Hides-Post your ideas+methods

[Cazador]

I like this hide. I made it out of a cottonwood tree. I'm not real happy with the way the top looks, though. I think it contrasts too sharply with the "natural" appearance. Maybe I should drill some small holes and insert some fake plants sticking out of the top... or maybe put a mat of fake moss on it. Any ideas?

I drilled a 1.25" (~3.2cm) hole in the front and then drilled more holes in the bottom. Then I used a chisel to make it hollow and to smooth the inside of the log. The cavity inside the log is about 2" (5cm) high; the outside diameter is ~6" (15cm), and the height is 4" (10cm). Two snakes can fit in there at a time.

I don't clean it often because they don't poop on it, but before I added it, I baked it, and I've occasionally soaked it in bleach water (filled with rocks to keep it submerged).

[RedSided]

Thats pretty origonal, can you make me one ?

Gives me an idea, you could buy a bird house and use that as a hide for multiple garters and if you had a tall wooden viv you could hang it and add some kind of branch access, depending on whether or not your garter likes to climb.(mine isn't the biggest fan).

Dont get one with a lead roof.

[Thamnophis]

I use pieces of cork as hidingplace. Works fine.

[Sid]

This one is a naturally hollowed out piece od dead wood I found.


These two are plastic flower pots.


Sid

[sschind]

Thanks a lot Rick. Now you got me thinking again and I probably wont be able to sleep tonight. I will be visiting my parents this weekend and they live on 40 acres of wooded land. I will probably be spending most of my time rummaging through the wood pile. Its probably still too cold to find snakes but I might be able to come up with a few hides.

steve

[Stefan-A]

I can't believe I've been this stupid, I actually have a project I've been working on for the last couple of months (I'm in no hurry).



Made from plaster bandages, covered with a layer of plaster, painted and lacquered and I'm currently in the middle of trying to partially cover it with peat and bark. Next, I'll be attaching fake plants to it. There are a bunch of tubes hidden at the back for more fake plants. Of course I don't have my "19 in 1" memory card reader with me, so I can't show more pictures of it at the moment.

[sschind]

These are some of the things I have been working on for my desert geckos.

Basically they are fake rock backgrounds and structures made from styrofoam, tile grout and polyurethane. It is so much easier to do desert stuff because of the colors. I'll try to work on something more "woodsy" once I get the hang of this.

the first two are for the 29 gallon laid flat tanks I described in the enclosure size thread.

the third one is part of my assembly line for the back and side panels

the last two are just a few of my basking platform designs

[Cazador]

Nice work, Steve. I really like those styrofoam backgrounds. How long do they take to make?

Rick

[sschind]

Thanks Rick. I think the backgrounds turned out nicer than the structures. I thought they (the structures) were cool at first but they are more difficult to make and they are more difficult to make look natural so I think I will hold off on them. As far as the Backgrounds go I doubt if I have more than a couple of hours into each set. I usually do 2 sets at a time (2 backgrounds and 4 sides) I can do the roughing out each set with styro in about an hour depending on the detail. When I have time in the store (which is quite often now) I will just glue together a bunch of ledges and have them laying around so when it comes time to rough them out I can just grab whichever ones I want and glue them to the backerboard. Each of the three coats of grout take about 1/2 hour each set as does the poly so you can figure I have maybe 4 hours into 2 sets which comes out to about 2 hours per set total. Most of the descriptions you read about this type of thing says to mix the grout to the consistency of oatmeal but I keep it very thin. It take more coats but I think several thin coats will stand up to chipping better than one thick coat. Besides, with all the nooks and crannies I need it a little more runny to seep into the cracks. I also use the sanded grout which adds to the texture but is a pain in the but because I have to keep stirring the mix to keep the sand from settling. I'll post a few pictures of my spider gecko tank once its done.

The first one pictured took a bit longer because of the detail in the basking platform. It was also the first one I did. I don't put as much detail into them now so they don't take as long. If anyone is going to the Lake County reptile show on the 14th I hope to have a few there.