My homemade clay hides

[Klogue1]

I decided to try some clay stuff out first before I try a whole makeover of the tank, and remembered a sticky on BP.net about homemade clay hides. So I tried it out and am pretty pleased with the results Still needs to finish cooling and be sealed (I'm using silicone since I couldn't find any other sealer at the store... Maybe I looked in the wrong place lol) and not sure if I want to paint, I kind of like the color.

The first is I hide that I made using a mold of an exo-terra medium cave. Before I put it in the oven, I took a chunk and added it to the side, sprinkled some flour so it didn't stick, and press a deli cup into it to make a sort of cup holder. Not sure why, just thought it would be neat.

Then I had a chunk leftover, so I just made another random cup holder... who knows, maybe I'll find a use lol.

Just wondering if anyone has made clay stuff before for their geckos, what kinds of things have you made besides hides? I saw on Youtube a while back some guy who had made clay tiles that he used for substrate, it would take a lot of them for me but it sounds neat, and was rather pretty in his tank (accompanied by a rather gorgeous gecko!!). I had also considered trying to find a pan that was about the size of my moist hide container and maybe make a clay "covering" I guess, with a removable piece to open the container. It's not a big deal, but I guess you could say the container is a little eye sore

 

[osmbr]

what kind of clay was used for this hide

 

[Klogue1]

I used the method from this post:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?77863-DIY-Home-made-quot-realistic-quot-Hides

But when I first tried the original recipe, it came out too mushy and was hard to mold. So instead, I went by a tweak in the recipe that another BP.net member posted:

So, I tried to make these years ago when I found the thread and could never get it right.
Now to today... I thought that I should try it again, first attempt sucked, but my next two... Well you can judge. Here they are before waterproofing and paint.
My ethos was a little different.
2 cups of flour, 3/4 cup of salt, 1tbsp olive oil, 1 cup water.
Then I bake for 1 hour with it on the form, then strip it, 30 minutes upside down and 30 minutes right side up. They turned out nice and hard, we'll see how they last. I plan to waterproof and paint them tomorrow to go into the enclosure on Tuesday.

Without further ado, here is a pic.

 

[osmbr]

very cool!! im going to have to use this thanks for posting this!!!

 

[ARC8745]

i think i might try i as well. very nice looking!

 

[katie_]

I want to eat them.

 

[StellarExotics]

I want to eat them.

They're pretty bland...I tried... :main_rolleyes: