Reptile & Amphibian Forums

could i use papier mache' stuff to forn a rock or mountain for my anoles?should i paint over it?what type of paint?

Hi, Pac-Man!

>>could i use papier mache' stuff to forn a rock or mountain for my anoles?should i paint over it?what type of paint?

DONT'T PAINT ANYTHING in your Anole's tank ever! The chemicals
in the paint (or even the residue/fumes) could kill an Anole!
Anoles are wild animals who are used to living out in the
woods and there isn't anything painted out there. You have my
word on that. I wouldn't even use paper mache in an Anole's
tank.
Depending on the area where you live and assuming you
can find some small flat shale pieces of rock that you are
absolutely certain arean't contaminted with any foreign
substances like oil, or paint, or fuel, or filth,etc.. you
could get a few pieces of that and layer it to create a sort
of natural-looking stepping type mountain. But you must be
*VERY* careful that there are NO sharp edges that your Anole
can cut or scrape himself on and if need be you may have to
sand down any edges on the pieces of stone that your Anole
might rub against and injure himself. Hope that helps. Good
luck. Peace.

Lizard~King

E-mail: LizardKing@TechWarrior.Net
-----
Shark~King

Pet stores usually have assorted rocks by the pound in the tropical fish section. They are usually fairly clean (but they still should be washed) and are better than what you will find at a gardening center, for example.

I can't see papier mache products holding up well to the humidity and misting..I would definitely NOT do it..
But as for the painted products, I know myself and many others make our own rocks and hides for our Leos out of Polystyrene (a compact styrofoam) that we either cover with grout, or paint. The grout, or paint, is SEALED though, and the right sealers will keep out the moisture (keep in mind though, that our Leos live in a dry environment).
Check out the Leopard Gecko forum and the Cage and Habitat forum and you'll find tons of posts on how to make this stuff, even step by step instructions and what is used as a sealer. But make sure whatever you do that the sealer is safe and will hold up to the high humidity of an anole enclosure. After all, all the fake rocks and such that you buy in the petstores are painted and sealed

BlazedBetty (In a fit of total madness and lunacy!) wrote:

>>I can't see papier mache products holding up well to the humidity and misting..I would definitely NOT do it..

Well people (even breeders) do sometimes use paper towels as
a substrate. But of course (new clean) paper towels are not as
likely to be loaded with any harmful rsidue, etc.. that could
get into an Anole's system and make him/her sick, puke and
maybe...

>>But as for the painted products, I know myself and many others make our own rocks and hides for our Leos out of Polystyrene (a compact styrofoam) that we either cover with grout, or paint. The grout, or paint, is SEALED though, and the right sealers will keep out the moisture (keep in mind though, that our Leos live in a dry environment).

BBetty, you any good at working with grout and painting? I
could use someone to do some work over here where I live,
assuming it's no charge, of course.

>>Check out the Leopard Gecko forum and the Cage and Habitat forum and you'll find tons of posts on how to make this stuff, even step by step instructions and what is used as a sealer. But make sure whatever you do that the sealer is safe and will hold up to the high humidity of an anole enclosure. After all, all the fake rocks and such that you buy in the petstores are painted and sealed

I imagine the painting that's done is put thru some type of
high temperature ovens where it bakes the paint on to keep it
from chipping and such. (Hey Bett, Iwas just funnin ya up top.
Don't get ang-ry o-k? Peace.

E-mail:LizardKing@TechWarrior.Net
-----
Shark~King

Papier mache is not made with paper towel..not any that I've seen anyways..I could be wrong.
And chipping is prevented with the sealer.

BlazedBetty wrote:

>>Papier mache is not made with paper towel..not any that I've seen anyways..I could be wrong.
>>And chipping is prevented with the sealer.

I didn't know that. What's it made out of, fake paper?
IAC, I don't know. One alien substance after another introduced
into an Anoles' captive environment defeats the purpose of
trying to make the Anole(s) feel right at home like they would
in their natural environment in the wild. Otherwise before
you know it they'll be demanding cable TV, a cell phone, a
Wide Screen TV, Mcdonalds (delivered, of course) and a vacation
from it all (paid too!)

Lizard~King

Any of the papier mache instructions I've seen (and I have made many with my daughter) ask for tissue paper or newspapers. But oh well.
And I don't think any of my reptiles will demand a cell phone because I make them rocks and such that do look like the rocks and stuff found in their natural environment...I don't live in the tropics, nor the desert, so finding these "real" rocks would be rather difficult for me.
I'm pretty sure my homemade rocks and storebought plants make my reptile enclosures look alot more real than those that use paper towel or purple sand and decorate their enclosures with little gargoyles and GI Joes! Mind you, they don't have little hammocks in the wild..but hey..they look good, blend in well, and my little guys love 'em and they make great basking spots