What foam do I use for background?

[StellaDoore]

Hey,
I'm making a background for an enclosure, what foam should I use? Polystyrene? Polyurethane? Something else? A mate of mine has heaps of insulation foam, is this suitable? It looks like polystyrene...

Also, can I use foam for shelving? I want it to jut out from the background like a ledge, but am worried it won't be strong enough (it's for an olive enclosure). Any suggestions?

Thanks for the help!

 

[J-A-X]

I've never used anything other than polystyrene but only because I'm cheap and can get my foam for nothing ( old veg boxes and packing foam ) I've heard the polyurethane foam is great to work with but dearer than polystyrene if you have to buy it. With an adult olive I would probably make a traditional timber/melamine shelf and the foam over it for the added strength,

 

[BigWillieStyles]

Anything you can mould and shape will be fine.

I usually increase the strength of a shelf by adding supporting structures under the shelf like a series of smaller bits and then applying several coats of thick grout. But for a big Olive, I would agree with the above post and I would look at constructing the background around a structure built into it. Something like a nice natural branch that can be secured at the back and on the base of the background using some expanda foam might work well. Or you could secure the branch by tying or nailing it to the wood enclosure sides and build your custom background around it. Ive always liked the idea of a hollow log tucked into one corner and then building a rocky background on the two sides of the log.