Making homemade/fake rock hides?

[Klogue1]

I've been thinking about making some hides for my terrarium, and came across this guy who creates some pretty awesome hides:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRIbo6OuO4g&feature=channel_video_title

I was just wondering though, he says he doesn't use grout, so do you guys think it's necessary or can I make it without grout?

And just another question, I read some threads on here about fake rock hides and I got a little confused with sealant and acrylic paint... I may sound stupid, but acrylic paint able to be used as a sealant too?

Thanks for any and all help

 

[houseb]

I think it comes down to personal preference, I've always made my hides with grout, acrylic paint, and sealant (in that order), but I do know that the exo terra terrariums come with a foam background that only has a little bit of color on it and nothing else. I personally like using the grout because it adds strength and weight, plus I don't have to worry about it melting or warping over the UTH. I use the sealant layer to add sand to my projects so my geckos have a better grip, but I'm not sure how necessary sealant is over the acrylic paint or if the paint itself can be used as the sealant layer. Good luck with your project, I would love to see how it turns out.

 

[tondu]

Hey! I used spray foam, grout, and sealer. I would deff use sealer though. Makes it way easier to clean off! lol Good luck with it, can't wait to see it finished!!

 

[LD404]

I second the sealer. Acrylic paint can be water soluble, so if your gecko licks it, or when you wash it, it can come off....and sealer makes it so much easier to clean! Anything moisture resistant and non-toxic when dry should work.

The Exo Terra foam backgrounds are just foam. I second liking to grout, it seals up the foam from moisture, debris, escapee feeders, etc. I remember someone here had a thread about superworms burrrowing into their foam background. I had an escapee mealie yesterday that tried very very hard to get into the foam, but the grout layer stopped him until my leo could hunt him down