I did not use magnets, I picked up a stronger connection so that I can sleep at night knowing they won't pounce on the door and open it. Anyways I plan on doing a few more tanks when we have the space someday.
On another note, I had some issues with the cork back bark I got. Apparently if you mist one spot all the time it will mold!! I had to take mine back to the store, I replaced it with Cocofiber carpet I Velcro'd up the wall for them to climb on.
Everyone seems to be settling in nicely here! I am still new to having older Cresties and and have a lot of questions that I am researching. I think I may switch to non silk plants as I have noticed they have smelly tanks. I added a small fan not directly facing the tanks to add air circulation. Hopefully that will help until I build the live vivariums. I don't smell it until I stick my head into the tank, and it isn't a strong smell but I am more concerned that they have to smell it. Here comes a massive dump of new pictures. I have decided to keep the dragon themed name line going and renamed the three dudes. :)
Nozdromu (Formally Lemonade)
Nefarian (formally La Flame)
Elegon (Formally GuWop)
Smaug
Together?
(Jk)
Thanks for stopping by! :)
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