Ideas with pond foam

[joshuadh2310]

so I'm trying to think of a crazy way to really have my new cage stick out. I plan on using pond foam with a black silicone and coco fiber or something over it when it's done. But I keep having this idea of a small tunnel almost if you will. Like in the middle of the cage having a bridge of it cut out with a branch going through it and vines and stuff going above it. It would take some good designing and cutting/spraying but I think I can do it. Something in the middle of the cage that my girl can kinda chill under if she wants to sleep/get out of light/ anything really. She has adjusted very well to me and likes to chill out in the open in the middle of the cage and she'lol be waiting for me there with food every day. So I was thinking of something cool like that. Idk I want something wild that no one has seen before with this new build. I don't even know if anyone will actually understand what I'm saying but worth a shot.

 

[jamest0o0]

Take some egg crate light diffuser and just foam all over and comeup with ideas as you go? If you want a bridge/tunnel type thing, maybe take a branch or something and foam around it. Or put a plastic pipe in it then remove it after you foam? I love the foam. You just have to go with the foam, be the foam...

 

[RcManChild]

I would suggest the same as @jamest0o0 . Use two red solo cups or something and put the foam all the way around it and pull out the red solo cups if you want a tunnel... If you just want a bridge you would need something to support it other than just the foam. foam around the stick... Although this would be harder to do... If you need any help let me know... my last two enclosures use spray foam....

 

[joshuadh2310]

yeah I'm liking the ideas. I really want to make some sort of bridge type deal for her to walk under and maybe over somehow without being too close to the top . I'm expecting the cage sometime this week so I'll get started on it then but wanted to run it by everyone and see what they had to say about it.

 

[jamest0o0]

How about a branch that archs over like a rainbow does, spray foam on thick and let it hang down like some sort of cave stalagmites. Then sand it the way you'd like it to look?

 

[jamest0o0]

Sorry if that made no sense, it's late and classes have me going a little crazy :/

 

[joshuadh2310]

Sorry if that made no sense, it's late and classes have me going a little crazy :/

No that's actually a really cool idea I didn't think of having some of it come down to look like a cave! I'll for sure be trying to use that idea.

 

[jamest0o0]

Nice, glad to hear you like it. I Can relate a bit, i'm always daydreaming of some unique ways to make cham stuff with foam lol. My next plan is to have a foam "living" wall pinned up in the corner of the room, right above a hydroponics table planted with bioactive substrate. Going for a bioactive freerange type of thing. I wanted to do something like you mentioned with branches and foam going from each side.

 

[joshuadh2310]

Nice, glad to hear you like it. I Can relate a bit, i'm always daydreaming of some unique ways to make cham stuff with foam lol. My next plan is to have a foam "living" wall pinned up in the corner of the room, right above a hydroponics table planted with bioactive substrate. Going for a bioactive freerange type of thing. I wanted to do something like you mentioned with branches and foam going from each side.

That would be pretty cool. I can only imagine what I would be doing if I had more room for my girl lol. But my boys free range is taking up almost all the room with the free range itself as well as the R/O machine and a big water tank hooked up to the mister but that's also for my girl. I'm loving the way my Cham setup is coming together. I don't have to fill up any water or worry about anything like that it's all automatic only thing I worry about is daily cleaning and draining. If my chams ever show signs of dehydration then I know something is really up with them.

 

[RcManChild]

If you sand or cut the spray foam you then need to find a way to seal it again, aka silicone. If you don't do this it doesn't look good and becomes a nasty breeding ground for bacteria. for an arch, I would shape some corrugated cardboard to shape. Silicone the pieces into place in the cage. spray foam the top..... allow to dry, flip cage over, sprat foam bottom.

 

[JacksJill]

Cutting or sanding the foam gets ugly fast. I totally agree with RcManChild. Your bridge needs to be sprayed over an internal support (armature) that stays inside it. If you have to cut off excess you will have to silicone over the cuts.

 

[jamest0o0]

Yeah i should have mentioned, wear a respirator and do it outside if you sand it, and cover with silicone wherever you cut/sand. I think it comes out nicer though if you want to put in that extra work.

 

[joshuadh2310]

yes i plan on using a lot of silicon to get a coat of coco fiber or something on top.

 

[RcManChild]

also dont use coco fibre, too many bigger chunks that the chameleon could accidentally eat and get impacted. Unless you want to sift through all the coco fibre. I used eco earth and it worked really well. no larger chucnks and look about the same... I then also added some moss to cover up areas I didnt like.

 

[jamest0o0]

@RcManChild hey this is probably a dumb question... but what is the difference between eco earth and coco fiber? I have been saying them interchangeably because i thought they were the same. I personally use the bricks of eco earth.

 

[joshuadh2310]

@RcManChild hey this is probably a dumb question... but what is the difference between eco earth and coco fiber? I have been saying them interchangeably because i thought they were the same. I personally use the bricks of eco earth.

also dont use coco fibre, too many bigger chunks that the chameleon could accidentally eat and get impacted. Unless you want to sift through all the coco fibre. I used eco earth and it worked really well. no larger chucnks and look about the same... I then also added some moss to cover up areas I didnt like.

I wondering the same thing I was saying it like it was eco earth as well lol. Where can I get some good moss?

 

[RcManChild]

I am think of the coco husk (http://www.zoomalia.co.uk/pet-suppl...brick-tropical-terrarium-substrate-p-564.html), which is quite bulkier.

I used:
http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/EntryDetail.php?EntryID=231&DatabaseID=2&SearchID=1

Get the brick as I find there arent as many larger chunks in it than whats in the bag.

As long as you are aware of not having any larger chunks then you are fine.

As far as moss I just used the exo terra moss brick. Worked really well for me. ( again i took out larger hard pieces.)