# China cabinet into vivarium



## ilovelizards (Aug 17, 2012)

The cabinet is 3 levels has a screen top and to huge slideing glass doors its solid oak wood and seems to be already sealed.It also has a reptisun 10.0 in it. I want to make it into a vivarium for my tokay gecko and have it look forest looking and will probly build a fountain and put in it.If you guys could please help me I know frogs are more your area of expertise but you guys do seem to know your plants and vivarium's.I live by a large wooded area so plants and wood&rocks will not be a problem.Both levels have been cut to make 3 levels.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Oooh that looks like a neat project! I'm no DIY expert so I won't offer my terrible advice but I'm looking forward to seeing it built


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## parkanz2 (Sep 25, 2008)

This will be a fun project! You do have some work ahead of you though, but I enjoy viv building and if you do too, you'll have a good time with it.

I'd recommend an epoxy product to seal the the wood. There are several that have been used for vivs but I most recently used uscomposites.com thin epoxy system that worked really well for my last build. The big thing about epoxy is preparation! You want to make sure all of the seams are filled in with a wood putty if there are gaps and that the construction is sound (no wobbles or movement at the seems. This could cause the epoxy to crack eventually.) 

You also want to prep the surface of the wood with a thorough sanding. It looks like it may already have a shellac or polyurethane on it so be ready for some elbow grease. An orbital sander with a large grit sand paper would help cut through it more quickly. Personally, I'd recommend getting right down to bare wood, but it may not be necessary. I think one of the best parts of using epoxy is that soaks into the wood a little. This really strengthens the surface coat. You could potentially just "rough up" what ever coating is already on the wood but that means you're depending on the epoxy bonding to that coating, and also that the bond between the first coating and the wood is still reliable.

There are some other options for sealing the wood as well, but epoxy is fairly unanimously agreed to be the most reliable.

The other thing I'm noticing just from the picture, is that you'll probably have to install some kind of board or pane of glass along the bottom to hold the substrate and drainage layer, other wise water will just leak out the bottom of the doors.

That's where I would start anyway, have fun!


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## ilovelizards (Aug 17, 2012)

What is I just put the plants in pots and stuff would I still need to seal it?
I do not have a sander and need the cheapest way possable,cant you waterproof with lime and oil?


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## Homer (Feb 15, 2004)

I would agree with most of what Max has said. I've built multiple frog tanks out of plywood, and I painted all of them with marine epoxy. I am no expert on gecko's so I don't know their humidity requirements, but if you are talking about very high humidity, be prepared for wood swelling and warping.

If you just want the cheapest way to finish this project, and the cabinet can be thrown away with no remorse, you could probably just attach some pond liner to the bottom to make a basin. In fact, you could attach a pond liner on the entire inside of the cabinet with some of the thin epoxy max was talking about, and it would take much less epoxy to get the job done (you could the probably get away with just one of those tubes from the hardware store instead of having to spring for the marine epoxy like West Systems makes).

Some heavy coats of spar varnish on the remaining parts of the cabinet that are exposed to the humidity will help a lot. I've used spar varnish on wooden parts of terrariums that are not exposed to water long term, and they held up great for years (as in 5+ years).

If you are going to have no standing water whatsoever, you might be able to get away with spar varnish only. I would say that I disagree with Max in how far you have to go with the wood prep. You don't need to strip down to bare wood if the current finish is adhering well. I'd just hand sand with 180 grit to scuff the surface and provide some tooth for the next layer to adhere to, wipe off any residue with a damp cloth, let it dry, and start painting. 

If it were me, though, I would go with the pond liner at least in the bottom, with a board at the bottom front like Max said to form a basin so that water does not leak out the front.

Here's a link to one of my wooden terrariums: Frognet.org Gallery :: Project Time: How to Build a Terrarium from Scratch


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