Custom built hides?

[Egg]

Would anybody be interested in some custom built hides? Or other items?

A friend of mine does a lot of modeling and making other things like cake toppers with Polymer Clay, I asked how easy it would be to make hides and other things, she said it should work well, my modeling skills are extreamly limited at best but she is really good.

I'm going to be swapping all my snakes from different vivs to a rack, problem I have found so far is getting nice looking hides to fit, let alone stuff for them to climb about on and help shedding, she can do any size in any colours I think, so she may be abit busy with my lot!

So does anyone else think they would be interested?

[SimonMc]

Egg, I'd be interested in knowing more, seeing pics of yours, knowing how much the cost and how many make it a worthwhile venture. Ta.
SimonMc

[Egg]

She is doing one as we speak, my wife will see her on Weds so I should be able to get a pic on then, as for price I'm waiting to be able to sit down and speak to her about it, also see if some design ideas of my own will work.

[jennuhkins]

how much and pics of some?

[Egg]

Unfortunatly this idea isnt going to work as well as I thought at first, so at the moment its not going to happen, if things change then I will repost on this thread.

[dino91]

if you are still looking for nice hides etc for your rack, i made my entire background out of blue foamboard, grey silicone (the color will determine the result) and silversand
you can see the result in this facebooklink

the board is very easy to cut with a sharp knife and not to expensive, i paid 6€ each tube of silicone and i used 3 for more than 1m² surface

[Isoldael]

Very nice looking. Is it easy to clean, though?

[dino91]

It depends on what i have to get cleaned and were

Since I used waterproof silicone the poop won't really get in the material, but sometimes wen dried out it leaves stains even when removed.
In the caves and most other horizontal spaces is sand (special for Reptiles but i don't remember the name) wich will absorb most of what's left behind, when dried it can be very easily spotcleaned and every now and then i change all lose sand...
If I would make it again I would do so in such a way that horizontal parts are more or less bowl chaped and filled with bark or something easy removable to make cleaning easier.


Pro:
-can look very 'balanced' and realistic; if made properly no risk of falling objects on snakes;
-build in waterbowl prevents it from being tossed over;
-foam board isolates, making less heat escape and thus better for electricity bills on the long run;
-using the background or different levels can gives extra surface for your reptiles to use;
-leveling may also give animals the feeling they are basking on an elevated rock when under a light source

con:
-depending on the design and materials it can be difficult to keep clean although a balanced built might make it easier to spotclean;
-a built in waterbowl can't be changed easily for smaller or bigger bowl's when a snake outgrows these, when broken, an identical bowl has to be placed (i use a drinking dish for cats and dogs)
-heavy logs or stones that are built in and need to be cleaned can't always be removed;
-when designing the interior, be aware that a snake, certainly when older, can redecorate it for you, things might get moved around when not anchored sufficiently;

I'm sure there are a lot of pro's and con's to be added, depending a lot on the way it is built, If i would have the time I would make it again i think, only keeping those new points in mind
But the snakes seem to aprove for now


PS: the plant got killed (as suspected) so i laid plastic ones in return which hides the smallest middle cave,

[Isoldael]

On a side note, I'm also currently building my own custom hide. Granted, it doens't look great and certainly won't look natural when finished, but I hope it will do the job!





I made it out of salt dough. I was afraid that the horns might break off in the oven, so I left it to dry naturally. It's quite solid by now, so I'll paint and varnish it some time soon. I just need to figure out which types of varnish are okay to use with snakes

[dino91]

would it really be important what varnish is used once dry?
paints can come lose and should be taken in account to be safe for pets, but i don't know about varnish because it will become very solid

I don't have experience with it
looks good by the way, post some pics when finished pleased?

[Isoldael]

I certainly will! As for the varnish, I never actually craft anything so I have no experience. I can imagine some of them containing chemicals that could be harmful to humans/animals even when hard, but I have no clue. Maybe someone here can help me out?