Thicktail enclosure

[nico77]

I have 1 piece of my mates old kitchen left that is to small for a snake enclosure so i have decided to make it into a gecko enclosure . Heres a few pics of where im up to , any suggestions would be great .

cheers nico



I have made a tunnel going from 1 side to the other so it can be used as 1 or 2 enclosures




Some hides , the 1 with the hole will have a container in there for egg laying






Having a go at making some vines with pva glue and coco peat , trying with garden hose and rope , they both have wire in them to make them shapable

 

[snakeluvver]

Cool idea, will you be removing the styrofoam or making it into a background?

 

[mad_at_arms]

Looking good so far nico!
What do you have in mind for lighting?
I am hoping to pick up some Thick tails for myself within the fortnight. So I will be stealing all your good ideas ;D

 

[nico77]

The foam is the start of the rock wall , the cabnet was open and i added the divider and have siliconed the foam to the sides . Im out of silicone so for now i will start cutting out some rocks and ledges so they are ready to go when i get some more .
I want to have a look for cabnet lights or small down light but i might still just use a heat matt under the sand and LED's for lighting or the other idea was a low wattage party bulb in 1 side and nothing in the other side . At the moment they are in a small fish tank on top of a snake enclosure so there heat is only coming from the light below there tank .

cheers nico

Here's a few photos i took at mount glorious , im going to use them as a guide for the rock wall and with any luck i will be able to get it to look similar to the pics

 

[mad_at_arms]

Great idea with the photos, just remember they are a reference. So don't be too disappointed if you cannot fully replicate it (speaking from experience).
Those fungal growths would make great looking ledges!
How deep are you planning for substrate?

 

[nico77]

The substrate will go to about the bottom of the pipe that joins the 2 sides . I find it easyer with some photos to get the basic shapes and colours otherwise i just sit there staring for hours wondering what to do
I have carved a few pieces of fungus , im just deciding if i should make and paint them before i stick them in or stick them in then paint it . I'll add some more pics soon .

cheers Nico

Heres the bits pinned in place , now i can start sikaflexing them on , ill try and do that tonight so i can start melting tomorrow .






I had some left over expandy foam after another rock wall i made so i sprayed the left overs onto a piece of foam and have sliced bits of to use as rocks .

 

[nico77]

I used a lighter to melt the flat surfaces


first coat , mortar and 50/50 mix of water and pva glue