# How to mimic... Cave habitats?



## BugMasterD (May 22, 2015)

Okay... So I like to make my habitats to looks like their native habitats

Example given..

G. Rosea, Desert, while I use a mixture of potting soil and sand, the decorations mimic desert setting, fake plants that are with small leaves and

My Platymeris biguttatus, rainforest creatures, I have a piece of driftwood standing upright, with a leafy vine wrapping around it, and big, leafy plants to add extra cover.

But...

My Simandoa conserfariam and Damon Diadema...

I don't know how to create... Cave settings (I'm well aware that Damon's are also found outside of caves.)

Obviously rocks. I just want to be able to provide enough cover.


I know that it's not mandatory to make their homes look as natural as possible, just a personal preference.


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## Forcep (May 22, 2015)

Different people may have different opinions on the particular topic. I'm the kind of keeper who pursue similarity in function instead of appearance. So in my point of view someone can make a cave-like terrarium into a piece of art, but it isn't necessarily more like a real cave than a shoe box with deep substrate and limited ventilation, placed in a dark room.

The world would be very different among different eyes. In our eyes a cave is a whole with rocky wall and roof, but maybe in Damon's eyes a cave is a rough vertical wall with moist air and darkness around, and in Simandoa's eyes a cave is a thick layer of bat guano.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Chillilisous (May 23, 2015)

You could use foam board and sculpt it into cave walls for the side of the enclosure complete with crevasses and such for increased surface area.

Heres a thread of someone who does something similar. 
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?268932-MagicalLobster-s-custom-hide-thread

Heres another group that does this sort of thing.
http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/reptile-terrarium.html

Or make stalactites and stalagmites like this
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?269674-Cave-Terrarium-needs-Inhabitant


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## viper69 (May 23, 2015)

I've seen people take foam block, use a special foam cutter, which is a heated wire, from a hobby store and carve out intricate patterns. But it's the paint and texturizing which seemed to make one cave look better than another.


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## pyro fiend (May 24, 2015)

very true viper. i have seen tons of hides and waterfalls made with foam. usually someone can do a great job using just the mortar to make realistic characteristics, but nowadays if your willing to sit there with more or less a hot needle and carve out the wall till it makes you 100% happy, then add the mortar and/or paint.. then its usually going to look phenomenal.. but ofcourse takes some practice


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## viper69 (May 30, 2015)

pyro fiend said:


> very true viper. i have seen tons of hides and waterfalls made with foam. usually someone can do a great job using just the mortar to make realistic characteristics, but nowadays if your willing to sit there with more or less a hot needle and carve out the wall till it makes you 100% happy, then add the mortar and/or paint.. then its usually going to look phenomenal.. but ofcourse takes some practice


With foam, is the next step covering it in mortar? Haven't used foam yet, but curious because of the shapes one can make with it.


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## pyro fiend (May 30, 2015)

viper69 said:


> With foam, is the next step covering it in mortar? Haven't used foam yet, but curious because of the shapes one can make with it.


Iv seen this done 10 or 15 times.. Some clearcoat the foam just incase others just ass mortar. thats what most use anyways, gives a nice rocky texture without the additives found in your common quick-creat ^.^ used this on many herp habitats usually lookes lovely once coated


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## viper69 (May 30, 2015)

pyro fiend said:


> Iv seen this done 10 or 15 times.. Some clearcoat the foam just incase others just ass mortar. thats what most use anyways, gives a nice rocky texture without the additives found in your common quick-creat ^.^ used this on many herp habitats usually lookes lovely once coated


Where does one get clearcoat and what brand should one use? Is mortar just regular construction mortar from Home Depot?


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## pyro fiend (May 30, 2015)

viper69 said:


> Where does one get clearcoat and what brand should one use? Is mortar just regular construction mortar from Home Depot?


I appologize i had to look back, its been a wiel, i used grout.. Normal stuff from the store, as for sealer my notes say any non-toxic acrylic works for high humidity. but ik i used a mod podge all surface (i remember because i accidently brought home some glitter mod podge by mistake and had to restart..i wasnt happy lol), but i used mine for gecko and bearded dragon hides/decore. Ofcourse for something more moisture dependent maybe a silicon sealant?  Id have to look and see what other sealer i used for water dragon..

but all my ideas branched off from lizard-landscapes

Reactions: Like 1


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## vespers (Jun 18, 2015)

I feel the biggest factor in replicating a cave habitat (besides artificial stone/rock) would be blocking out most or all outside light, like the darkness a real cave would have. Blacking out the external back, sides, and top of the enclosure.


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