# Home made, DIY Hides



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

Using some ideas off this forum, I have made some hides and hope this info might be useful for someone else and would welcome any suggestions to improve them.

The total cost for single build is less than £2.00! I bought the filler and a pack of three plastic tubs from the Pound Shop. I bought two tubes of acrylic £3.00 each (one black, one white) but these will do many, many hides.

1. Cut an opening in the tub. (I heated the tub where I was going to cut first to avoid cracking)










2. Mix your filler to a fairly stiff consistency and apply to the tub. I used a filling knife and then textured it with my fingers. (I mixed some pva in with the filler to help it bond even better)










3. Once dry, paint it!










4. Let the paint dry and then apply several coats of varnish.

And that's it! Totally washable, fairly heavy, strong and very cheap! My attempt at making them look like stone hasn't worked out as well as I would like and I'm sure someone a little more artistic could easily improve on this. 

Here are some others I have made using the same method: 

This first one was made from a tub from a pack of 8 from the pound shop so even cheaper and just the right size for my younger snakes

























Let me know what you think :2thumb:


----------



## Marco 1986 (Jan 16, 2011)

Great idea... I'm just wondering... Did you remove the plastic tub... cheers...


----------



## the_viper (Aug 18, 2010)

looking good, how long do they take to make ?


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

Marco 1986 said:


> Great idea... I'm just wondering... Did you remove the plastic tub... cheers...


Thank you. I left the plastic tubs in for extra strength. On the smaller tubs I used the filler inside too but on the bigger one's I didn't cover the inside except for black paint and varnish.


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

The covering took about 10 minutes and then I left it over night to cure. I used a fairly concentrated acrylic (just a drop of water added) so that dried quickly allowing me to paint on the lighter colour for accents quite soon after so painting I would say 20 minutes in all. The varnish I'm using is quick drying so can be re-coated after 4 hours. I coated three times in total and then after the final coat left it for a good 24 hours before putting them to use. The varnish I'm using has little smell to start with and after 24 hours no smell at all. 

The other pictures are ones I made quite a while ago and have been cleaned several times with no problems after snakies show their appreciation but pooing on them :lol2:. I just had to use a toothbrush to get into the textured parts.


----------



## Swain86 (Jan 23, 2011)

they are cool


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

Thank you Swain86.

I meant to add that on one I'm doing at the moment, I'm using a spare heat mat and stat to speed up the drying process. I did wonder if this might cause cracks but so far so good!


----------



## ch4dg (Jul 24, 2008)

looks awesome: victory:
the only extra thing i would do is... before you add any groat,paint the outside of the tub black- this makes it extremely dark inside.
also to speed up the dying time i use a hair dryer:2thumb:


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

ch4dg said:


> looks awesome: victory:
> the only extra thing i would do is... before you add any groat,paint the outside of the tub black- this makes it extremely dark inside.
> also to speed up the dying time i use a hair dryer:2thumb:


Thank you, I hadn't thought about doing it this way (missing the obvious :lol2: but I do paint the inside dark grey (already mixed for the outside) and then varnish it. Doing it you way will save me some time though. One the smaller one's though it wouldn't make a difference as I use filler inside and out because the tub sides are a bit flimsy.

A couple have ended up looking too much like tubs covered in filler lol because I didn't do anything to change the shape. I have plans for others to look less uniform by adding card or scrunched paper for example before filling over it.


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

ch4dg said:


> looks awesome: victory:
> the only extra thing i would do is... before you add any groat,paint the outside of the tub black- this makes it extremely dark inside.
> also to speed up the dying time i use a hair dryer:2thumb:


I only just realised, your tutorial (which rocks (pun intended) was one I read when looking for ideas so thank you again! :notworthy:


----------



## jetsmart1 (Feb 7, 2011)

im gonna do something like this soon, but im thinking of shaping one over a bowl or soemthing to try make a boulder looking hide


----------



## ch4dg (Jul 24, 2008)

CSJ10 said:


> A couple have ended up looking too much like tubs covered in filler lol because I didn't do anything to change the shape. I have plans for others to look less uniform by adding card or scrunched paper for example before filling over it.
> sounds like a plan:2thumb:
> 
> I only just realised, your tutorial (which rocks (pun intended) was one I read when looking for ideas so thank you again! :notworthy:
> no probs glad you liked: victory:


keep up the good work


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

jetsmart1 said:


> im gonna do something like this soon, but im thinking of shaping one over a bowl or soemthing to try make a boulder looking hide


If you have a Pound (£) shop near you, it's an excellent place for plastics to base your design around.


----------



## Iguanaquinn (Nov 13, 2010)

There is a thread that's all about money saving, think in the lizard section.... U should post in there. I personally think ur idea would go down well.....


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

Iguanaquinn said:


> There is a thread that's all about money saving, think in the lizard section.... U should post in there. I personally think ur idea would go down well.....


Thank you for the suggestion. It's a great thread and I've just posted :2thumb:

I also posted a link there to your background ch4dg, hope that's ok


----------



## Chainsaw Jimmy (Mar 5, 2011)

CSJ10 said:


> A couple have ended up looking too much like tubs covered in filler lol because I didn't do anything to change the shape. I have plans for others to look less uniform by adding card or scrunched paper for example before filling over it.


a good why to combat this would be a paint striper(if you have one) to heat the plastic till its bendable.
just have to be very careful as you don't really want to burn it but just soften it.


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

Chainsaw Jimmy said:


> a good why to combat this would be a paint striper(if you have one) to heat the plastic till its bendable.
> just have to be very careful as you don't really want to burn it but just soften it.


That is just too weird mg: I was doing that about an hour ago but my chuffin' electric paint stripper :blowup: I've only used it twice but the first time was over a year ago so no guarantee 

Are you sure you weren't looking through my window :lol2:


----------



## trickster172 (Feb 1, 2010)

Which filler did you use? 

Trickster172


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

trickster172 said:


> Which filler did you use?
> 
> Trickster172


I've been using "151 All Purpose Filler". It's a powdered one which suits because you can dictate the consistency. I bought a 750g box from my local £ shop.


----------



## snowgoose (May 5, 2009)

May I just ask what Varnish you use please


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

snowgoose said:


> May I just ask what Varnish you use please


The varnish I use is "Johnstones Quick Drying Varnish". It has a low VOC content. It does the job but other varnishes may do it better. However, I've tried other varnishes and the odour just lingers and lingers and I wouldn't put it in with my snakes. I have a hide in the shed that I made about three months using a yacht varnish and it still smells now!

I would welcome suggestions of any better ones?


----------



## snowgoose (May 5, 2009)

CSJ10 said:


> The varnish I use is "Johnstones Quick Drying Varnish". It has a low VOC content. It does the job but other varnishes may do it better. However, I've tried other varnishes and the odour just lingers and lingers and I wouldn't put it in with my snakes. I have a hide in the shed that I made about three months using a yacht varnish and it still smells now!
> 
> I would welcome suggestions of any better ones?


lol, sorry can't comment on other varnishes, I was after an idea of what's best for when I try something similar


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

jetsmart1 said:


> im gonna do something like this soon, but im thinking of shaping one over a bowl or soemthing to try make a boulder looking hide


I permanently borrowed your idea...............
I have just finished painting another hide, this time using a 'dry brush' technique as suggested by Swain86 (Thank you) to make it look more like stone:










This is the first time I have done this so I'm by no means an authority on the technique but this is what I did: 

The bottom picture shows the colours I used. First I painted it all black. Then I dry brushed it with the progressively lighter shades of grey and finally white. To do the dry brushing I think you need a particular type of brush, which I didn't have so I used a basting brush! I trimmed it so the bristles were flat and even at the end. After the black coat has dried, holding the brush vertically, put a little of the lighter colour on the end of the brush. Then (and this is the important bit) paint on something (I used newspaper) until it seems like there's no paint left on it. Then, still holding the brush vertically, dab the brush gently all over the hide. Then do the same process over with progressively lighter shades. I hope that makes sense?


----------



## Swain86 (Jan 23, 2011)

looks awesome kinda like marble


----------



## nooney165 (Mar 28, 2010)

you could always cover it in sand and when it dry's give it a shake


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

Here's another one I've made using the same method. This time I used a larger plastic bowl as a starting place so it's at least as big as the largest exo terra hides. I decided to do this one a bit rougher as opposed to completely smoothing the filler like on the smaller one. I'm not totally happy with it but I am my own worst critic!


----------



## jetsmart1 (Feb 7, 2011)

i permanently steal my idea back, therefore i expect all hides made in this way to be sent to myself immediately  haha

i suggest piling some more on to one and making it as rough as u can  lookin good though


----------



## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

jetsmart1 said:


> i permanently steal my idea back, therefore i expect all hides made in this way to be sent to myself immediately  haha
> 
> i suggest piling some more on to one and making it as rough as u can  lookin good though


Well, surely we can share? :lol2:
I know what you mean about piling more on. There are some lines on it that I'm not happy with. I'm still going to use it though as I need several more so hope to keep improving!


----------



## jetsmart1 (Feb 7, 2011)

if your anything like me youll be building these every week for 6months, until your house consists of nothing but snake hides, but you will have the perfect finished result 

AND NO WE CANT SHARE, GIMME GIMME GIMME!


----------



## Swain86 (Jan 23, 2011)

your latest ones my favourite so far


----------



## Carnuss (Feb 27, 2011)

The round one would be perfect for small snakes to coil up in. I'm just curious but would they not heat up and let off fumes?


----------



## reptilesruel!!! (Jul 14, 2009)

would the hides crumble if the tub or bowl were taken out ????


----------

