My new salt dough hide!

[Spindown]

Nae, I'm not talking to you. Stop being good at everything.

[AidanJames1]

can i use play-doh then bake it doe as long as sapphire said so it goes hard?

[Nae]

You could try?

I personally would recommend salt dough over it however - Salt dough is made to be baked or air dried and its far more stronger once dried, plus it lasts longer. My experience with play dough is that it crumbles when dry~

Plus Id imagine salt dough to be cheaper to make anyhow.

[StaceyLeigh]

Very nice! I think I found a new art project for the boys!

[LovesChihuahuas]

Wow! This is fantastic, I have to try make one!!!! I actually thought about making a paper mache one last week but this would be so much better, thanks heaps for all the info!!!

[Spindown]

I'll have to take a pic of my Merauke in hers, she loves it, even though its basic. I've gotten better at them, and even un-sealed they last for months if they dont get peed on or wet.

This hide is 2 months old. It has held up to her climbing on it, using it, etc. She LOVES this thing. It is, however, obviously time to make her a new one.


It looks very similar in shape to a "professionally" made hide of plastic from like zoo med or exoterra (below)


My new interest is using Polymer clay. I found out after its baked I can use it in my fish tank, so I'm pretty sure its safe for other uses also.
Thoughts on this?

[Bassman]

It sounds really cool. I might have to find some myself, though I should probably finish grouting my Styrofoam hides before I move on to other stuff... I would think the polymer clay would work lots better. Styrofoam is a pain and it would definitely last longer than a salt dough hide.

[Nae]

It definitely does look close to the Exoterra! You could do something like raise it up in places instead of it being completely smooth to further replicate the look

Polymer clay contains plasticizers, which make an otherwise solid plastic easily malleable - Its basically colourful, squishy PVC piping. Id be worried about the plastics leaking into the water (Both left over plasticizers after curing and the PVC) afterwards, since there is no exact way to tell 100% if polymer has cured. Id say the amounts after it has been cured would be quite small, and so a few small ornaments in a large tank with hardy fish species probably wont do anything, but a cave or something in a smaller tank I wouldnt risk it. Perhaps look into coating it with water safe epoxy?

But, for bts usage, if sealed I dont see any problem. However, Im not sure about America, but here it can be quite pricey for a small block of it, and since you wont be able to build it onto foam (Foam emits toxic fumes when baked), it may take quite a bit of polymer and thus be quite costly!

[Bassman]

Apparently my mom has worked with it before and she says it emits toxic fumes when it is baked. One of the websites I looked at even said to get a separate oven if you were planning on doing it very often and to never use a toaster oven. I saw it for fifteen to twenty dollars for a pound of the stuff, not that I know how much that would translate to or how much you would need to make a hid thick enough to make it support the weight of a skink. It is non-toxic after it is baked though and then if you sealed it you would be fine.

[Nae]

Yep, be very careful when baking, especially when you burn it it does indeed emit toxic fumes. But, the fumes are very noticeable (So dont be scared of the thought of suddenly dropping dead in your kitchen, trust me you will smell it! ) Even so, you will have to inhale a fair amount for it to do more then make you sick, so if you do burn it, quickly turn off your oven, open a window and leave.

As well as separate ovens, many people also like to do stuff like do it in a separate room rather then an open or public one like the kitchen. Some also cover the piece in foil, open it in a well ventilated area like outside, and leave it for a while, I dont know much more about that method however.

It may be non-toxic, but it is still highly recommended not to be ingested, left in contact with food or water items (That are then consumed). Just like acrylic paint, that is also plastic based. Non toxic, but obviously if you drink it from the bottle its going to make you sick.

[Spindown]

I have joined a ton of aquarium forums, and every one of them has said that Sculpey 1 and 3 are safe to use over extended periods of time, as well as FIMO. They have done tests over time and there was no issues in the aquarium. Only reason I'm even contemplating using it. I have a mario theme and when my axie moves into a larger tank then I want to go all out and make Mario warp pipes and other awesomeness out of sculpey.

I figured I'd have lots of things to make with my sculpey though, like I want to start making bead canes for my grandma's jewelry and stuff. Small figurines for my DND friends and MTG friends.

Meh, i dunno, was just brainstorming hide ideas. Eventually I want to do the styrofoam/grout/sealed method because that would just be epic fun. However that will have to wait for a house.

[Nae]

As long as you've done your research, Im sure you know what your doing - Id still eeerr on the side of caution however, perhaps do stuff like cook the pieces on a low heat for longer then necessary, seal them, then perhaps soak them in a bucket of water for a week or so?

Its just a pet peeve of mine when people say "I read that this is fine, so Im going to use it." And thats that. No further research conducted, you know? Just wanted to make sure~

[Alioop]

What about making cold porcelain and using that? I've been wanting to get back into art projects working with my hands so I've been research the different clays that can be air-dried or oven dried (I WISH I had a kiln!). This stuff is made from harmless ingredients, and might be easier to work with?

http://thenewnew.blogspot.com/2011/06/h ... -clay.html

[Nae]

For bts do you mean Ali? Im personally of the opinion that as long as any and all precautions needed for that particular product are seen to and its sealed with a reptile-safe sealent, then nearly anything would be suitable as long as it provides the look you want and can support the animal in question and wear up to its wear and tear!

Ive heard of the store brought cold porcelain, but never even thought of looking into making it! Id say it would be a lot smoother then salt dough, so perhaps a bit harder to create the rock texture, which pretty much comes naturally with the salt dough~It does however sound a considerable amount more durable!

Another air dry/ oven dry clay to look into is paper clay - Its probably a bit too expensive to go making a heap of fake rocks with though!

Keep in mind though that Elmers/ PVA glue is water soluble So it probably wont hold up well for aquarium use/ water bowls etc, unless sealed with something water safe~

[Alioop]

Yea Nae, I was thinking for hides for the bts. With the salt dough you have to have some kind of armature, right? Like Sapphire uses a bowl, and if I remember right yours has styrofoam underneath? I was thinking you could skip that step with the cold porcelain. Knowing how messy bts are, I'd probably seal anything I made for them!

[Spindown]

thats a COOL link Alioop! I will have to try that for the BTS. What sealers would you recommend for this guys?

Also, this is so simple I'm surprised no one has brought it up already, but what about making a opening in the bottom of a large round terra-cotta pot? This is such a common hide method for snakes (although many times the hole is at the top of the pot). These have no bad chemicals and are safe if you sand the edges of the hides! My buddy has 2 nice sized TC pots for his Ball Pythons that would be a perfect size for a bluey! You could even paint them.

Its more *fun* to make your own but for someone in a crunch or looking for quick and easy this might work?

[Alioop]

My only issue with the clay pots is that they are very tall, with not-so-big of a diameter. I just feel like its kind of an inefficient use of space. Although... I think they come in different shapes sometimes, right?

I have no idea what you would seal that cold porcelain with, sorry! I would think if you painted it with acrylic that would seal it.

I've been eyeing up the wide chunks of pvc pipe for hides, I just don't have room in the enclosures right now to test those out.

[Spindown]

my guys LOVE LOVE LOVE those PVC pipes...if you get too wide curves you can stick them together and make a great sized skink hide
I picked up a few to test and WOW i need more!

The TC pots he has are flatter than normal ones i usually see. Flatter and rounder, rather than taller and skinnier. They do exist! I dont know where though lol

[Nae]

Hmm...I know with Zekes hide, even with the foam armature, the roof is slightly bowed as I couldnt find a tall enough 'thing' to go under and support it, I had to make do with a slighty shorter toilet roll - I would personally think the same would be need for the porcelian, as without anything to support it, its otherwise a completely flexible and stretchy substance! However, it may possibly require less water? So you might be able to get away with using something like cardboard, perhaps?

How about the bases for terracotta pots? Rather then the pots themselves? I have seen these big dish type pots as well - I guess it will take a bit of shopping around!

And as for sealant, I still stand by mod podgue - Its cheap, its easy, there are no weird fumes etc! The only problem is that even the matte one can be a bit shiny - I find that putting on a final extra thick layer and giving it a really light buff with fine sandpaper or the like helps to eradicate it~

[Spindown]

I've also seen people mix in a tiny bit of sand with the mod-podge sealant to take away so much of the shininess. Lizard Landscapes does it that way.