Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So far I have constructed the base and walls of my enclosure. It is 6 1/2 ft by 3 1/2 ft by 6 ft. I have foam sandwhched between 3/4 in plywood and 1/4 in or so luan. The base is sitting on 18 in 4 x 4s. It is already heavy.

I am wondering if it wood be better to make rock walls out of plaster or foam. I want to build the walls with ledges and possibly planters, but I am not sure if the foam would be rigid enough.
I was going to attach scrap pieces of wood to the walls, cover it with hardware cloth, apply the plaster and then seal it.
I guess one idea would be to make a frame on the walls where the ledges and planters will be to attach the foam to make it more rigid. And then seal it.

What would you suggest?

plaster or foam? i prefer neither. i havent worked with foam, but i know that plaster tends to crack. both are heavy.

I would go with paper mache... uber light and more than strong enough.

all you need is newspaper, glue, a framework, and epoxy or another sealer.

I make my paper mache from glue, newspaper, and occassionally, ill add sawdust.

make you mesh using whatever means, i use metal window screening. coat with your paper mache, seal with epoxy.

there are obviously lots of variations on how you could do it.

Is it neccesary to fill in the pockets of air?

how many layers would you recommend?

well it depends on the paper, glue, and mesh you use. i generally put on 2 layers of paper, and it should be near rock hard when dry. You dont want to leave any air pockets or exposed foundation. All parts will need to be coated properly with sealer to prevent rotting and breaking apart.

well two layers isnt entirely true. i use fairly small peices of paper, and they each overlap some what. so each layer is actually a bit more than a single layer of paper.

for instance, if your making a rock, you would have curved surfaces, esentially forming a bowl shape. it generally isnt practical or necessary to create an object with a solid volume.