What you think of my rock waterdish?

[martin07]

I got bored and had this idea for awhile now but here is some pics of my rock and grout waterdish. Its still wet..will post more pics when finished...What You think?>>

http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/...psaff44d8d.jpg

http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/...psf3da68dd.jpg

Done this because i wanted a more natural look...

[STjepkes]

What did you use to make it?

[martin07]

just poly blend sanded grout and rocks. First i set the base with rocks and filled the gaps with grout. I let that set and dry for 12hrs before i started the sides. I let each side set for an hr or so depending how dry it was then added the next row. I also would use a moist paintbrush to smooth out the grout and WAX PAPER is your best friend...I had no problems with it drying to my project. Also the brush works great to keep the grout in the gaps and letting the rocks show.

[mackynz]

I try to avoid porous materials, bacteria can hide in them and it's impossible to clean.

I also would be cautious about what may leach out of the grout and be harmful to a bp.

[martin07]

after the grout has fully cured im going to coat it with Environmental Zip-Guard Wood Finish. It says on the front its not harmful to ozone layer, non-toxic after dry, and clean air compliant. Hopefully after a few coats it should be okay. I have put this on climbing branches in the past and have not had any issues with it hurting my ball and she still loves climbing all over them.

[Coopers Constrictors]

Umm... I personally would not do that. 'non-toxic' after dry means nothing, and bacteria WILL grow on it and in it. If it has not been tested for Reptiles and/or Animals in general, stay away from it.

[martin07]

umm...bacteria can grow any where...not everything in the world is sterile! Do you not clean your cage every so often? I see it as this...if you buy your substrate or any other thing from a petstore you have no idea where that stuff has been nor what it has gone thru before it got to the store and when it did get to the store how long it sat there n how well the employees took care of it. Any little hole in the bag critters can get in or things can grow on it. Now im pretty sure not everyone buys a bag of substrate and bring in home, sticks it in the oven or watever to kill bacteria or critters and their balls are fine! Not trying to start an argument or anything, just stating facts. Also when you mist your cage im sure somewhere in your cage water has built up and something is starting to grow. Most people Use faucet water in their cages, do you know how much bad stuff is in town water. I personally use rain water for that simple fact.

Like i said i have used that zip guard prior to this project and a friend of myn who is a vet looks at my ball every month. he comes to my house just to see see my tank bc it has live plants and im doing different things all the time..like my next project(making fines from rope). He is just amazed at how well my setup is maturing n how realistic it looks.

[Pythonfriend]

yeah bacteria can AND WILL grow anywhere, unless you use poison to keep them away, which causes more harm than the bacteria. In aquaristics, if you try to keep stuff sterile and bacteria-free and ultra clean, everything dies, all your fish die, you dont get anything going, no breeding, nothing. Its not as dramatic but fundamentally the same when you keep a rat colony or reptiles. If you have the RIGHT bacteria in there while keeping it all clean enough, clean not sterile, all you need to clean stuff is high pressure fresh water, no products. The water doesnt even need to be hot. And your animals will be healthy.


This dish can work, if martin07 has enough knowledge about the materials used and the chemistry behind it. Bacteria can be controlled instead of being eliminated, thats how it is in nature where BPs drink from rain or puddles. If the bowl starts getting smelly or shows signs of being a habitat for anaerobic bacteria it needs to be ditched. If its done right it will be a nice bowl, like terracotta flowerpot stuff. If you coat all sides, but the inside starts letting water into the structure, it will probarbly be ruined. Have you considered leaving the outside natural and breathing and only coating the inside surface that touches the standing water? That may be key here. But then, when done in flowerpots and such, the coating is applied using extreme heat from a furnace, basically a glass coating, like on porcelain. You need to track what the dish does and remove it if it turns bad, its all about knowledge of the materials and chemistry and physics involved.

If it doesnt work, my next step would be to just make it out of furnace-compatible clay, shape it my way, get it burned in a furnace, apply inner coating, get it burned in a furnace again. Integrating stones might be harder, you would need to add these later without a third burn, different expansion rates otherwise make it crumble. Its easier than you think. The coatings, called glazes, are just powders you mix with water and apply to properly dried or pre-burned clay with a brush, let it dry, and in the furnace it melts like ice cream and makes this shiny glass-like waterproof long-lasting finish. Opportunities to get stuff burned are not rare at all, here in Germany all my schools had one and universities have several and also many private people have one, basically where people do stuff with clay or email or porcelain the small electrical ones are always quite close.

[martin07]

i was going to coat the whole thing bc my thinking was since i used grout the whole thing must be sealed otherwise water or watever else may get in the grout n ruin the structure. You never know, a plant could just find its way in a crack and ruin it. Also wanting to coat the whole thing so it was possible to clean the whole thing without it getting ruined.

[adamsky27]

It does look cool! But I'd have the same concerns as posted above.