Making Home-made Hides and Water Dishes

Would it be safe to make home-made water dishes and hides, say out of clay you'd find at a craft store? Would there be any specific kind of clay/molding material that should be used. What about painting it?

You could make hides out of stuff like that....but water bowls need to be specially made with food-safe glazes....not something you can find or do in a typical hobby store.

I know they sell food safe glazes if you go to a store that actually sells serious art supplies. At least around here there are a few stores... Even if you can't you should be able to order online.
And you want to make sure you get a high quality clay, something that will be less likely to break in the kiln at high temperatures for the actual water bowls. you want something that will be as UN porous as possible, even before you glaze. It would probably end up costing you a pretty penny for those supplies, alot more than just buying a bowl from the dollar store. BUT I do like the idea of making hides, I find that I have a few animals that are just too big for the ones I have now.
It's been a long time since I've made any sort of pottery, and I don't remember all the specs for clay and glaze... >.<

Yeah, there are shops where you can get the right glazes and have the pieces fired in a kiln. But you can't do that with the stuff you find at Hobby Lobby or whatnot. :P


I've seen some hides made from home-baked clays though....they're really neat, and it would be fun to get creative and personalize your snake's little caves. :D

For homemade hides, I've used "I Can't Believe.." tubs, sour cream pint tubs for the Kenyan SB baby, heavier plastic tubs and lids from the horse aspirin (I had oodles of those...). I've even saved and used the salad containers from my Wendy's lunches. They're a little flimsier, but work for the smaller snakes. Just have to tape or seal the edges/ make the holes bigger. They can be a little sharp sometimes.

I buy the nukeable Gorton's shrimp bowls for work, and I've used them too for the yearlings/smaller snakes...they're the right size, black, and not as flimsy.

The little snakes got the sour cream pints cups for water bowls, etc. until they get so big they keep spilling the water. So I've waited until rabbit crocks are on clearance and then use those.

http://members.tripod.com/kengeorgepottery/id17.htm
It has a little description of what different clays do. I remember the word I was looking for "vitrifies" at a higher temperature, so it will be less porous, which cuts down on bacteria growth

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Originally Posted by sweety314

For homemade hides, I've used "I Can't Believe.." tubs, sour cream pint tubs for the Kenyan SB baby, heavier plastic tubs and lids from the horse aspirin (I had oodles of those...). I've even saved and used the salad containers from my Wendy's lunches. They're a little flimsier, but work for the smaller snakes. Just have to tape or seal the edges/ make the holes bigger. They can be a little sharp sometimes.

I buy the nukeable Gorton's shrimp bowls for work, and I've used them too for the yearlings/smaller snakes...they're the right size, black, and not as flimsy.

The little snakes got the sour cream pints cups for water bowls, etc. until they get so big they keep spilling the water. So I've waited until rabbit crocks are on clearance and then use those.

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You know you're a herper when you buy a product that you don't even want or like...JUST to get the container for a hide or water dish! LOL

I would go to your local 99cents store and save a lotta time and $. I always worry about ceramics being heavy and if you ever drop it on your snake, he's dust. I'm a plastic hide/bowl man.

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Originally Posted by westcoastjungle

I'm a plastic hide/bowl man.

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https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...BowlonHead.jpg

He's always been that way! :D

I see people with those small flower pots in their enclosures. Do you just crack a hole in the side and file it down to do that? I like how they look, and the kids would have a lot of fun painting them.

(I'll have to remember not to throw away our yogurt containers this week! Great idea!)

The terracotta ones are a bit of a hassle to chip out an entrance hole Christina to be quite honest. We ruined a lot of them before we gave it up as a bad idea. I do know some here that use a special tool, not sure if it's just a drill with a special bit or what, to put a nice round hole in the bottom (which flipped over becomes the roof) and then you sand the entrance to make is nice and smooth.

As far as paint, you'd have to be careful of what type and how to seal it to make the hide easily washable, yet still snake safe. They do use them for a toilet sometimes. Personally I just prefer plastic for hides. You can get the planter saucers in both terracotta and plastic.

Oh lots of stuff,

1. Target sells this thing called a "ramkin dish" for a buck and change in the cooking department. I don't know what their intended purpose is but they make one of the best water dishes I have ever found. Here is a pic of one,

http://www.jackspirko.com/images/sna...amkin_dish.JPG


2. I like to use paper towel rolls and bury them into the aspen to make tunnels. My house snakes and just about any of my smaller animals love them. You can see why, burried they look perfect for a snake to hide in,

http://www.jackspirko.com/images/sna...owell_hide.JPG


3. I also use plastic sausers for under flower pots, you can cut a hole for the snake with a pair of shears and they are low profile as well.

http://www.jackspirko.com/images/sna...ish_hide_1.JPG

There is a lot of other things I use as well. I have started buying pet water/food dishes at target from the pet isle. They have space underneath and serve as a water bowel and a hide at the same time. The small ones are like 65 cents and the bigger ones are like a buck. The big ones are large enough for a corn or two spotted python adults. I like these even better then the ramkins now because they save space by doing double duty.

Another hide option is shotgun shell boxes. Just cut an access hole and they are perfect for smaller snakes and if you hunt and shoot a lot like I do then you have lots of them available. When they get pooed on etc you just toss them out and put in a new one. I use them mostly for my babies while I wait to sell them off.

I've cut a paper towel core in 1/2 down the length and set it solid on top of the aspen for a hide for CeCe. She loved it. When it got poo-y I threw it out and used the other 1/2. VERY inexpensive...since I buy paper towels all the time for cage cleaning. :D