Backgrounds

[Kyle The Toad]

I've been looking at different photos of vivarium backgrounds from various places on the Internet. My favorite is the Great Stuff backgrounds that have caves carved in and wood "stuck" onto them. How exactly does one build something like this?

Edit: Nevermind about how to build a Great Stuff background, I found a website that gives detailed instructions. Although I do have a couple of questions. The lady who gave the instructions said that you need to silicone the Great Stuff after it dries, and then add coco fiber or whatever else you want to the silicone before it dries. Is it necessary to add the silicone, or could I put the coco fiber on top of the Great Stuff before it dries instead?

Also, I plan on making this a false bottom set-up, so do I need to get the egg-crate in place before or after I build the background?

[viva la viv]

My tank is 6ft tall The back is just as you described, I never used a drop of silicone on it i believe less chemicals in the tank is better. There is a trick to not using silicone though. First get a piece of styrofoam then carve some shape in it use spray foam to attach pieces of wood and pots. let dry. now get coir ready. spray foam small areas at a time, then here is the trick, do not let the foam swell as you spray it on rub it around and get the air bubbles out of it. It will thicken and turn a darker yellow(use gloves) now press the dirt on firmly, it will stick way better and form a hard shell. If you try to put dirt on after it swell it will not stick good and you will see foam through the coir when it dries. use way more coir than you need. as it dries you need to keep pressing the little swells of foam down that try to pop up. I garentee this method works better than silicone as long as you DON'T let the foam spray expand. Mine stands up to a cwd clawing all over it and part of it is completly under water If you did it right the foam spray will be as hard as rock, and the less air you have in it the more water proof it is.

[Kyle The Toad]

Thanks for the help, Viva la Viv. A couple more questions though, what is coir, and where could I get styrofoam? Also, did you get your styrofoam background to stick to the wall by using the spray foam? And did you pour the dirt on top of the un-dried spray foam all at once, or did you just grab small clumps and put them everywhere? Okay, I guess that's more than just a couple of questions, but I want to make sure that I do this correctly.

[stantheman22]

Hey kyle any chance of letting me know the website address for making a background mate ?

[wespastor]

Originally Posted by stantheman22

Hey kyle any chance of letting me know the website address for making a background mate ?

Page 1

Here's a link to one that I used.

[stantheman22]

Thats great thanks

[Kyle The Toad]

I couldn't find the website, Stan the Man, I didn't write it down. But the link that the pastor provided is actually better than the one I used.

[Enfinite5]

step by step instructions to all your questions. This is the best way....

New England Herpetoculture - Custom Vivarium Background Construction