Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Plenty of manufacturers make realistic looking hide boxes, logs, and caves large enough for colubrids and even some small pythons or boids. Keeping redtails and bloods, I can never seem to find big enough hides unless I use inverted Rubbermaid (or similar) tubs. While I love using the plastics in almost all cases for a variety of reasons, I do have a few diplay animals in a more naturalistic appearing enclosure and to stick a plastic box in there detracts from the overall feel.

Has anyone ever used or considered using hypertufa to make caves, hides, water bowls or similar items? For anyone who doesn't know, hypertufa is a relatively lightweight, pourous material made from portland cement, peat moss, and a variety of other additives. Being porous, sealing it would be mandatory but I think that this might be an overlooked medium for those of us that want to create a more natural look and enjoy getting messy and dirty. Any comments, questions, or suggestions?

There are tons of "recipes" on the web.

-Jason

I have quite a bit of experience with this having built dozens of displays for zoos. However, I used my own custom mixture and was not worried about weight.

The mixture you mentioned sounds interesting and I'd like to try it someday.

I think it would be very easy to sculpt a form out of high density polyurethane foam and then cover than with screen or lath as a matrix for the mixture.

Then it could be smeared onto the screen and textured.

I made my own molds by pouring a two part rubber compound onto rocks, bark, etc. As my concrete mixture cured I pounded the molds into the curing concrete and pulled it away. I could work my way across a 2 sq. ft. area before the mixture set up too much to be worked with.

But for a small project I think you could use actual rocks, etc. to texture the mixture. Spray vegetable oil onto the rock, pound it into the curing mixture, pull it away and repeat.

I think you could take a plastic box and coat it with screen and this mixture. That would make the inside easy to clean and the exterior would be natural looking.

Good points Chris (as always). My biggest concern the more I think about it is that portland cement contains quite a bit of lime and I'm concerned that it may leach out over time and that can't be good for any animal. I know you can rinse hypertufa a few times and let it dry and that should get rid of free lime. Thats one of my main reasons for mentioning sealing it, plus the cleaning aspect.

I'll have to experiment with laying it over a plastic shell once it gets warmer. I've seen it laid over tubs and such to make planters and birdbaths (this is where this product excels and was first used) but its always seperated from the plastic. Living in Arctic Northern Illinois there's no way it would cure outside right now and I'm very limited on space indoors unless I pare down the number of animals I have, and we know thats not happening.

For those interested, here is a URL on Hypertufa (one of many on the web, I'm certain and there are differing recipes depending on preference of appearance and finished properties):
http://www.webspace4me.net/~mikehill/pages.aux/pond/hypertufa/hypertufa.html

Hypertufa Page

Portland does contain a lot of lime. However, I've used it with success in turtle, fish, and crocodilian exhibits with no aparent trouble. It does leach out eventually and there are ways to speed that process up. Unfortunately I don't remember them at the moment and my books/notes on the matter were lost in a flood this fall.

Thanks for the link. I look forward to reading it when I get on a faster service.

You might also consider plaster mixed with those little styrofoam beads found inside of bean bag chairs. That will provide some texture and reduce the weight. I suspect it would be easier to seal that the mixture you mentioned but that's an uneducated guess on my part.

Hey guys, I'm usually in the monitor forum but I check in here from time to time. I don't mean to correct anyone so don't take is as such, I'm just clarifing. Portland contains no lime its pulverized stone its one of the ingredients in mortar, the second ingredient is lime then sand then water. Pure portland can be obtained from a concrete mixing plant as well as a mix insealer usually in one quart bottles. Peatmoss would work well, but so does perlite at a ratio of 3:aggregate 1ortland by volume. I wouldn't have answeared this but i'm a mason I know these things. Hope it helps Clint

That rings a bell. With my outdoor turtle and fish ponds I used a mix that had lime in it and was able to leach it out.

But with the smaller indoor exhibits I used my own mix without lime. I thought portland has trace amounts of lime in it but I'll take your word for it.

Are there any toxicity concerns with cured portland? I know my exhibits cured for a long time before I introduced animals but it's been so many years I can't recall if there were any toxicity concerns.

I definitely appreciate any information offered up guys...all I really know is what I've read about Hypertufa. I'm a mechanical and electrical engineer working for a process heating manufacturer. If it sparks, gets hot, or goes in a machine I'm your man. If its wood, drywall or cement I always need a little help. The only comments I've seen about using it with animals mentioned lime, so thats where my info comes from.

It seems like a good way to achieved the desired appearance without the weight. Hopefully someone more enterprising and in a warmer climate does this before me and saves me the trial and error....lol.

-Jason

As your working with it there is a chemical reaction going on which can cause burns, but once cured I have no reason to believe
it to be toxic as its a blend of clays and shales. Also, if you call around to different concrete yards or brick distributors you should be able to find a varitey of mortar/concrete dyes. These are usually derived from clays, a wide variety of earth tones are available. I was thinking about just putting natural slate in my new ackie enclosure, but now you have me thinking about some pretty wild possibilities. Goodluck, Clint