Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have gotten some branches from a housing area where they were trimming trees. I have baked the branches, wrapped in foil, at 250 degrees for 3 hours in the oven. I now plan to soak them for a few hours to make sure there are no chemicals on the branches (though they never spray that area anyway) I need to know if the branches are safe. They are Bradford Pear and Pinoak branches. Neither has any sap that I have seen, nor strong smells. I plan on using them with both my corn snakes and boa.

Also

I have a lot of experience building things out of styrafoam from playing wargames. I want to know if its possible to make hides for my snakes out of pink insulation foam and then cover them in something to make them safe? I have seen rock walls built this way but dont know what they were coated in. Some plumbing putty stuff I think. Does anyone have any experience with this? I could build custom sized caves.

Also if this doesn't work what about a safe air dry clay and safe paint to make my own caves? Does anyone have any ideas? I like natural looking hides but don't want to pay the price for the stuff at work (Petsmart)

I'd use the branches. They should be fine.
I think people use some kind of mortar on the foam, not sure what kind though. Check around on the internet I'm pretty sure there are guides out there on how to do it.
A piece of bark makes a nice hide also, bake it in the oven for an hour or so and they usually come out in a nice U shape.

You might also be able to use a hard two-part epoxy to coat any foam structures you make. Make sure the epoxy is non-toxic after hardening. Also, tile mortar or a thin concrete might work, but I'm not sure about the chemicals in concrete. Traditional concrete has lye in it that probably wouldn't be good sitting next to reptiles... Got to look for a link I found a while ago where someone was creating their own foam waterfall and coating it with something to make it look like rock. Let me see if I can find it.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com
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