coconut hides at:
lllreptiles.com - $3.99
Petco - $4.19
Whole coconuts at Walmart - $2.59 when not on sale. Making 2 cocohuts from one coconut if you already have the needed tools - $1.30 each. Less then half the price of store bought cocohuts and you get fresh coconut meat.
Tools needed:
-Coconut(s)
-Saw of some type (hand saw, jigsaw, dremel with cutting disc)
-Optional - Drill with Hole Saw (makes things easier)
-Optional - Oven (makes removing the white meat extremely easier and faster)
1. Go to your local grocery store and buy however many coconuts you want. Be sure to look them over and pick ones that you like. Make sure they are free of any cracks because any existing cracks will just get worse. Gather the rest of the supplies that you will need.
2. If you don't have a drill with a hole saw, you can skip this step. Use the hole saw to cut a large hole in the coconut(s) and drain any water in them. The hole can be wherever you want and whatever size you want (I used a 2" hole saw), but it should be centered over where you will be cutting them in half as it will also provide the entrance for both halves.
3. Cut the coconut(s) in half the way you want. it can be lengthwise or around the middle, it doesn't really matter. Cutting it around the middle will give you taller huts, the other way will give you longer flatter huts. If you skipped step one, be sure to drain any water out of them once you break threw the shell and meat.
4. This step isn't necessary, but it dries out the meat so its *much* easier to remove. Place the coconut halves on a tray in the oven and let them sit for an hour at 200F or warmer. do not go over 250F. the heating/cooling process can result in the shell cracking, but it will still work fine as long as its still whole.
5. If you had them in the oven, let them cool for half an hour. Remove the white meat. An easy way to do it is to slice it into pieces and pry the pieces off the shell. Be careful not to crack the shell, but if it does crack, it will still work fine as long as its still whole.
6. If you didn't use a hole saw in step one, then you will need to try and cut a door into them using a saw and/or round sanding bit.
You now have some cocohuts!
If you want to, you could easily wash them, sand them, paint them, or whatever else you want to do.
In the 8 shown in the pictures, 5 cracked after heating/cooling and one chipped while cutting it in half. Its wood, it will crack if the heating/cooling/drying isn't done precisely. There's the chance that the cracks will get bigger or that the other 3 will crack as they cool or dry out further and adjust to the temps and humidity levels of the cages they go in.
Ggot these 4 coconuts on sale at Walmart for $1.85 each.
so for $7.40, i made 8 cocohuts. $7.40 isn't enough to buy 2 cocohuts from petco.
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