Polymer Clay 2-in-1 hide/humid hide

[Iflln2fntsy]

I had some polymer clay laying around and wanted to make a hide for my snake. What I ended up designing was a hide that could double as a humid hide when she sheds.

I am not sure about the amount of clay I actually used to make this, but I did have to go out and buy two small bricks and two large bricks to make the top of the hide. The bottom was made from clay I already had. To create and keep the dome shape of the top of the hide, I used a "half sphere" shaped piece of sytofoam (the styrofoam "melts" in the oven but helps keep the shape long enough to being polymerization). As for the colors of the clay I used, I wasn't going for anything pretty but I try to keep my vivs as natural looking as possible and these colors seemed to work nicely.

The first picture is of the two pieces of the hide put together, I will put some damp moss in the bottom when she is in blue and this will be the humid hide (and hopefully she wont push too much moss out the opening, but the opening can be made smaller if needed by adding more clay). When she is not shedding I plan to just have the top part of the hid in her tank. The second picture is of the two separate pieces of the hide and the third pic is of Jade enjoying her new hide (I think she likes it ). The approximate diameter of the hide is 8in and the domed part of the hide is approximately 3.5 in high.

 

[reptile65]

Neat idea! It looks good in the tank, too.

 

[Stefanie]

Hey there. I love the idea with the floor for the dome.

I have a question about using the styrofoam as a form. You said it melts in the oven? Is there toxic residue left on the inside of the dome that you have to remove by sanding or something? Did it make a huge mess?

I'm looking into making hides similar to this, I was thinking of just using the aluminum mesh to give it the form. I like the styrofoam idea though! Please let me know =D

 

[Iflln2fntsy]

I am not sure if there is any residue from the Styrofoam, but what happens is it just shrivels up and after a few minutes in the oven, it is no longer touching anything. I did wash the inside of the hide and whenever I change water dishes I wash it out also, so if there was any residue I think it is probably gone now. I didn't notice my snake having any problems using the hide and she actually went right inside the first time I set it in her tank. I would think that if the hide smelled funny she wouldn't have gone right in?

Just as an FYI, use the regular white styrofoam, not the green kind. I have found (from other projects) that the green styrofoam does not melt in the oven and is also kind of messy (small bits falling off as you touch it). Not sue if that would leave any residue, but since it doesn't melt I didn't want to use it.

I am sure the mesh would be fine to use as a mold, just make sure all the mesh is covered by the clay so noone gets injured if they rub against it.

Good luck with your project and post pictures when you are done

 

[Stefanie]

Thank you for the quick input!

I'm planing on doing this as a project with the kids. So we'll end up with 3 hides. I might try the mesh on mine and the styrophoam on the kids, as it would be easier for them to work with! I'll post pictures if we don't end up ruining our hides in the effort /lol

 

[jessicalb]

When we did polymer clay we used aluminum foil crumpled up to support some of the shapes.