background ideas?

[hanna]

hi all

I am building an enclosure for my corn snake and want to make the bakc and side wall look like natural rock. I was thinking of using spray foam insulation that sticks to walls and then paint it . Does any know if it is toxic? Has any one tried this. any other ideas out there to make natural look rock wall scape that is 3-d??

hanna

[Weather1]

Great idea, not sure if it is toxic though.:D

[doenoe]

http://hem.bredband.net/ridgun/teo/svenska/terrariebygge/frame-terrariet.html

Its in Swedish or something like that. But dont fear, there are lots of pics there. Im gonna make a wall like that too.
Good luck with the background

[Lisa]

What does the can say on it? You may have to let the stuff cure for a while, specially if painting. what kind of paint are you planning on using?

[Tim_Cranwill]

I'm in the process of making one. I'm taking a month to do it so that each step can fully cure and off-gas. Here's what I've done...

1. Since I didn't want it to be a permanent thing, I sprayed the foam on to some foil over a sheet of glass the same size as my back wall. It took 4 cans of foam to cover the surface and give me some depth to work with. I let this cure for about 48 hours.

2. I took a hand saw and started to cut and shape the surface of the foam. You don't need to use a hand saw, but a serrated blade works 50 times better than a straight blade. I let this cure for another 48 hours as I had been exposing more uncured foam. After 48 hours I removed the glass back support.

3. Here is where I figured out that if I paint this foam, I'd waste 30 gallons of paint trying to fill in all if the bubbles and cracks and etc. So, I used a putty knife and some drywall putty to cover the foam and give the structure some strength. I put on two coats giving each one 24 hours to dry.

4. Then I used a water based bathroom paint that is high humidity tolerant. I got them to tint it as dark as they could. It turned out grey but it still looks good. I have put about 3 coats on up to this point. I've given each coat 48 hours to cure.

5. Now, I'm not at this stage yet but here's what I plan to do... I will take some brown, black and a darker grey and accent some of the areas to give the appearance of depth and reality. I guess I'll give this paint 24-48 hours to cure as well.

6. I will then use some sort of water based sealant to seal the whole thing. Giving this maybe a week to cure in the enclosure without the animal in there.

Here is a picture of what I've got so far. I'm only at step 4 though...
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/475background_rock_01.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/475background_rock_02.jpg

[Tim_Cranwill]

Oh yeah, I have to give full credit to Alphozo for the idea:) Thanks Alphozo!:D

[doenoe]

wow, that looks awesome

[Weather1]

Cranwill... What will you be putting in the cage?

Looks great:p

[Tim_Cranwill]

This guy...
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/509/475malesin-med.jpg

Thanks guys. :D I can't wait to get it all set up!

[Weather1]

He is real nice. I hope he likes his new home.

[stormyva]

Cranwill, That background looks great!

Here is one that I made for the 15 gal tank that my Spotted Python is in. I got the information from this article (http://www.reptilerooms.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=34&page=1)
http://www.stormyworld.net/pages/animals/spot/spot_1-04_05.JPG
http://www.stormyworld.net/pages/animals/spot/spot_1-04_01.JPG
http://www.stormyworld.net/pages/animals/spot/spot_1-04_02.JPG
http://www.stormyworld.net/pages/animals/spot/spot_1-04_04.JPG

[hanna]

wow all the pics look great and thanks for the link to the site with instructions!! I look on the net and found many brands of spray insulation that is non toxic..............looks like a lot of fun to build.


hanna

[snakemann87]

cool stormy, i think ill do that for my boas cage:), i think as long as you let the paint dry out alot it should be ok.

[BILLP]

I don't have a digital camera so I don't have pictures but I basically did the samething as cranwil except I covered the foam with grout and painted the grout. the only thing is that the cage weighs a ton now. I will try to borrow a camera this weekend for some pictures.

[North]

all I can say is awesome job, that looks great....