waterproof sealer for a reptile?

[Jaster]

Hello all. A friend of mine asked me to make him a couple backgrounds for his reptiles a couple of the things he would like is a waterfall and a food bowl. I've made a bunch of back grounds before for my lizards frogs and fish but I've never made anything that was waterproof. I've always sealed my stuff with modgepodge or polycrylic and from what I've read both are only water resistant and not waterproof. Can anyone recommend a good waterproof sesaler? Thanks!

Sorry mods if this is in the wrong place... I know if more of a retile question but I didnt put it in 'other pets' because its a DIY too and i figured I could get better answers here. please move it if its needed. :l24:

[Fishguy2727]

Silicon works and comes in clear and black, but it has to be Silicone I, Silicone II has stuff in it that kills mold and what not and won't be good. Non toxic super glue is also a good option. Depending on how much you need you cna also use pond foam, it is usually used for sealing rocks together for ponds and is a black version of a cheaper white product that I can't remember the name of right now, I want to say Great Stuff.

[SunSchein89]

What kind of reptile is it? Depending on the size and activity level, you may want to consider a few different options for making your background. Covering your waterfall section with epoxy is another good option; holds up well over time.

[Jaster]

There are a few types of critters.... frogs, snakes, a bearded dragon, water dragons, newts... lol

[SunSchein89]

And you have to make a background for all of them? :sconfused:

[Jaster]

ya pretty much... lol Thats ok though I like making them and he's paying for the supplies.

This a 2'x2'x4' background I just finished for my sons dragon...

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[gadget228]

Looks great, very nicely done... thumbs2:

[SunSchein89]

Looks good, what did you use to make it?

Anyway, for the frogs and newts, I would recommend a great stuff background. You basically make a nice covering of 100% silicone on the glass where the background will be, then foam up the background (keeping in mind the stuff expands), let it cure, carve it up how you want it, cover it in 100% silicone or gorilla glue and put coco fiber and moss on it as you go. Makes a nice generic, natural-looking, "tropical" wall that holds up to moisture very well. You can also press in pieces of wood, cork bark, and cups to keep plants in into the great stuff after you spray it to make it look really nice and break up the plain coco fiber. The same method would probably work for the water dragon as well, but you have to watch that you don't put any flimsy pieces in there that he could break.

For a beardie, I would just stick with what you're doing if he already likes the look of it. Another option if you want to try it: use styrofoam, cover it in increasingly thick layers of non-sanded grout, paint with acrylics, seal it with mod-podge sealant that's diluted and put into a spray bottle. You can find full details on [Only Registered Users Can See Links.] if you want to look more into that.

Snakes are a toughie since any of them with decent size or weight on them will gladly destroy your nice backgrounds. I don't really want to recommend anything there without knowing the species first.

Hope I was of some help at least. Let me know if you want any other suggestions or more detail into how the make the methods I listed; those were just the most basic steps I could write without making a book. I'd also be interested as to what kind of snake he wants a background for.

[rich311k]

Looks great, nice job.

[fins_n_fur]

What a lucky dragon to have a carefully built custom home! Nice work!

As an aside, is it me, or does that piece of wood look like a blond, headless frog?

[SunSchein89]

:lol: well, now that you mention it, it definitely does.

[Fishguy2727]

It is nice to see one that looks great AND is easy to keep clean. So many natural setups are so textured and elaborate that you would basically have to tear them apart to clean them, and they are full of hard to clean surface areas that are perfect for bacteria.

[gabbyguppy]

WOW! Beautiful home for a Dragon!

[Jaster]

Thanks everyone! thumbs2:

Looks good, what did you use to make it?

Anyway, for the frogs and newts, I would recommend a great stuff background. You basically make a nice covering of 100% silicone on the glass where the background will be, then foam up the background (keeping in mind the stuff expands), let it cure, carve it up how you want it, cover it in 100% silicone or gorilla glue and put coco fiber and moss on it as you go. Makes a nice generic, natural-looking, "tropical" wall that holds up to moisture very well. You can also press in pieces of wood, cork bark, and cups to keep plants in into the great stuff after you spray it to make it look really nice and break up the plain coco fiber. The same method would probably work for the water dragon as well, but you have to watch that you don't put any flimsy pieces in there that he could break.

For a beardie, I would just stick with what you're doing if he already likes the look of it. Another option if you want to try it: use styrofoam, cover it in increasingly thick layers of non-sanded grout, paint with acrylics, seal it with mod-podge sealant that's diluted and put into a spray bottle. You can find full details on [Only Registered Users Can See Links.] if you want to look more into that.

Snakes are a toughie since any of them with decent size or weight on them will gladly destroy your nice backgrounds. I don't really want to recommend anything there without knowing the species first.

Hope I was of some help at least. Let me know if you want any other suggestions or more detail into how the make the methods I listed; those were just the most basic steps I could write without making a book. I'd also be interested as to what kind of snake he wants a background for.

Thanks for the advice!
I built this almost the exact same way I built my background for my 80G. All styrofoam, greatstuff and groutmix but this one coated in modgepodge.

I thought about the gorilla glue but like most other coating I've found it said water resistant and not water proof... So I didnt spend the extra cash where I already have a good sealer with the polycrylic.
I love the idea of the moss. Gonna have to try that. thumbs2:
The snakes are a pair of corn snakes and he's got a 3 foot Boa. They arent really getting much more then a corner piece hide hole type project. Something that looks like a pile of rocks. Nothing really they will really be on top of. But to be safe for the boa I'm going to be using a much harder and thicker foam for his rockpile. They wont be getting anything they can hang off of. At least not of foam anyway. Though he does want water bowls if I can pull it off.

Do you think the polycrylic or gorilla glue would hold up under water as a sealer for a water dish?


It is nice to see one that looks great AND is easy to keep clean. So many natural setups are so textured and elaborate that you would basically have to tear them apart to clean them, and they are full of hard to clean surface areas that are perfect for bacteria.

That was the idea. The first tank was a 40g so reaching down to the bottom for my son was an issue. With the slidding door and the custom "just the right hight for him" stand he can about crawl in there if he wanted too. The two inside piecs come right out so my son can no longer say he cant reach under or around something and thats why the tank isnt clean... so I get stuck with it. he can now wash the large pieces in the tub and can very easily reach the entire inside of the tank to whipe it down. Its my favorite part of the tank!:hmm3grin2orange:

What a lucky dragon to have a carefully built custom home! Nice work!

As an aside, is it me, or does that piece of wood look like a blond, headless frog?


:hmm3grin2orange:

[SunSchein89]

Sounds like you got most of it worked out already :stongue: .

Gorilla glue, as far as I know, will hold up to some long-term use on a great stuff background. I've never personally tried it, but the forum I've learned most of my tropical background-making techniques from has several, several threads where people have used it and actually prefer it over silicone, simply because it expands. Most, if not all, of the vivs that were made this way are for really high humidity setups. I don't know if I would necessarily submerge the stuff, but it should hold up well over time in a wet environment.

As far as making anything like a bowl or something that would hold a pool of water, I would strictly use epoxy, simply because that's what everyone seems to say when talking about submerged pieces. I'm not sure about polycrylic, so I can't really comment on that.

Probably a good idea as far as the snakes go. There are ways you can take tree stumps and large pieces of interesting wood and make them vivarium safe, which could be a nice alternative to physically making something yourself from scratch. Can't get much more natural than the real thing. If you were to strictly make a background that isn't meant for climbing on, or around, for the snakes that would look like a wall of stone or dirt (coco fiber), that would probably work out pretty well. Normally some kind of hide, with a few interesting pieces of wood, and a black background seems to be the best way to go for snakes in my opinion. What I think makes their cages interesting are how natural the decor looks, and how you go about making the hides/water bowls; everyone and their mother has the generic zoo med/exo terra bowls, hides, and fake plants.

[robj6767]

Type I silicone ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.]) should get the job done.