DIY Giant Reptile Hides

[SidewaysAt100]

DIY Giant Reptile Hides


Supplies:
-5 Gallon Bucket
-Krylon Fusion for plastic spray paint (only safe paint once cured I know of)


Tools:
-Drill
-Drill bit (slightly larger than jigsaw blade)
-Jigsaw
-Pencil
-Ruler
-Square
-Corse sandpaper


How to: (brief "How To", therefore may not mention all safety precautions while using power tools or doing this project, knowing how to work safely is up to you to research if you don't know what you're doing.)


-Mark a straight line across the bucket side and bottom halfway, this is the line you will follow with the jigsaw to cut the bucket in half.


-Remove the top part of bucket that has ribs by drilling a hole and inserting the jigsaw blade, then cutting around the bucket.


-Drill a hole in the centre of the very bottom of the bucket, then insert the jigsaw blade and cut a circle so that when the bucket is cut in half your pet can enter the hide from the back side (bottom of the bucket).


-Follow along the lines you made down the very centre of the sides of the bucket and bottom, cutting the bucket exactly in half.


-Use the sandpaper to debur the plastic from the edges you cut so they are smooth and have no loose plastic burrs hanging off.


-Use compressed air to blow off the loose plastic particles from the bucket caused by all the sanding and cutting. If you don't have a compressor use a tack cloth or wash the two halves of the bucket under running water then dry fully.


-In a ventilated area following the cans directions use Krylon Fusion for plastic spray paint (only pet safe spray paint once cured I know of) to paint the two bucket halves which will be your reptile hides. Do two or three lighter coats as opposed to putting on too thick of a coat which the paint may run or will chip from the plastic easier once cured and in use.


-Let the paint fully cure. I personally leave the paint to cure for a week just to be safe before introducing to your reptiles habitat.

Pictures:

[marvelfreak]

Cool thanks for sharing.

[SidewaysAt100]

No problem.

[Caylan]

Those are seriously cool!

[SidewaysAt100]

Thanks. Here is another picture of them in my almost finished enclosure.

[alessia55]

Nice! Thanks for sharing the "recipe." Once they're painted they look very natural.

[SidewaysAt100]

Thanks, I was happy how they turned out just painted, but I got an idea to sterilize bark off of logs from our fire pit and silicon it around the outside. That way it looks really natural like a log, will post pictures once I'm finished doing that.

[SidewaysAt100]