Any good ideas on making your own hides?

Hey.

Instead of spending more money on expensive hides from the pet store I was wondering if any of you guys had good ideas on making your own hides? Open for all suggestions.

I will be needing hides for 2 baby boas and a baby ball.

Thanks :)

I think the cheapest is getting bowls from the dollar store and cutting little holes in them on the side. Or like Kaorte, use plastic chinese food boxes :D

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Originally Posted by stargazed85

Hey.

Instead of spending more money on expensive hides from the pet store I was wondering if any of you guys had good ideas on making your own hides? Open for all suggestions.

I will be needing hides for 2 baby boas and a baby ball.

Thanks :)

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I use the plastic flower pot saucers with the middle cut out not a bad hide for $0.15

http://www.wildmorphs.com/blog/wp-co...0389-thumb.jpg

http://www.wildmorphs.com/blog/wp-co...0021-thumb.jpg

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Originally Posted by Elise.m

I think the cheapest is getting bowls from the dollar store and cutting little holes in them on the side. Or like Kaorte, use plastic chinese food boxes :D

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That's a good idea. What exactly does a plastic chinese food box look like? Are you referring to what your food comes in?

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

I use the plastic flower pot saucers with the middle cut out not a bad hide for $0.15

http://www.wildmorphs.com/blog/wp-co...0389-thumb.jpg

http://www.wildmorphs.com/blog/wp-co...0021-thumb.jpg

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Very inexspensive and useful! You have beautiful snakes by the way ;)

Any other ideas guys?

I'm making some on the pottery wheel. LOL. Not super cheap, but great fun.

You can use almost anything that will cover the snake. Flower pots with doors knocked out, plastic bowls, margarine tubs, etc with doors cut in the sides or top. Disposable cardboard boxes! Opaque juice or milk jugs, cut apart the end off and a doorway.

Just be certain that any cut area/surface is not sharp. You can rasp the edges of pottery, using a heavy nail file, or any metal file. The edges of plastics can be melted gently with a flame, hot butter knife, or filed as with the pottery.

Be certain that top openings are wide enough for your snake, and as your snake grows, keep an eye that it is not outgrowing the doorway.

Lots of cheap alternatives in the DIY section. I have one in there too, I use the bottoms of 2.5 gallon Water jugs.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

I'm making some on the pottery wheel. LOL. Not super cheap, but great fun.

You can use almost anything that will cover the snake. Flower pots with doors knocked out, plastic bowls, margarine tubs, etc with doors cut in the sides or top. Disposable cardboard boxes! Opaque juice or milk jugs, cut apart the end off and a doorway.

Just be certain that any cut area/surface is not sharp. You can rasp the edges of pottery, using a heavy nail file, or any metal file. The edges of plastics can be melted gently with a flame, hot butter knife, or filed as with the pottery.

Be certain that top openings are wide enough for your snake, and as your snake grows, keep an eye that it is not outgrowing the doorway.

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Nice idea. I'm not so crafty though :P Good luck with that. You should post pictures when your done.

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

Lots of cheap alternatives in the DIY section. I have one in there too, I use the bottoms of 2.5 gallon Water jugs.

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I never thought about checking there. Thanks for the info.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3437/...084a59.jpg?v=0

These are my chinese food boxes. One day when I get another soldering iron I will make a crappy tutorial :P

I only get these kind of boxes when I order large dishes. I know you can buy these somewhere because they actually use these at shows sometimes to display animals or package them for taking them home.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3437/...084a59.jpg?v=0

These are my chinese food boxes. One day when I get another soldering iron I will make a crappy tutorial :P

I only get these kind of boxes when I order large dishes. I know you can buy these somewhere because they actually use these at shows sometimes to display animals or package them for taking them home.

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Ahhh I see now. That really helped because I had a huge brain fart on thinking what the box looked like. LOL That's real clever. Your ball looks like it has grown a lot compared to the other pictures. Unless I'm wrong.

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Originally Posted by stargazed85

Ahhh I see now. That really helped because I had a huge brain fart on thinking what the box looked like. LOL That's real clever. Your ball looks like it has grown a lot compared to the other pictures. Unless I'm wrong.

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yeah, they have both grown quite a bit! I still keep two of the tiny hides in there though because they still use them. They like wearing the hats. :P

Choose a vessel of the appropriate size/shape for your snake/enclosure. Then assemble some strips of newspaper and mix well into a bowl: 2 cups flour, 1 cup water, and 1/4 cup elmer's white glue (those are estimates; just add flour or water till the consistency is...gooey and...wet.) in a bowl (outside!) and begin paper-mache-ing. Let it dry between each layer, then give it a good 3-5 hours to dry once you put the last layer on. Then you just pop it off of whatever you used to form it on top of and voila! You can then sand it and paint it however you like and seal it with any wood sealant; just treat it like wood.

It's cheap, and easy, and if something happens to it then it's no big deal since it's only paper mache. I've found that it can even get wet without any damage; I made hooves for a costume from paper mache and then the weekend I wore them it rained constantly. Even in high humidity and inch-deep puddles, the paper mache held strong and didn't rot.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

yeah, they have both grown quite a bit! I still keep two of the tiny hides in there though because they still use them. They like wearing the hats. :P

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HA HA, hats! That's cute. I noticed last week that Kumasi will move her cool hide all the way to the middle of her tub or to the warm side. I think it's time to upgrade for her too! :D She looks like a turtle since she wears the exo terra cave on her back.

-->Fantastic DIY thread already here<--

I bought a 3-pack of bowls from the dollar shop and cut a door into 2 of them.

i got an even better link, just kidding but i like them :P
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=93148

i thought it was the coolest thing ever! plus they look real!

dc1, I take it those hides worked out. The paint smell is gone? How long did it take for those things to air out?

EDIT: Just noticed that you didn't make 'em. Sorry.

Mrshawt?

I cut the bottom off a gallon water jug and used it for one of my new milks, aesthetics are obviously not a priority here though lol. She was tucked in to her new home quite nicely when I checked her this morning :)

Edit: Just read dc1's link... those are awesome! Definitely trying that next time

Here's some of the hides we use. Some of them have been in daily use for years, have been scrubbed and disinfected multiple times and are just as sturdy as the day I bought them.

Big thick heavy rubber dog dish that I found at an Ace Hardware store in the farm feed section. They come in this size and all the way up to massive ones meant to feed stock. They do need heavy cutters though to get an entrance in them. My bigger BP's seem to like the flat roof.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...dultBPHide.jpg

One of the ladies lounging out in this hide. If memory serves (and granted I did buy them a few years back) I think I paid around 5 or 6 dollars each.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...irseinHide.jpg

Little bowls (a bit smaller than a cereal bowl) that I get 2 or 3 for a buck at the dollar store.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...istubFeb07.jpg

Happy little snake.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...chlingHide.jpg

I can't find the one of my son's boa in his big black bowl hide. It's one I bought just after Hallowe'en a few years back. I guess it was meant for handing out candy at the door. Right after Hallowe'en is a great time to pick up black bowls for discounted prices. :)

Clay flower pots work well for me. You just turn them upside down and break a hole in the bottom. You just have to sand the edges that you broke so that they're not sharp.
They're nice cuz they're heavy and don't tip over.

most of the ideas have been said, but i went online and bought 2 hides from petsolutions. they were 3$ each. 5$ shipping. not to bad... the next bp i get, im doing the flower pot thing with the hole on top....(or bottom, w-e)