# Plaster of paris hides



## izzys1 (Jun 19, 2013)

I needed new hides for my Blonde Spotted's and decided to have a go for myself. I am happy with the results and it seems so are Ivy and Milo  The only change I would make would be smaller entrances and work on my colors for the outside, next are some log shaped hides.


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## Shotta (Jun 19, 2013)

wow you did an amazing job with those hides!, are they waterproofed?
thanks for sharing


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## Wockner (Jun 19, 2013)

Those are ridiculously cool! they look better then my bought ones by far! 
thank you for sharing.


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## Becca-Marie (Jun 19, 2013)

Love them. They look awesomd

Sent from my LG-P690f using Tapatalk 2


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## izzys1 (Jun 19, 2013)

Thanks everyone! Yes they are water proof I used a non toxic pond sealer I can post the name of it tomorrow if your interested (to cold outside now!!) It comes in 3 colors I chose sandstone.


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## ronhalling (Jun 20, 2013)

Great job, they look very natural, awesome   .................................................Ron


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## dragondragon (Jun 20, 2013)

That gave me an idea i shall post pics once im done


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## Shane73 (Jun 20, 2013)

Hi izzys1 they look great well done, looks like your snake/s are pretty happy with them too. Would be interested in the name of the sealer, cheers.


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## Lizardlove (Jun 20, 2013)

Hi 
Did Use A Mold Or Just Sculpt Them?
I Have New Really Uses Plaster Of Paris So It Would Be Great To Know


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## Becca-Marie (Jun 20, 2013)

Im interested to know how you did it also as I would like to give it a go

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## Saxon_Aus (Jun 20, 2013)

would love to see the "how-to" as well, nice cheap awesome idea!


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## Vengeance (Jun 20, 2013)

These hides look great, the texture looks awesome too. I imagine the texture of the hides will help your Spotted pythons shed as well. Great job, Well done!


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## izzys1 (Jun 20, 2013)

Ok so it was actually REALLY easy.They are molded. I used a dessert bowl and taped a toilet roll to the side where i wanted the entrance, covered the whole thing in glad wrap and then just piled on the plaster. The ratio on the packet was 70ml of water to 100gm of plaster powder but i found this a bit too runny so I just added powder till i got a thicker plaster which meant I could also make it thicker.
I let it dry for 24hr and then it just slipped off the bowl. So they are rough on the outside and smooth on the inside.
I then painted them with the sealer and added a bit of kids non toxic paint stippled on top, They should be waterproof.View attachment 291519
View attachment 291520


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## wildthings (Jun 21, 2013)

Do beware using plaster of paris, it can be very dangerous stuff, a girl in the states lost most of her hands in an art experiment at school, coz her teacher did not know how dangerous, in the right situation, the stuff is. I also used to make calcium bells for my birds years ago, until I read somewhere that plaster of paris is carcinogenic, I stopped making them, what I found in a quick search, this is 15yrs ago, was that some mixes of plaster of paris have bad stuff in them and some don't, some were even made with asbestos in the mix


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## wildthings (Jun 21, 2013)

cool hides btw


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## izzys1 (Jun 21, 2013)

Didn't think about adding a caution wildthings, Yes you have to be careful I wore gloves and glasses and you need to be careful not to inhale the powder I did mine outside to to avoid fumes. The water proofer is premixed so no worries there.


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## wildthings (Jun 21, 2013)

izzys1 said:


> Didn't think about adding a caution wildthings, Yes you have to be careful I wore gloves and glasses and you need to be careful not to inhale the powder I did mine outside to to avoid fumes. The water proofer is premixed so no worries there.


It's nice stuff to use when u want a nice smooth finish, I would have liked to use it in the enclosure I'm doing, but I thought the heat it creates might melt the expanda foam or the polystyrene, lol, much easier to smooth than render ugh..


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## izzys1 (Jun 21, 2013)

This one didn't seem to get that hot, it said on the packet that it may but it was warm to the touch but that's it.Yeah render is a lot of mucking around.


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## Ghotar (Jun 24, 2013)

Awesome job on those! 
What was the brand of the sealer?


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## izzys1 (Jun 24, 2013)

Crommelin Waterproof pond sealer


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## wildthings (Jun 24, 2013)

izzys1 said:


> Crommelin Waterproof pond sealer


Ha I was just reading about that one, how shiny does it dry?


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## Rogue5861 (Jun 24, 2013)

izzys1 said:


> Crommelin Waterproof pond sealer



This is what i have used for mine due to bunnings not carrying pondtite. As far as im aware they are a similar product.


Rick


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## izzys1 (Jun 25, 2013)

Wildthings Its not shiny at all, it has a sandy consistancy and seems to be slightly rubberized.

Rick yes I got it from bunnings in the cement and render section


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## Unclewo-wo (Jun 28, 2013)

Thanks for the ideas I have a 4ft tank ill be decking out and this will make it that much cheaper so I can spend just that much more on the snake it's self


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## Bluetongue1 (Jun 29, 2013)

Myself and my bothers and sisters used it heaps of times as a kid to make figurines which you then painted. It was something most kids of that era did, like playing hop scotch or piggy in the middle or monopoly and the like. Using Plaster of Paris is harmless so long as long as you don’t go out of your way to do something stupid. And we never used gloves.

The addition of asbestos or silica occurred in limited degree somewhere overseas. I gather that it was to do with commercial applications and not hobby use but I cannot find any firm details. These are additives that would not be permitted under Australian Health Regulations. I have read differing accounts of the school accident but I gather she was trying to cast a mould of her fingers and by the time she realised it was giving out too much heat, the plaster had taken its first set and she was unable to get her hands out. I would say that she had to have her whole hand in, up to the wrist, for that to happen. Why someone did not smash the paster open I do not know. It is soft and easily broken for the first 24 hours or so and full strength is not attained for three days. It seems not only human stupidity/error was involved but also human incompetence. You can slice your finger off if you add those attributes to preparing a tomato sandwich.

You have10 mins before the plaster starts to go off and maybe another 5 mins while it still remains workable. It gives off heat as it sets but gets to a maximum of about 60[SUP]o[/SUP]C. It was never hot enough to damage any of the thin rubber moulds we used over and over. It is safe to work it with your hands and then flake the plaster off when it dries. I preferred to use a bucket of water and get to it before it has taken a full set. There is something about loosing the hairs on my fingers that did not agree with me.

If you were pat desert sand or a mixture of sand and soil into the plaster within the first 5 mins or so, most would stick and give an interesting colour and texture. You could use a wire brush about the 10 min mark to provide a rough texture. Even after 3 days, when the plaster has taken its full set, it is soft enough to work with a wire brush to provide a rough texture. Being Gypsum, it has a hardness of 2 on Moh’s Scale, which is one above Talc, which you can scratch with your finger nail, and equivalent to the harness of lead. So even when it has fully set, you can still use a wire brush or very coarse sandpaper to alter the surface texture. Alternatively, fine sandpaper can be utilised to produce a smooth finish to the surface.

I only have criticism... snake refuges in nature are invariably a tight fit and your hides are not. Snakes seek out confined spaces for a couple of reasons. If there is only just enough room for the snake to fit, they are less vulnerable to predators. A smaller air volume helps to reduce heat loss of heat gathered while basking. The reduced air volume is particularly important with snakes living in the arid or semi-arid zones. Exhaled air has a humidity of 100%. The humidity of inhaled air determines the loss of moisture through breathing (along with the breathing rate of course). A small volume of air with minimal exchange allows the external humidity to build up quickly and be retained at a reasonably high level. Hence it has a significant effect on reducing water loss. 

In my opinion, the ideal hide is one that: (i) the internal cavity is as high as the snake is thick; (ii) requires the snake to coil up to fit in it; (iii) the entry hole is only just large enough for the occupant to enter through; (iv) has an ‘igloo-style’ entrance. Given that in captivity we exclude predators and provide on-going access to water and warmth, the suggested features no longer have the same survival value required in nature. Consequently, our charges can clearly get by without such features in their refuges. So my only valid argument is reduced to a behavioural one. The style of hide I described is that which snakes will find most ‘normal’ and will feel secure within. Clearly, snakes are adaptable and many cope quite well with more spacious hides in captivity. I just feel that providing something more akin to that which they would seek out in nature removes one possible stress factor.

Blue


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## wildthings (Jul 3, 2013)

izzys1 said:


> Wildthings Its not shiny at all, it has a sandy consistancy and seems to be slightly rubberized.
> 
> Rick yes I got it from bunnings in the cement and render section


Okay, I guess it is slightly different then, did change the appearance of the paint?


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## izzys1 (Jul 3, 2013)

wildthings said:


> Okay, I guess it is slightly different then, did change the appearance of the paint?



No, no change to the paint at all but i didn't use very much.


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