toxic?

[wild caught]

iv been wanting to make som terrerium back grounds for my tokay gecko and other herps.

i have used this stuff in art class, it drys hard as a rock
http://www.dickblick.com/zz331/06/ and is easy to use and paint.

it is non-toxic , so it should be ok, right? and is it ok for amphibeans?

and what about paint? whats alright to use? and clear stuff to paint over it to make it so it wont peal off?

im obviously very ignorant baout this kinda stuff, lol. i have used this stuff to make fake aquariums for art class with no real animals and thot it looked so kool that i should use it on real animals.

 

[RadleyMiller]

We used wheat and water to make paper mache for animal enrichment at work.

 

[wild caught]

what kinda animal enrichment? out of curiosity, where do u work at?

 

[walls]

Ive made backgrounds out of wire mesh over balled up newspaper and then covering that with a thin "skim coat" of concrete. Looks natural and can be molded into a nice basking spot.

Just a thought.

 

[wild caught]

Ive made backgrounds out of wire mesh over balled up newspaper and then covering that with a thin "skim coat" of concrete. Looks natural and can be molded into a nice basking spot.

Just a thought.

how do you apply the concrete? how much does it weigh? it looks natural without paintintg?
you have any pics?

 

[walls]

how do you apply the concrete? how much does it weigh? it looks natural without paintintg?
you have any pics?

I used regular quickcrete. After you finish "building" the mold out of 1/4" ratwire or chicken wire over newspaper you mix the concrete so that it is of an oatmeal consistancy. I applied two thin coats so as not to destroy the "form" with too much weight. Allowing the first coat to dry before doing the second thicker coat.
I was able to do THREE sides of a large cage in a few days. Pretty much everyone that has seen this way of doing a cage (some of my friends in Chicago do this as well)
like it alot. It actually turns out pretty natural looking and is a great way to add basking ledges.

Depending on the size and thickness of the "mold" will determine the final weight of the project.

No painting necessary. You can buy just about any color concrete dye you want. The last one I did with a buddy of mine he used just the color of the concrete for the first coat and then mixed the second coat half green half reddish slate and applied it in a random fashion. The result was quite nice........almost looked like algea on "red" rock.
I used a sealer on my big python cage to keep urine and feces from getting imbedded in the "rock" and being impossible to clean. But it is not something you have to do.

Sorry no pics. The cage was built when I lived in Chicago and kept a large Burm. The cage was 8' long, 4' wide and 4'tall. I put casters on the bottom of the cage because it was HEAVY.
The cage was given to a friend when I moved 13 years ago and as far as I know and it still houses his 2 iguanas.

One nice thing about this method is that you can use a spot lamp to heat a hot spot on the concrete making a nice "natural" basking spot.

My friends and I happened on this idea from a pet store that used to be in Oak Lawn Il. They had done it for all of thier display cages and within a couple of month's we all had our cages done in the same manner.

 

[walls]

I should mention that on the large Burm cage I made ledges out of 2x4"s and plywood and covered them along with the rest of the cage with the wire and then the concrete.

Large ledges need more support than just the "molded" sides and back.

 

[wild caught]

im going to ace tomorrow to get the quikcrete and wire, thanks dude

 

[wild caught]

I used a sealer on my big python cage to keep urine and feces from getting imbedded in the "rock" and being impossible to clean. But it is not something you have to do.

QUOTE]


what kind of sealer? im real paranoid about different chemicals getting my animals sick lol. do i even have reason to worry about that?

 

[walls]

If memory serves I used an acrylic sealer but im pretty sure that you can buy a silicone one that has the consistancy of water, it just gets sprayed on. Either of these would be OK once they dry.

Not sure if you saw this yet, Check out the double bass at the end. I hate SELLOUTICA but its cool to see Lombardo showing up Lars. LOL!@

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCIN6MUwWZ4&mode=related&search=