My new salt dough hide!

[Nae]

Well a few threads ago SapphireTigress talked about how she uses salt dough to make hides! Now, atm Ive been trying to make fake rocks from grout and such, but I thought Eh, why not give it ago?

It looks awesome.

Thankyou Sapphire, thankyou.



For comparison, heres the pic I posted before showing it just as a lump of salt dough -



And here it is after completely drying and a paint job! -







Now just to seal it, and perhaps sprinkle some sand on it! Just thought Id share~

Now to do the rest of the tank >8D

[WanderingChai]

WOW!! It looks great Nae. I must do this...

[Kbell31]

Is there a thread w directions for this including what non toxic paints and sealers to use? I am a good baker but I certainly dont understand this recipe! It looks pretty realistic. Good job!

[Spindown]

WOW nice nae. Mine are just super simple rounds with a hole for a door...you'll have to tell me how you made it look so nice!!
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The basic recipe is the one i use, but i'm sure anything similar could be used.
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You will need:
2-2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons vegatable oil
Krylon waterproofing spray paint (Called Matte Finish...it's clear)
Texture spray paint (instant stone!)
Oven-safe mold [In my case, I used a banana bread tin, some people have used store bought hides and just used them as the mold, can use oven safe cermic bowl, pie pan, anything oven safe!]
Mix the flour and salt, then slowly add the water and mix. Mix in the vegatable oil and mix until the dough is not sticky but not too dry to mold. Add more flour as necessary.
Roll dough flat about 1/2 inch thick with a rolling pin. Put a thin layer of vegatable oil on the mold (very important!!), and then place the flattened dough onto the mold and shape it, make sure you cut out the door for your snake! (I found it easiest to place the mold on top of the flattened dough upside down, then flip all over at the same time and the dough is on top of the mold without ripping/stretching)
Place the dough-covered mold onto wax paper or parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and bake in the oven on 250* for about an hour. Depending on the mold, you may have to take it out, take the mold off, and flip it over to bake on the oposite side too (I had to do this for mine).

[Alioop]

This is really cool! Nae, what kind of mold did you use?

[Nae]

I could probably do a video tutorial some time, but heres a quick text one -

To make a salt dough hide with a foam base (This is just what I did. I tried writing it with variations to the technique like oven proof bowls and just plastic bowls, but that got too complicated!)

Recipe (Same as Sapphires - Although to be completely honest after the first batch I stopped measuring and just chucked it into the bowl!)

2-2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons vegatable oil

Youll need -

Salt dough
Acrylic paints (I also used some poster paints) in whatever colours you need (I had red, black, white, brown and yellow)
And old/cheap , smallish, stiff bristled paintbrush that you dont mind ruining
Bowl of water
Solid foam like in electronics packaging
Adhesive for said foam
Knife to cut said foam (Or just break it...Its easier to do straight lines with a knife though)
Sand paper

-First off, prepare your base. Break/ cut apart and glue together foam however you want. Make sure it still fits through the entrance of your enclosure, keeping in mind that while the foam can bend and slide to get in, after its been salt doughed IT CANT. Keep in mind stuff such as ease of cleaning, ease of getting to your animal, can your animal safely climb on this etc

- Then, make the mixture and have a bowl of water ready. To get into the nooks and crannies easily I left it more watery than normally suggested.

- Then, just smear it on. Make sure to get into all the nooks and crannies and keep the layer fairly thin. Do one side at a time. Use the water to help squish it out and join pieces. I placed it into the sun so as then it dries quicker. I found that this however caused cracks, but its fake rock, who cares~!!

- Since the dough is quite close in colour to the foam, do a touch up layer when its dry as when it dries it becomes a darker colour and you can see all the spots you missed.

- Repeat on underside.

- Make sure it is 100% dry! I left mine for 4 days as I had a convention to attend in Perth (Indoors though, not in the sun)

- Sand it. You dont want it completely smooth, just enough to get rid of pokey and sharp bits and such. Up to you~

- Paint it! Anything is fine, I used acrylics and poster paints.

- Do some research into reptile safe sealers. I personally am using mod podge. Apply at least 4 coats of this. On the last coat you can sprinkles some sand if you wish~

Aaaaand I think thats it~

[WanderingChai]

This is a great thread.
Is it possible to do this w/o foam? Also, do you have to paint it9It does look super good painted though... I'm just lazy XD)

I want to completely re-decorate my reptile's tanks... They deserve it <3

[Nae]

This is a great thread.
Is it possible to do this w/o foam? Also, do you have to paint it9It does look super good painted though... I'm just lazy XD)

I want to completely re-decorate my reptile's tanks... They deserve it <3

Yep! Like Sapphires says, you can just mold it over a covered with veg oil oven safe bowl, or you could also mold it over a plastic bowl covered in plastic wrap, however this can not be placed in the oven and thus has to be left for a while to dry. I wouldnt recommend making one like mine out of just salt dough - It would take a VERY long time to dry, plus the roof would not be able to support itself over a hollow area as it would have to if it were a hide.

And nope, no need for painting~ Sapphire hasnt, but I personally would recommend sealing it though - Salt dough absorbs water easily, so if it were to be peed on or whatnot, I can definitely see it moulding.

[Katrina]

Great thread! Thanks for sharing!

[WanderingChai]

This is a great thread.
Is it possible to do this w/o foam? Also, do you have to paint it9It does look super good painted though... I'm just lazy XD)

I want to completely re-decorate my reptile's tanks... They deserve it <3

Yep! Like Sapphires says, you can just mold it over a covered with veg oil oven safe bowl, or you could also mold it over a plastic bowl covered in plastic wrap, however this can not be placed in the oven and thus has to be left for a while to dry. I wouldnt recommend making one like mine out of just salt dough - It would take a VERY long time to dry, plus the roof would not be able to support itself over a hollow area as it would have to if it were a hide.

And nope, no need for painting~ Sapphire hasnt, but I personally would recommend sealing it though - Salt dough absorbs water easily, so if it were to be peed on or whatnot, I can definitely see it moulding.

Sounds good. I'll pick up some sealer and I will most definitely do this.

[Spindown]

yeah i want to get some sealer, i do have to replace if they get wet.

[Roheryn]

Looking good!! Looks a lot like the hide I made out of slate, stacked and glued together. Love the color

[realis88]

nice hide

[WanderingChai]

I just made mine, it's in the oven... I changed it around a bit, so we'll see how it turns out

[WanderingChai]

Well... I made mine... XD it kinda failed, but who cares about looks?

[Nae]

Pics Chai!

Eh, as long as it keeps them safe and snug, I dont really think reptiles care what their hides look like! Its like sewing for ferrets

[WanderingChai]

I'm not so sure you want pics, but I'll take some tonight if I have time.

[Fatal_S]

Chai, if your hide stays together it's far better than my many attempts.

I tried this recipe and managed to make a few decent hides (and several that shattered or flattened while being baked). However I was sealing them outside when we had a sun-shower and I wasn't home -.-' So the only halfway decent ones I had melted into goo. The second attempt made a couple, but they were weak and shattered in my hectic house. My mould was an awkward shape and I think my dough was too thin I think I'll stick with foam to make fake hides (or slate if I can find any).

Nae, I'm not talking to you. Stop being good at everything.

[WanderingChai]

Nae, I'm not talking to you. Stop being good at everything.

Agreed....

[Nae]

Nae, I'm not talking to you. Stop being good at everything.

Agreed....

B-but....

To be honest though, trust me when I say making things is my only credible skill....