Hi, all!
I’m prepping for a tegu next Summer (2020), so I’ve got some time to prepare. I love naturalistic enclosures, and am a glutton for punishment. I’m wondering if anyone else has found a successful method for making faux rocks for tegus.
There’s plenty of faux rocks for reptiles tutorials online, but they’re all geared toward small to medium sized species, and won’t hold up to a 15lb burrowing behemoth. I’ve been watching videos on that and diy rocks for outdoor features made of concrete, and am formulating how best to blend the techniques and materials into something that can withstand the punishment a tegu would dish out. Right now, I'm thinking newspaper/foam core, covered with chicken wire, then coated in concrete (after curing, paper/foam removed), then the concrete coated in a sealant.
Ultimately, I want the faux stone to go up the walls (too thin for paper/foam form, so just reinforced with rebar) partially, and form two ledges with hides underneath. Since I’m trying to keep the enclosure (AP T100) able to be broken down to move if needed, the rocks will be created outside the enclosure, and made in multiple pieces that fit together to assemble when placed inside. They’ll be made and supported in such a way as to keep them from falling or being pulled down, as well.
Just wondering if anyone else has done faux rocks for their tegu or other large lizards, what your method was, and how well it worked out.
I’m prepping for a tegu next Summer (2020), so I’ve got some time to prepare. I love naturalistic enclosures, and am a glutton for punishment. I’m wondering if anyone else has found a successful method for making faux rocks for tegus.
There’s plenty of faux rocks for reptiles tutorials online, but they’re all geared toward small to medium sized species, and won’t hold up to a 15lb burrowing behemoth. I’ve been watching videos on that and diy rocks for outdoor features made of concrete, and am formulating how best to blend the techniques and materials into something that can withstand the punishment a tegu would dish out. Right now, I'm thinking newspaper/foam core, covered with chicken wire, then coated in concrete (after curing, paper/foam removed), then the concrete coated in a sealant.
Ultimately, I want the faux stone to go up the walls (too thin for paper/foam form, so just reinforced with rebar) partially, and form two ledges with hides underneath. Since I’m trying to keep the enclosure (AP T100) able to be broken down to move if needed, the rocks will be created outside the enclosure, and made in multiple pieces that fit together to assemble when placed inside. They’ll be made and supported in such a way as to keep them from falling or being pulled down, as well.
Just wondering if anyone else has done faux rocks for their tegu or other large lizards, what your method was, and how well it worked out.