Great stuff foam to keep crickets from hiding???

[leet13]

About 3 nights ago, I was rearranging something on top of the cage and I saw movement... I also heard some noises. I grabbed a flashlight to see what that was and I saw a few crickets between the mesh and the background. I got them out of there but there have been more since. There is a groove in the background wall... thats where they were hiding. I am so afraid they will eat my cham when he is asleep and/or burrow in and make a colony in the background wall.

I wanted to know if I could use Great Stuff foam around the edges by itself (no grout or anything like on the background). Will crickets chew on the foam? I know it will be ugly but I dont have any waterfall foam right now (the black kind I have used with my koi pond waterfall)...

I have my cham in a little DIY enclosure right now so he can stay there for a day or two so that everything can cure/dry.

 

[tenchijin]

Is it a small crack? If so use silicone sealant and fill it up. Great stuff will work but is really not the best choice, IMO.

 

[Meow Kitty]

Is it a small crack? If so use silicone sealant and fill it up. Great stuff will work but is really not the best choice, IMO.

agreed, pictures would help other wise

 

[leet13]

I would say its a large crack on bottom and sides but a small crack on top. I thought maybe I should get weatherstripping but then I remembered I had a whole large can of Great Stuff. I could probably make my own "weatherstripping" out of a Firestone 45 mil pond liner that I have left over down in my basement.


Still wondering how many crickets are escaping my 1 gallon jug cricket feeder... i thought my cham was eating a lot of crickets each day. oops.

Going to be a lot of work tomorrow... i spent a lot of time setting up the cage for him and now i have to remove everything. At least I will get to the bottom of this before he gets chewed up while sleeping.

 

[Turningdoc]

I have done this. It works great. Crix don't eat it in my experience. You can spraypaint it easily (without the cham inside ) tip is to use the most minimal amnt possible as it grows about 6times the size you spray. Can also mist with water to get to harden faster.

 

[leet13]

Found about 20+ crickets in there. gross. I got it all apart and i took it outside... got a lot to do today. hope it does not look terrible when I am done.

 

[pssh]

I would also use silicone. Crickets eating great stuff or even the background wall would not be good for your chameleon.

 

[crocky]

I have my background zip tied to the outside back of the cage for this reason. Still looks pretty good but does not give the crickets any more places to hid and still keeps the back of the screen open for airflow.

 

[leet13]

Here is what I have got now...

I used Great Stuff Foam and basically sealed my background to the rear wall of my reptarium. Its all fused together now and overall the frame is more sturdy. I coated it with black window/door silicone and its almost like i have a tire tread all the way around my background. if any crickets get back in there, it will impress me very much. lol

I will post pics later into my old thread i made while I was building the background.


To the post above me- I have a reptarium (I hate it but I dont have a way to just buy a new one right now) and the mesh is so dark that the background would look ridiculous if I tied mine to the back side of it. I spent a lot of time sculpting that background... there is a Thai Buddha I made from clay on it.