Hey guys, I haven't had a new thread in a while so I thought I'd share the new project I'm working on.
I received my 18"x18"x36" screen cage the other day in the mail that I ordered from LLLReptiles. The cage go a lot of good reviews and is of much better quality compared to the similar ones Zilla and Zoomed make. I also purchased a substrate box for the bottom of the enclosure. I'm pretty excited to get it ready for my future pair of Green Aboral Alligator Lizards, Abronia graminea. I choose a screen cage for the fact that this species lives high in the misty cloud forests of southern Mexico and they enjoy a good air flow that is hard to achieve in a glass tank. I also want to keep the setup light because I plan to move them outdoors when the weather is nice. Natural sunlight really helps bring out this species green coloring.
Below I'll share the step by step process of constructing the fake background. I plan on adding a lot of live plants such as bromeliads, which are an important plant for this species.
I cut a 3/4" piece of foam insulation board I picked up from Lowe's and placed this in the back. This becomes the base for my background. Here's a photo of the first can of Great Stuff spray foam placed on the foam board. I have the cage laying on it's back which makes things much easier because you're not working against gravity.
Next I added a second can of spray foam after the first dried for a day. The second can will be what I use to give depth to the background. I'm also using it to form two placed where I'll can place potted live plants. I let the foam cure for about 20 minutes and then placed pieces of cork bark into it which glued into place. Not only is the bark a nice natural background for the lizards, but I will also use it to attach live bromeliads to.
After it dried for another day I carved out the areas where I plan on placing live plants.
I placed a piece of manzanita wood in the front of the background and glued it in. I plan on placing live broms on this too.
I received my 18"x18"x36" screen cage the other day in the mail that I ordered from LLLReptiles. The cage go a lot of good reviews and is of much better quality compared to the similar ones Zilla and Zoomed make. I also purchased a substrate box for the bottom of the enclosure. I'm pretty excited to get it ready for my future pair of Green Aboral Alligator Lizards, Abronia graminea. I choose a screen cage for the fact that this species lives high in the misty cloud forests of southern Mexico and they enjoy a good air flow that is hard to achieve in a glass tank. I also want to keep the setup light because I plan to move them outdoors when the weather is nice. Natural sunlight really helps bring out this species green coloring.
Below I'll share the step by step process of constructing the fake background. I plan on adding a lot of live plants such as bromeliads, which are an important plant for this species.
I cut a 3/4" piece of foam insulation board I picked up from Lowe's and placed this in the back. This becomes the base for my background. Here's a photo of the first can of Great Stuff spray foam placed on the foam board. I have the cage laying on it's back which makes things much easier because you're not working against gravity.
Next I added a second can of spray foam after the first dried for a day. The second can will be what I use to give depth to the background. I'm also using it to form two placed where I'll can place potted live plants. I let the foam cure for about 20 minutes and then placed pieces of cork bark into it which glued into place. Not only is the bark a nice natural background for the lizards, but I will also use it to attach live bromeliads to.
After it dried for another day I carved out the areas where I plan on placing live plants.
I placed a piece of manzanita wood in the front of the background and glued it in. I plan on placing live broms on this too.