Gecko Mountain... thing

[Olimpia]

I've seen everyone else post photos of their homemade stuff, so I digured I should as well. I'm currently not using this in any tank because the colors don't go, but the beardies might.
I made this with insulation foam sprayed into the tank it was going to go in, but lined in plastic. Once the spray dried I removed it from the tank and used a saw to finish off shaping straight edges. Then I covered it in strips of plaster and finished off with sand colored spray paint. And then the two little fake succulent plants are from Pier 1, which I thought were so neat.

If I were to do something like this again there's a lot I would do different to try to get the sides perfect, because you don't realize how well crickets squeeze into tiny spaces until you have something that has gaps. But let me know what you think!

 

[ariana]

it looks great!!
if i had artistic abilities i would try something like that

 

[Misstasha]

wow that looks awesome!! i've been building stuff like this lately.. but yours looks waaay better lol..

 

[Wind Dancer]

that looks really cool, the plastic is a GREAT idea! brilliant, actually .......

 

[Bling_my_leo]

Looks awesome,
Looks like something you would buy at a pet store.

 

[Krow]

Looks great!!

 

[Olimpia]

Thank you everyone!

This is actually super easy to make, it really isn't all that hard. If anyone is interested in detailed instructions/supplies, I could post them. Even with little drawings or whatever lol

 

[Wind Dancer]

Thank you everyone!

This is actually super easy to make, it really isn't all that hard. If anyone is interested in detailed instructions/supplies, I could post them. Even with little drawings or whatever lol

ooo, me:main_yes:! i really liked the plastic idea, i'd love to do something like this, only maybe in gray........
did you use greatstuff? do you think you could have cut/shaped it with a knife? j/w, i'd rather use something smaller rather than larger(i still have a scare from almost 3 years ago when i tried to cute a gumball in half with a small kitchen knife......:main_no. ooo, and i was thinking that it might be cool to sink a tupperware bowl into it to make a built-in humid hide. but i'm not sure how it would work and i'm also not sure if i should leave the lid on and the cut/carve it out or just sink the the bottom of the bowl and then cover the lid separately....?....
any input:main_huh:

 

[Olimpia]

Let me post the instructions:

HOW TO MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THIS

MATERIALS:
1. GreatStuff Foam Sealant - You can get this at home depot or walmart for very little. It should be a spray that expands (you can choose whether you want it to expand a lot or a little, and it'll say it on the can). For something as large as what I built, I needed 2 cans.
2. knife/sharp edge - I used a saw and a knife to shape it, but it's up to you what you use.
3. Spray paint - I used a speckled, faux sand paint but you can use whatever color or texture you want. I know the sand color comes in a stone gray also. You can also get this at Home depot or at walmart.
4. An Edge of some sort - This is if you want a corner decoration. I find it's easier to get a straight edge if the foam is sprayed into a straight edge.
5. Plaster. You can get this almost anywhere also, it comes in rolls of plaster cloth you just have to stick into water.

PROCESS -

1. Set up a corner or edge if you're going to want your decoration thing to be pressed up against the side(s) of your tank. I would cover this in plastic bags or something like that so that the foam doesn't stick to the sides you're using. Make sure you secure the plastic really well so you don't get wrinckles and stuff like that.
2. Begin spraying the foam. It will expand quite a bit, so do it in short bursts. If you have a rough idea in your head of the shape you need, spray trying to achieve that shape. You can always tweak the shape later with a knife, so don't worry about it looking rounded. Make sure to do it in layers and letting these dry for a good half-hour to an hour before spraying another layer ontop of it.
3. Let the entire thing dry overnight.
4. Peel the plastic away and make sure all the foam is dry. Sometimes some foam turns to liquid nasty and stays under the entire thing, so be careful for blobs of this gunk.
5. Now for shaping. If you didn't get a perfect edge you could use a saw (or just a knife) to cut away a perfect edge. And then to add ledges and caves just use a knife to cut away the foam. It should be very easy to sculpt, so you can do virtually anything to it.
6. Now you cover it in plaster. It took me about 2 rolls to finish my mountain thing. Use the plaster to give the thing texture, so wrinkle it, or layer it on in certain palces to create nice flat ledges. How you want to shape it is really up to personal preference.
7. Spay paint. After the plaster dries take your paint of choice and just paint it as you see fit.
8. Extra details. After the painting and everything is done you are free to add anything else you want to. I took fake succulent plants and just stick them on there, but you could take small rocks and glue them on there or whatever. It's up to how you want to decorate.

And there you have it! I checked along the entire way that the materials were non-toxic, so you should be fine.

 

[Olimpia]

ooo, me:main_yes:! i really liked the plastic idea, i'd love to do something like this, only maybe in gray........
did you use greatstuff? do you think you could have cut/shaped it with a knife? j/w, i'd rather use something smaller rather than larger(i still have a scare from almost 3 years ago when i tried to cute a gumball in half with a small kitchen knife......:main_no. ooo, and i was thinking that it might be cool to sink a tupperware bowl into it to make a built-in humid hide. but i'm not sure how it would work and i'm also not sure if i should leave the lid on and the cut/carve it out or just sink the the bottom of the bowl and then cover the lid separately....?....
any input:main_huh:

Yea, that's exactly what I used! Thank you for reminding me of the name. Yea, it's acutally super easy to shape with a knife, so you can give it whatever shape you want.

You could probably sink something into it. I'm thinking it's probably easier to cut out the shape of the tupperware bowl than to try and incorperate it into the foam during the spraying. But it probably can be done. What's neat is that you could actually make a little plaster lid for the humid hide if you wanted to. Like, cut out a hole for the bowl, and then make a disk of plaster with a hole as an entrance that can fit right ontop of it but that you can still remove easilly.

Try it out and see what you come out with. And post photos when it's done! I'd love to see what other people do

 

[Wind Dancer]

Yea, that's exactly what I used! Thank you for reminding me of the name. Yea, it's acutally super easy to shape with a knife, so you can give it whatever shape you want.

You could probably sink something into it. I'm thinking it's probably easier to cut out the shape of the tupperware bowl than to try and incorperate it into the foam during the spraying. But it probably can be done. What's neat is that you could actually make a little plaster lid for the humid hide if you wanted to. Like, cut out a hole for the bowl, and then make a disk of plaster with a hole as an entrance that can fit right ontop of it but that you can still remove easilly.

Try it out and see what you come out with. And post photos when it's done! I'd love to see what other people do

don't hold you breath. a) i'm still in the planning stages and my mom is still hoping i'll choose plants to go in the tank(i already have it. it's a really cool bow front acrylic tank with a matching hood/light. it's amazing! what ever i do will look soooo cool )(and she unfortunately does have the right to veto the gecko idea. i'm hoping she won't, but it could happen). and b) i don't have a camera plus my mom's in the middle of cancer treatments, so when i get around to this whole thing is up in the air:main_rolleyes:.
do you think if i put foil on it when it was kinda dry it would come off and look ok? i saw someone do that in a tutorial on geckosunlimited and it make it look really real-rocky. but they weren't using GS, so i wasn't sure......:main_huh:

 

[Olimpia]

Aww I'm sorry to hear that, I do hope everything works out and you do get the chance to finish the tank.

I probably would work, but you might have to test out a small blob of the foam because I'm not sure. I got some of that rocky effect just from wrinkling the plaster, but you could experiment and let me know how that turns out because if something works I'm always willing to try it on my next project.

 

[Wind Dancer]

Aww I'm sorry to hear that, I do hope everything works out and you do get the chance to finish the tank.

I probably would work, but you might have to test out a small blob of the foam because I'm not sure. I got some of that rocky effect just from wrinkling the plaster, but you could experiment and let me know how that turns out because if something works I'm always willing to try it on my next project.

she'll be fine, chemos almost over, a little surgery, a little radiation and she'll be good to go. it really, really stinks, but hopefully will be mostly over and done with by september:main_yes:.

ooo, missed the tutorial post:main_rolleyes:. gotta get of now, but i'll read it tomorrow and i;m sure i'll have more questions

 

[Wind Dancer]

how big is it? i ask because i'm wondering how big a formation one can would make.
if you don't mind my asking, how much did supplies(i'm most interested in how much the GS, plaster and spray paint cost) cost?

 

[Olimpia]

Good, I'm happy to hear that she'll be fine!

Well, my mountain thing fit into one half of a 29 gallon tank and went up about half way, also... maybe a little more. But you could go as big as you want, because remember that since the core of this thing is foam it is pretty light weight. The only problem I had with this mountain was that it was not comfortable to move. So if I wanted to get the geckos out from that tunnel/cave part I had to lift out the entire thing, and since it fit very snuggly that was a pain. So keep that in mind XD I'm personally never making something like that again.

 

[Wind Dancer]

Good, I'm happy to hear that she'll be fine!

Well, my mountain thing fit into one half of a 29 gallon tank and went up about half way, also... maybe a little more. But you could go as big as you want, because remember that since the core of this thing is foam it is pretty light weight. The only problem I had with this mountain was that it was not comfortable to move. So if I wanted to get the geckos out from that tunnel/cave part I had to lift out the entire thing, and since it fit very snuggly that was a pain. So keep that in mind XD I'm personally never making something like that again.

okaaay. really big! i had the brilliant idea last night at about 12am that i could put the tupperware upside down, so that the lid's on the bottom and i won't have to cover it or worry about the tab-y thing sticking out:main_yes:. and then cut hole out of the side of the tupperware bowl and GS around the hole......i'm really liking this idea .
got to run, we're(me and my 9 y/o sis) spend the day with friends while mom has hydration(she does this the day after chemo. it's through an iv). and we're about to leave. i probably shouldn't have come online, but i couldn't help it!

 

[Adinar]

That is so cool!

 

[Wreptile]

Olimpia,

You said this took you TWO CANS?
Could you post a picture of this in a tank, or something to show it's size? From the picture, it looks like a little rock.
Thanks,
Hayden

 

[Kellyr]

You could probably sell those!! I love it.. I would buy one from you It looks terrific

 

[Olimpia]

Here are more photos. You can see it compared to a normal 10 gallon tank. I didn't have any 29 gallon tanks available to just stick it in, but you can see that it's pretty big. It fit exactly sideways and the longest part made it to just past half. Now it's been sitting on our balcony for a few weeks so it's lost a bit of its magic, but you get the idea lol. It also took me more foam than what it looks like because it was originally much taller. I ended up sawing off a good deal off the base so it would fit beter.

Thanks I'd love to sell stuff like this but I'd probably need to practice more so I can get really straight edged things. I don't care if mine is sloppy, but for someone else it would bother me a lot.