# Step by step guide to fake rock backgrounds and hides etc



## tooninoz (May 7, 2009)

Last year I did this thread...figured it wasn't being seen after so long and deleted all the pics from Photobucket. Now I'm getting PMed regularly. So, here we go again, but new and updated info and pics.

1. You'll need polystyrene to start with. I got a huge slab of polystyrene from a mate who is a brickie. Its 2.4m x 1.2m x 180mm thick. They use it once as a support for bricking archways and then it's thrown out.
If you go to a supplier (like Clarks etc), you'll find that polystyrene is expensive. My suggestion would be to visit building sites when they are pouring house slabs. You'll generally find excess waffle pods and you should be able to get a few. They'll do the trick as well.
In the pic below, you can see that it's a nice square block of foam; this is crucial as you don't want gaps under/behind the wall for obvious reasons.







Ive cut a chunk out and cut that down the middle to give me two pieces 90mm thick. These are only demo pieces for a display, so you'll have to cut the ones you need to the appropriate size.

2. Once you have your piece;






start to shape it. Ive just ripped chunks out with my fingers, shaped it with a rasp and given it a reasonably 'rocky' shape. Worth taking into consideration - whatever you rip out (crevices and rifts etc) will end up a lot less deep/sharp in the end given that it will have 4 coats of mortar over it. 
Once you have a basic shape that you are happy with, it's imperative that you seal the face. This kills off the loose surface that'll weaken your wall. You can buy a cheap butane torch (runs off the supplied cigarette lighter) from Bunnings tool section. It also helps the flat areas to look more realistic.






Showing the square back;







3. Time to render it. My suggestion is to forget about tile grout altogether. I experimented with it in the beginning and I'm not at all confident that it'd do the job. Not for snakes and certainly not for sharp-clawed lizards.

For this I am simply using a 1:1 mix of fine brickies sand and GP cement. 
You should make a fairly liquid mix in a bucket, and, using a 2" cheapy brush, slop it on. Use your brush to stir the mix up frequently so you aren't just applying water!

The first coat will...well, it won't look like a coat! It'll look like a mess;






Let this coat dry right out. It'll be flakey and fragile. Thicken the next coat a little.






4. For the third coat, keep the same kind of consistency but add a good squirt of PVA (white) glue. Don't use Bondcrete - it's basically expensive PVA and it will do the same job in this case. It adds strength to the layer plus allows flexibility under stress from heat/cold etc. *No point in spending a fortune on the glue either (Aquadhere etc). Just pick up the cheap stuff from the dollar shops' craft section*






To get rid of the brush strokes, wait til the render has gone off a bit (lost its sheen), and, using the same brush partially loaded with water, gently dab at it. **Too much water and too heavy a hand will wash the cement out, weakening it substantially**

A 4th coat (following the same steps) should be enough to complete it.

5. Sealing. I use a mix of DTA grout sealer, PVA glue and water. You could easily get away with watered down PVA and use a couple of coats.

6. Painting. This is going to be down to personal taste! The cheap shops will have have the acrylic paints you need - Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna, Yellow and Red Oxides etc etc. All the earthy colours. Google some images to suit the locale of your reptile.
Here's a basecoat;






Experiment with brushes, sponge etc... this looks rubbish, but 








*The same method can be used to make hides and water-bowls*

These are the hides used for my daughters Spotted hatchy for the past 7mths;































This is a corner piece display I'm part-way through. The photo is taken with one of the sides glued against a board so it looks askew!

This is a 3-piece, with a ledge etc.














I'll have some finished pics of the displays shortly. 

If you need sand, or polystyrene and you're in Brisbane, let me know and I can help out.
cheers


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## koalia (May 9, 2009)

*turtle?*

are the substanced used safe to put in a turtle tank? your work looks great i cant wait to try it!


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## boxhed (May 9, 2009)

Thanks for sharing Tooninoz... that's great... will be giving it a try for sure.


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## colooch (May 9, 2009)

great work! the pet shops in melb charge a fortune for something you make look so simple, thanks for sharing i will be giving it go for sure.


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## tooninoz (May 10, 2009)

koalia said:


> are the substanced used safe to put in a turtle tank? your work looks great i cant wait to try it!



Koalia - I couldn't say for certain, but I'd imagine you'll need a special sealer (pond sealer) before you did it. Your best bet would be to contact a business specialising in that area?


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## KaaTom (May 10, 2009)

They are awesome.. will be stocking up on supplies today to get started


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## Tinky (May 11, 2009)

For reasons unknown I have used Render Cement on my prototype fake rock. It seems to have come up ok. I have been told to use "Grout Adhesive" but have not tried this as yet.

Hope to be able to post some pics soon.


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## XKiller (May 11, 2009)

nice thanks for shareing


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## Tinky (May 11, 2009)

Oh. . . I used Bondcrete, but would recomend PVA as per Toons advice

Also used oxidisers to colour cement, rather than paint. Even after a few final coates of PVA to seal, the surface is rough allowing good traction for my dragons.


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## Strangla (May 14, 2009)

Thats awesome thanks bro!


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## Tinky (May 14, 2009)

*Rock 1 & 2*

My prototype red rock, should have made smaller.

A Castle theme feature that I am currently working on.


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## tooninoz (May 14, 2009)

Looking good Tinky - I'd be keen to see the castle once it's done.
Ive actually been experimenting with render too. It's a bit stronger, tho' the sand in the mix is a bit co****.
The render is the Boscote (made by Bostik) 20kg bags for about $10 from Bunnings. Mixed in with a 10:1 mix of water/Bondcrete. 
Four coats, and then sealed with a 4:1 mix of the above. 

I'll put some new pics up in a day or two.


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## Scaler (Jun 12, 2009)

Great thread, tooninoz - very informative. 
I'm thinking i want to try my hand at a background for my new enlcosure - it is 820mm high and 900mm wide - so i will want to put some ledges in etc for my jungle to explore to. 
Now my question - am i better off installing the ledges first with wood, or would the polystyrene be strong enough? 
Thoughts?
Ta....


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## oreo1 (Jun 12, 2009)

thanks for sharing tooninoz. very helpful and should be made into a sticky


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## discomat (Jul 9, 2009)

After reading this I decided to make my own rock wall following the guidelines of this thread. I decided to go for a more "Jungle cave" theme. These are a great idea and look awesome in the enclosure....


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## snake_boy (Jul 9, 2009)

wow thats nice


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## Bushfire (Jul 9, 2009)

How does it stand up to heat?? ie. Like required for monitors.


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## discomat (Jul 10, 2009)

The last coat (or 2 coats) of cement you use mix it with lots of pvc glue and that gives it a lot of strength against moisture and heat etc. although I am unsure how this would work with monitors as they has some pretty sharp claws might damage it a bit.


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## wasgij (Jul 12, 2009)

if making a wall how long do you wait before adding the reptiles, just once its dry? or wait a couple of days?


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## gecko-mad (Jul 12, 2009)

there awesome walls!


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## misssstars (Jul 12, 2009)

thanks for this thread me and my husband will try this. i want to do a hide e hole for my python..


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## discomat (Jul 14, 2009)

yeah once the acryllic paint dries (I left mine overnight) it's ready to go. I used liquid nails to screw it to some thin plywood then screwed the plywood to the back of the enclosure. 

snake loves it!


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## RedEyeGirl (Jul 14, 2009)

These are so cool so gunna try 1


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## MZ33YO (Jul 29, 2009)

just stocked up on my lunch break but i purchased cement and sand mix instead of buying seperately, anyone else done this? I'll probably get some more sand to add to a final coat...


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## Bassassin (Jul 31, 2009)

Way to go do it yourselfers. Just got myself some cement premix, oxides for colouring and a waterproof sealer that is eco friendly.

Also hooked myself up a new blow torch and three fittings, different flame can give a broad finnish or a more defined finnish.

Had to laugh though, got the stuff I felt would do the job, and when I got home I logged on to Aussie Pythons and here it all was, to the letter. If I saw this sooner I would have spent less time at Bunnings.

Good to know I'm doing the right thing.


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## MZ33YO (Jul 31, 2009)

Hey guys,
I made a corner piece for my Blonde Mac.
I joined 2 100mm pieces together to make a corner.


This is it so far, all I have done with it is seal it.. still need to do all the coats etc.


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## N.Hombsch (Aug 1, 2009)

Thanks mate, been looking for something like this from an Aussie. All the American how-to's are done using products under different trade names and can be a bit of a hassle decifering. One more thing, I'm on the sunny coast and have had some trouble getting materials. If you could help out, that would be great.


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## Blood Mason (Sep 4, 2009)

I saw a thread once (i think it was on here) about building backgrounds etc using expanda-foam. The ones you have done look a bit more impressive & natural. Probably cheaper too, the expanda-foam can be pretty expensive depending on how much you need to use.
Cheers


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## Bretsta (Sep 9, 2009)

awesome thread. gonna have to try this for sure


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## redbellybite (Sep 9, 2009)

well you lot have been pretty crafty now ..good on you looks good ..


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## cosmicwolf4 (Sep 21, 2009)

I'm going to try a couple of these ideas soon, just have to build my viv first, but this seems like it would be a lot cheaper than buying retail.
Thanks for the ideas


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## turtleman (Sep 21, 2009)

I am in the process of setting up our lizard house wich is 3.3m round 1.2 high and you have solved all of my troubles. I was concerned about using rocks as the arrangement might collapse and hurt the lizards. Thankyou Tooninoz. I will post some pics up when completed.


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## BenReyn (Sep 22, 2009)

This is awesome!
Thanks all!
Hel;ped me alot
Ben./


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## Snakes1 (Sep 22, 2009)

Thanks for a great thread


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## ryanharvey1993 (Sep 22, 2009)

that looks great, although I am hopeless at building stuff and probably wouldnt even be able to build that lol


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## antaresia_boy (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks for this guide, looks great. I've had an idea but I've never seen it done before- could i creat one or two of these to use as the floor of the cage? if i built two them i could swap them over between cleaning and to give the snake some variation. It would also give lots of chance to make hidey holes all the way through the cage.
Just an idea, no idea if it would work. 
I know cleaning would be a bit more difficult, but I'm prepared to deal with that. My main concern is that it could be a bit rough on the snakes skin if it's on it 24/7? he's on gravel at the moment but that has a bit more give in it because it moves.

Anyway, any feedback would be handy, esp. if you have previously tried this before!
Thanks much, Jamie


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## kidsheart (Oct 23, 2009)

awesome guide!!!. im going to give a big rock wall a crack in a few days. hopefully itll come up half as good as the ones pctures haha


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## Weezer (Oct 27, 2009)

Thanks for this thread mate, I have just gotta give this a go- that wall above looks amazing too with the Easter Island Faces- Amazing work !!


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## kidsheart (Nov 21, 2009)

i just finished making up a small one. anyway i used several bits of foam which i pva glued together to make a piece large/thick enough for what i needed. seemed to work fine
and also i used cornice cement mixed with watered down pva, purely because i had it lieing around, but it also seemed to work perfectly. 
now i just have to seal it and paint it up.


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## absinthe_616 (Nov 21, 2009)

this is a DIY herpers dream! thanks for this how to, i cant wait to get started. my jungle girl is in a vivarium that is big enough, but its also a little high, and she doesnt get any use out of the top half, so making one of these as a wall climb is a fantastic idea!

im gonig to start straight away...

now the only difficult part... finding styrafoam! lol


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## tooninoz (Nov 24, 2009)

If anyone in Brisbane/SE Qld wants styrofoam, let me know. Ive got a huge amount that I need to get rid of. They are very large pieces (I can cut them to suit) that would need a ute/trailer or at least the ability to fit into a car with fold-down seats etc.
Free.
Located in Norman Park, 10mins SE of Brisbane CBD.
PM if interested.


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## Reaper (Nov 25, 2009)

Hey guys, I have stumbled on a goldmine in the form of polystryrine, I have been using a similar method of this guide for years and it works fantastic, though getting decent foam can be dificult and expensive! I used to get it through Clark rubber at aprox $14 per sheet 1090x1090x30mm it gets expensive on large enclosures when u need to layer it up. If you live in or around Sydney get in contact with the guys at "waffle pod people" in kings park Sydney. They have mass amounts of polystyrine very cheep! A 1090x1090x100mm sheet will set u back $9.00 they have huge blocks for $45 aswell but the 100 mm pieces are a good size to work.


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## omg_ebtl (Dec 10, 2009)

Wow!


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## Flaviruthless (Jan 23, 2010)

This is one I built for my fish - I can't wait to have a go at building one for my beardies!


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## elrobbo (Jan 24, 2010)

I'm very new here and can't seem to see most of the pics in this thread, they just say "photo deleted or moved from photobucket" any tricks on seeing all these pics? it seems like such an informative thread I really wanna see the pics!
cheers
Rob


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## ADZz_93 (Jan 24, 2010)

there not on photobucket anymore, i think thats the reason, i cant see them either?


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## mattlewis (Feb 8, 2010)

Yeah, they appear to of been moved or deleted. As this is a sticky, can I suggest they are updated? 
Would be helpfull.


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## ando68 (Feb 22, 2010)

*grout stage.*

This is what i have come up with so far,lots of fun carving at the foam with a stanley knife the the blow tourch gave it a great rock effect, looks like the coating process will take some time though,not sure to use oxides or paint for colour as yet.cost so far polystyrine and liquild nails $20


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## Tinky (Feb 23, 2010)

I asked Target if they could spare me some waste foam, for a model of Ularu that my so was doing for a school project, (ok a small lie).

They were very helpful.

There are different densities of foam. I find that the stuff used for fruit & veg boxes to be a little too dense to be able to shape effectively.

Have a go. It is not hard to get a great result. Also try a small prototype feature to start with so you get a feel for what works, (e it can be difficule getting a cood coat into some crevices and caves, also rocks tend to have a grain from sedement and wear that will give your background a more naturl look).


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## Exile182 (Feb 23, 2010)

I was wondering if you have to use grout? I was thinking of just painting the the foam with PVA and then painting what ever colour.

And I cant find grout at bunnings, what are the brand names of it?


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## ando68 (Feb 25, 2010)

*finished my backgound*

hey ppl here is my complete enclosure background,beside the sealing coats,the first coat was cement and render mix i had lying around in the shed i made a 1:1 mix very runny,brushed it on ,takes time.with the 2nd coat my mate gave me a product called combextra c , used in constructon and form work side of things,mixed this with water till sloppy added some colour oxides and a good wack of pva glue,and wow this drys rock hard again takes time to apply.
the third and last coat ,as no way i require any more coats its like a (brick)was much the same as the second but changed the colour oxide mix to give a colour gradient,i was chasing the kimberly red colour for my enclosure,i would have avoided cement if ihad my hands on the combextra c ,next some sealing coats im thinking watered down pva glue in spray bottle,anyways hope this may help some one .


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## Insane (Feb 26, 2010)

what snake is that in the background of the 5th pic? i've never seen anything like it? like the rock wall btw.


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## Asharee133 (Feb 26, 2010)

Insane said:


> what snake is that in the background of the 5th pic? i've never seen anything like it? like the rock wall btw.


its plastic rofl XP


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## cwtiger (Feb 26, 2010)

That is priceless. You are all very talented people. I am new to snakes and have search all over the internet for a background to put in my enclosure when I get it home. I will have to make a trip to bunnings to purchase items and the cheap shops for the others. I would love to be able to get some of the polystyrene if it is still available. I have pm'd.
Cool toy snake my son has one similar.


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## ando68 (Feb 26, 2010)

That is a (big w )snake on the 5th pic,yep its plastic lol


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## ando68 (Feb 28, 2010)

Couple more pics of finished back ground ,test fit in enclosure.now to find some fake vines then complete the rest of the box.


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## Tinky (Mar 1, 2010)

Your fake snake looks very happy with your fake rock.

I am sure that he is looking foward to the addition of some fake vines.

Are you planning on using fake grass by any chance ?


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## redbellybite (Mar 1, 2010)

just wanting to know as I dont have any fake rocks etc ... if you have snakes that like to make toileting habits a career , and spray it all over the place ,just to make my job harder , how simple is it to clean off the fake wall?>..can you use water and spray it off or will that wreck your wall?>....some of the tighter crevises seem to hard to get a good cleaning cloth in so was just wondering...


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## J-A-X (Mar 1, 2010)

i dont make tight little crevices for that very reason, and i seal all mine with 'pondtite' it makes them shiney, but its a small price to pay for easy cleaning,


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## ando68 (Mar 1, 2010)

Tinky said:


> Your fake snake looks very happy with your fake rock.
> 
> I am sure that he is looking foward to the addition of some fake vines.
> 
> Are you planning on using fake grass by any chance ?


 lol,fake grass what a good idea,i was going for marine carpet any sugestions? Oh yeh will be having a real snake also not sure how the cleaning of background will go if i sealed it well enough ill pull it out and hose it down on the lawn when needed  as it will be removable otherwise make another one with less cracks and crevises in if it is a major prob.


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## tooninoz (Mar 1, 2010)

mattlewis said:


> Yeah, they appear to of been moved or deleted. As this is a sticky, can I suggest they are updated?
> Would be helpfull.



Sorry, but I won't be putting up the pics again. I had some trouble with an idiot on this forum months back and decided to delete the thread altogether. I contacted a mod to do so and he had to contact Admin, who apparently refused to do so. My only option was to delete the pics.
I typed up an updated set of steps some months back, and though I have lost them from my computer I have contacted another member in the hope that she will still have them! 
If she does, feel free to PM me with an email address and I will attach the file.
cheers, John


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## liney (Mar 8, 2010)

*my go at it- backgrounds*

here are a few before and during process pics with the finished result in the cage- not sure how it will go in regards to whether he will use the ledges but when he first went in he was straight up the side accross the top and stayed in the top right so interesting if he wants the branches or hides lol.


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## ezekiel86 (Jun 6, 2010)

Hey everyone !!!

Does anyone have the pics that have been delt on here...would really like to see the opening photos by tooninoz
if anyone can help 
thanks a million 
ezekiel


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## mrbaggins (Jun 6, 2010)

Yeah, it's a shame to ee such a useful thread get thrown by the way side. Anymore info, tips and pictures from Aussies doing this stuff would be excellent.


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## ohhsweetness (Jun 8, 2010)

yea should get the pics back up !!


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## Craigis11 (Jun 8, 2010)

ando68 said:


> Couple more pics of finished back ground ,test fit in enclosure.now to find some fake vines then complete the rest of the box.



so is it just polystene??


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## J-A-X (Jun 9, 2010)

If you go to post #1 you will find the step by step written instructions , even though the pics are missing, still very useful


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## nagini-baby (Jul 29, 2010)

im going to do a background soon but im going to make some cage furniture first as the shops 
are so expensive and its looks better when you do it y our self


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## Dukz13 (Sep 2, 2010)

yea dayum shame ther are no pics


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