question on building a fake rock hide thing :P

[ansell1991]

so iv been looking at all the cool pics that people have posted on here, and it got me thinking, i wont to make one

so i raided my spare room and found a few bits and bobs... pic below of what iv found

click for bigger pic

the big bit at back is like the stuff a cork is made from (im dumb i no).

anway i was wondering if anyone could help me with tips on how to and what to do,

if pos would like to add a 2nd floor to the viv using the cork stuff.

anyway the viv will house a leo or 2 and is, glass 24"x15"x11"

any help will be great..

P.S im a noob to building stuff and to geckos... will be my first

[Rodders]

Hey Ansell,

Firstly, you dont need to be a master mind to do this, it's pretty easy.
A few suggestions would be to make sure you have a plan in mind. What I done is just took a lonnnngggg good look at my viv and observed the areas my gekcos used, you can apply this knowledge to help you build something they'll love even more than just a random set up. Then I basically built the set-up in my mind.

Also, im in the process of making one so here's my thread:
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/habit...inda-wall.html
I'm updating it as i go along so theres a lot of tips and advice from others on there too.

If you want to make a second floor theres a few things oyu can do. If you dont mind putting glue on your viv walls you can just carve out platforms and glue them to the walls to make fake walls and potruding platforms. However, if like me you dont wanna touch the actual glass walls (or wood walls) of the viv you can build a platform and make pilons and stick them underneath it to hold it up nice and stable. What I'm doing is making a background, then cutting out big slits in it to slot a platform in to make a 2nd level, them im going to carve out lots of little stone like pieces and glue them together to make these kinda pilon structures to go under the 2nd level so it has some extra support.

I'll be posting pics of mine very soon on that thread so keep checking it for more visual guidance.

Another good tip for actually making the set ups is the knife you use to carve it, you can use anything with a sharp blade really without having any trouble cutting through polysturene, however i got a craft knife from HobbyCraft for £3.50 and it works a treat. Also No More Nails is an excellent glue to use when attaching pieces together..

You can also check out FireDragon's thread about his fake set-up; its amazing, hes also a very friendly guy and dishes out a lot of really helpful advice!

Hope this helps~