How I made my first fake rock (Bearded Dragon enclosure) PIC HEAVY!

[ginna]

good one


i like the cave thing

[Becky Wheeler]

Well done mate! Superb

[reptilelover96]

hi, sorry it looks great but what did you use the tiles for ,
thanks sophie

Originally Posted by excession

So I was at the point where I was ready to add my 1st layer of grout. As per the guides I had read I made the 1st coat very watery. It went on fast with a big brush.

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Unfortunately I then did 3 more coats of grout without taking any pictures. In some spots I used a spoon to add extra detail like some cracks.

Once the 4th layer was finished I had to get it all back in the viv to make sure it fit in ok (which it didn’t until I took a heavy file to some of the sides).

So it was time to paint! I used watered down acrylic paint with a cheapo 99 pence spray bottle to apply it. It went on so fast it was great!

I only did 2 coats and then I mixed up a lighter coat and used dry brushing to pick out all the detail. To do this mix the pain as desired and then put it on the brush. Then use a cloth to wipe the brush mostly dry. Then just skim the brush over the fake rock and the paint will only go on the bits that stick out. It’s a quick easy way to get a good effect, and it takes no skillz!

Once I had dry brushed the detail I then added one final coat of very watery dark acrylic as a kind of dark wash. I think this was possibly not even needed.

So all painted! Unfortunately again I took few pics of the painting process (was having too much fun) but here are the 2 I did take:

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Here you can see the dry brush effect:

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Then it was time to seal the lot so it lasted a long time (I really hope it lasts a long time…).

I used PVA mixed with about 1 part water 4 parts pva. The last layer was more like 1:2 because I just wanted it to be as resilient as possible. The PVA has seemed to have worked well. Despite going on very white it has dried clear and you wouldn’t know it was on there to look at it. Also it is not as shiny as I had expected.

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Helper here in this pic!:

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Once it was all dry it was time for the final assembly:

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In this last pic you can see the sand pit that we have added on the far right. We have made a lid for it so while our beardie is young we can close the sand off while there are crickets alive in there so he doesn’t eat any.

Also I have gone around the sides and the bottom of the entire build with aquarium sealant to ensure that Crickets cannot get inside the poly and cause havoc.

I am going to (on the strength of advice from forum goers) change the red spot for a normal spot. I also might need to move the spot so the temperature gradient is better, but it is for the most part, finished.

The hardest bits:
Fitting it all in afterwards
Getting the thermostat probe in where I wanted it

The worst bits:
The smell of the aquarium sealant
Smashing 3 tiles and breaking the tile cutter

The best bits:
Fitting it all in
My son going ‘WoooooW’

Now all we need is a beardie!

Hope you enjoyed the guide.


(sorry for any typos and spelling mistakes )

[excession]

Originally Posted by reptilelover96

hi, sorry it looks great but what did you use the tiles for ,
thanks sophie

tiles are instead of other substrates

Nice and easy to keep clean!

[SCOTT4545]

That looks class! Im want to build somthing like that when my beardie goes in to a bigger viv. How long does the whole thing take?

[excession]

Originally Posted by SCOTT4545

That looks class! Im want to build somthing like that when my beardie goes in to a bigger viv. How long does the whole thing take?

Thank you!

I think it took about two weeks, but I only had a few hours to spare most evenings.

[fuzzzzbuzzzz]

Thats awesome, you have inspired me to do something now. Going to try and make a wall or obstacle course for my leo's. I know this was a year ago, but was how many polystyrene sheets did you use for this project.

Regards
Gemma

[excession]

Originally Posted by fuzzzzbuzzzz

Thats awesome, you have inspired me to do something now. Going to try and make a wall or obstacle course for my leo's. I know this was a year ago, but was how many polystyrene sheets did you use for this project.

Regards
Gemma

I have no artistic talent at all, so its really not that hard

If i remember rightly i used about 3 sheets from B&Q

[fuzzzzbuzzzz]

Originally Posted by excession

I have no artistic talent at all, so its really not that hard

If i remember rightly i used about 3 sheets from B&Q

I doubt you would remember, but on the off chance, how much were they please a sheet?

[excession]

Originally Posted by fuzzzzbuzzzz

I doubt you would remember, but on the off chance, how much were they please a sheet?

I think this was what I used