So after watching a bunch of videos on youtube of people who made their own hides/rocks and such for their reptile enclosures I thought I would try my hand at it... I started out with a couple pieces of 2" and 1" polystryene insulation. I cut out the basic sizes I wanted with a back cut saw, then glued them together with PL Premium adhesive. Then I started shaping with some olfa blades. Then tonight, I used tile grout and covered it all, with the hopes it will look vaguely rock-like. Heres a couple pics... sorry I'm not good at making DIY tutorials, so I didn't take many pics... The poly cut, glued and shaped... As you can see, there are a couple different levels, and also a hide incorporated underneath. I am putting slate tile down in the tank, but my uro has a major desire to burrow, so I will be putting some washed playsand/loam mix in the hide. This should satisfy his crave to burrow while keeping the sandy substrate away from his eating/lounging areas. One thing I learned along the way at this point was not to waste alot of time trying to make fine details in the poly trying to make it look more rocklike... it will just be covered in by the grout. If you do add detail, do it big. Tonight I added the coat of grout over top of the poly. Overall I am pretty pleased with it, anxious to see how the grout dries. I went with a "sandstone" colour grout. In retrospect I could have thrown some more sand in to give it a bit more texture, but I will have to see how it dries. I'll post pics once it dries and I get it in the terrarium.
That looks awesome! I do the exact same thing for my own tanks (most of them anyway) and it's held up really well for nearly 10years now. Although I would suggest putting at least two layers of grout... and to make sure none of the polystyrene is exposed. Your Uro's going to love it!
Just for reference, here's a link to a (not very good) how-to I put together one day, lol. The two rock walls in the pictures are about 8 years old now actually. Still holding up very nicely
Thanks I used to be really crafty when I had the time... trying t get back in to it now... hopefully more "tutorial" or how-to's to come! Do you have any pics of the new rock structure in the finished tank?
Haven't got around to getting it all together yet, was away on vacation, and got sick while away, still down with that, work is slow right now so I took another week and will hopefully feel better so I can get the enclosure to where I want it. Angus really seems to be settling in though! He is very active, and always curious about what is going on around his tank. Seems to be pretty friendly and tolerates handling very well. And its hilarious to watch him eat.
