Questions about home made hides

I really want to make my own natural looking hides and I saw the one that was Stickied but I saw where people were having issues with them collapsing and such so I was wondering if anyone had any luck with other materials. I have seen the foam ones but I was thinking something similar to the ones in the Sticky with the clay since the kids are always wanting to help me with the snakes and reptiles anyway. But anything simple would be great!!!

Thanks a million in advance! :D

I also wanted to know if the breaking issue was solved?? I thought maybe you could coat them in water based polyurethane, because that would be nice and water proof, but still fine for your snake!!!

i fashioned 2 hide boxes out of 6" x 6" x 2" square tupperware containers i had sitting around & a can of black valspar plastic paint spray (to make 'em black).
not really "natural" looking but definitely functional & only cost around $5 to make (actual cost of the paint was +/- a dollar or so).

i prepped them (cleaned with hot water & soap, rinsed & dried) then cut the doors into them, smoothed the cut edges & sprayed the paint on 'em (the outside only of course). that part took the longest cuz i had to spray in layers & letting each layer dry completely in the sun out on the back patio/deck til i got them completely blacked out. took a good part of the day.

I've built some clay art before. When I got to bigger clay art I would use wire for a support beam within the clay then mold my clay around it. Then do the normal drying process and baking. I don't know if this might help with the collapsing issue, but a polyurethane coat would do the job for waterproofing it.

I use foam insulation coated with grout here are a lot of ideas and info.

http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/index.html

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

I use foam insulation coated with grout here are a lot of ideas and info.

http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/index.html

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yea i've seen that site a few times, and have thought about making some from the foam but i loved the idea of getting te kids involved since they always want to help lol. But I guess I'll stick with the foam haha


Thanks guys!!!!