Can I see some enclosures?

I'm working on my guy's 4x2x2 this weekend (well, preliminarily - I still have stuff to buy!) but I'm stuck on decor. Like, I have ideas, but I'm struggling with visualizing it enough to know what I need to buy and how to put it all in there. I was going to make a background with expanding foam, grout, and polycrilic, but it's been too cold to apply the polycrilic and I'm tired of waiting to set this thing up. Thinking of just going background-free.

Can y'all just post some pictures of your 4x2x2s so I can see how you set yours up? I'd especially LOVE pictures that show how you attach things. I want to get a big stick for him (he likes to explore upwards, plus I like the look of it) but I'm worried about attaching it well enough. Same with vines - I want to put vines in, but I can't figure out how to hang them.

Also would love recommendations for naturalistic-looking hides, leaf litter, etc.

If there's already a thread with this kind of thing, please point me in that direction! I didn't see one when I looked.

leaf litter is usually available at most pet stores and places like Amazon - if you happen to not find it look for Indian catappa leaves that are used to create murky river like water for Amazon species of fish, etc - you can also find good natural debris at garden centres

me personally the majority of what i use for décor is obtained from the WVian mountains around me - the key with using stuff collected from the wild is you have to treat it by a) boiling it b) baking it at 350F for a bit c) leaving it out settle and repeating the process etc - i also like to spray it all with mite poison when it’s in the “settling stage” just to be sure

my best advice is don't get locked too much into a vision because you’re always going to have to tinker and experiment to figure out what looks good *and* most importantly, what will work - you can plan but your baby will decide how it’s gonna go

eg: i once tried to meticulous recreate a mountain slope terrain, modeled directly after the Usambara mountains - i mean i went all out down to the exact color and composition of the soil - had multiple hides on varying levels, i had fake roots and all of this - my OBT created its own tunnel funnel at the top and didn’t bother or use anything else lol just something to consider

i haven’t gotten much into the creating artificial backgrounds and all of this so outside of video recommends on this i can’t really comment too too much - i like to conceive of this as naturally occurring open space and design around that - imo you can create really cool effects doing this eg: in my scrub tank i experimented a lot with log/stick placements till i was able to create something that could be comparable to a fallen tree and so on

am at work so can’t post pix rn - hope this was useful!

For what it's worth, my 3x2x2:
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...urnishings.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ngs_123849.jpg

I just combined two 4x2x2s, with the opening in the middle left. In the top enclosure, everything is secured to the background with huge black zip ties cut to length. The long piece of wood on left goes in and out each to give a climbing area from one to the other. Simple but my carpet seems happier. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b7f6ad7421.jpg

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

I just combined two 4x2x2s, with the opening in the middle left. In the top enclosure, everything is secured to the background with huge black zip ties cut to length. The long piece of wood on left goes in and out each to give a climbing area from one to the other. Simple but my carpet seems happier. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b7f6ad7421.jpg

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The gap. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5923bc2652.jpg

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This stack is made up of 4 foot wide, Proline caging. Ed Lilley of Constrictors NW made these out of HDPE plastic. Ed no longer makes cages.

The top is 4' x 2' x 14"

The middle is 4' x 2' x 2'

The bottom is 4' x 30" x 20".

https://i.imgur.com/e1ukMN7.jpg?1

Night view.
https://i.imgur.com/OpsVUbr.jpg

This below shows all of the cages at night.
The largest is 6' x 30" x 2'.
https://i.imgur.com/JvExtRM.jpg

Everything is a night view as these cages are in a room with no windows. There isn't much light at all that gets in from the other rooms.
https://i.imgur.com/J4pdgbw.jpg


The 6 footer alone.
https://i.imgur.com/38k1N8M.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KkQUubF.jpg

Here's my 48x18x18" build for a ball python. I did a little bit of polyurethane foam on the back, painted everything with tinted drylok, and pressed peat moss onto the last coating of drylok. I didn't do a lot of background because I didn't want it to take up too much space.

The 45° angled branch in the middle is pvc pipe covered in foam and cork bark.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/i5CgnQk.jpg

There are hides on both sides made of cement board (with several coatings of drylok). The openings to the hides are surrounded by foam to soften the edges. In the picture below, you can see the exposed sides of the hides actually slide up and out so I can clean inside and retrieve the snake if necessary. Those cardboard squares on the front glass give the hides privacy, but I can remove them to spy on the snake. I haven't gotten around to painting them black for a more finished look.

The 16oz deli cup water dish nests inside a section of 4" pvc which is painted black and topped with poly foam, drylok, and peat.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/MIaLtcc.jpg