Custom rock background paint job!

[hungba]

I am making new enclosures for my lizards. Each one will have a custom background. I bought a rock background from a fish shop and while the sculpt was nice, the paint job was just a mustard yellow with splotches of brown and some dry brushing. You know the kind, I guess it is because they are mass produced.

I recently bought a new airbrush, so I decided to paint it. Wow it turned out better than I thought! I was going to give this one to the northern blue tongue skink, but he is "naughty" and always tries to climb stuff, I don't want the thing scratched within 5 mins.

Should I give it to my shingleback skink instead? She is a darling. I was gonna make one more for her too with a t rex fossil background.

I could coat it with clear topcoat to protect it but I think it will look different.

Here is a photo:

[Reinz]

That looks awesome!

[salt]

That's a really cool background! Nice job.

[hungba]

Do you know any top coat I can use that is safe for reptiles but will not make the thing look different? Water based varathane will protect it from scratches but it will look shiny at least a bit.

[Daigga]

Do you know any top coat I can use that is safe for reptiles but will not make the thing look different? Water based varathane will protect it from scratches but it will look shiny at least a bit.

My husband and I are using outdoor mod podge over grout for our terrarium. It's his project more than mine, but he tells me that the mod podge has a slight sheen/glimmer to it depending on how many coats you use. I know they have a matte mod podge, but again, it's his project and I haven't done any research on the materials.