Expanding foam

[Stega]

Alright so I fell like my BTS's enclosure is very bland and that he deserves better. So I've been looking around at people making their own custom backgrounds in terrariums with expanding foam and I really would like to do the same. Unfortunately my father says that if I do that mites will get behind it and I wont be able to clean them out. I have serious doubt about that so I wanted to ask here if mites could really get back behind the foam once it has expanded and cured, and if so how am I able to clean them out?.

Thanks

[kingofnobbys]

Better off buying a block of dense Styrofoam and then shaping to suit.

Thing is expanding foam has very little structural strength and will be outgasing for months (not good for a skink who is forced to live a confined space who's atmosphere will be contaminated by these nasty gases and vapors.

Yes insects will colonise the gap between the back the foam and the enclosure wall and will be literally impossible to control without removing the background .

[splashy07]

Styrofoam is toxic and not a strong material. Lizards with claws can dig at it and break pieces loose. Wouldn't use styro of any sort. Like I have said many times, simple is best for blueys.

[kingofnobbys]

Styrofoam is toxic and not a strong material. Lizards with claws can dig at it and break pieces loose. Wouldn't use styro of any sort. Like I have said many times, simple is best for blueys.

I agree, only time I've seen it used successfully was with bearded dragons , and it was builders Styrofoam blocks ( very dense , very rigid , very fine grained - used a void filler when pouring concrete slabs for foundations) and it was coated with tiling grout to make a very hard (sandy textured surface) which had the effect to preventing the dragon's nails from plucking bits off and sealed the surface so no outgasing was allowed) and was made to imitate sandstone.
A lot of effort - imo not worth the bother.

Then some people like bioactive beds too , again , not worth bother.

[Stega]

Styrofoam is toxic and not a strong material. Lizards with claws can dig at it and break pieces loose. Wouldn't use styro of any sort. Like I have said many times, simple is best for blueys.

So if I was to make a background of sorts what would you recommend? I looked at cork bark but it was really expensive to just cover the back.

[splashy07]

I'll let some others chime in on this one, I do not use backgrounds. Just more to try and keep clean. I use PVC type cages, but when I used glass some years back I simply put an attractive background (sheet plastic used for aquariums/terrariums) on the back outside the cage.

[mb606587]

I've done quite a few custom backgrounds for my skinks over the years. Typically I'll cut a foam poster board to size, and cover it with the expanding foam spray as you mentioned for texture. Now on its own, yes, the foam can be potentially toxic but after it has cured I cover it with several layers of mortar cement. Once the cement has cured, you can spray paint it with one of several natural rock colors to give it a realistic look. Finally and perhaps most important, seal it several times over with a WATER based polyurethane. I usually give it 3 coats to be safe. And then you can apply it with a strong outdoor bonding glue graded for stone from a caulk gun. However there are many other ways to make naturalistic backgrounds with a few videos dedicated to just that on Youtube.

Never heard of mites getting back behind the background but in the event of a serious mite infestation, the possibility can't be discredited. Using a clear drying silicone caulk to seal all the edges and seams would be my recommendation. That would also prevent water from penetrating behind. Also, I've only done backgrounds like this on custom wood enclosures, never glass aquariums, so in the event of a mite infestation, which I've been lucky enough to never have, I could easily remove the back panel and replace while my skink was in quarantine.

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[mb606587]

Styrofoam and expanding foam can also be used to create unique features inside your enclosure. I've heard of people using grout to coat the styrofoam. Personally I use mortar cement as I can usually pick up 50 lb. bags for between $5 and $10. Here's a piece I made using just those materials. Would probably retail for around $100 with the size of it but probably only cost about $25 to make. I've seen some truly creative people make absolutely beautiful pieces so with a little imagination you can create something stunning. Again, several coats of water based polyurethane is a must.

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[MaddyKay99]

I just made a custom enclosure for my skink and I bough exoterra foam backgrounds to put on the back and sides for a little bit of extra decoration and because my boy seems to enjoy climbing up the foam back like I had in his original exoterra 40 gal breeder. My cage is 6x2 so I just bought 4 24x24" backgrounds to cover the back and attached them with a little bit of caulk to make sure they wouldn't fall down on him. It is a bit more expensive but it is much less work and looks absolutely phenomenal