codiwatkins
New Member
So I decided to make a terrarium wall for my Chams enclosure, instead of having plants on the ground. I am super excited with how it turned out and figured that maybe someone on here would like to see how I did it. I originally watched a youtube tutorial on how to do this for a frog terrarium in a glass case, but I can't find it and the link isn't on the thread I started the other day now. So I'll just explain the process. I am also going to include all of the supplies I used and purchased at home depot.
My finished product
Supply List
2 corrugated plastic sheets $14 ( they look like plastic cardboard)
6 cans of black total pond waterfall sealant $77 ( I was told they make black "Great Stuff" for ponds that is cheaper but I wasn't able to find it at home depot. In all honesty, I probably could have only used four cans ,if I had know how to use it better.)
2 Tubes of black silicone $13
1 bag of ground up sphagnum moss soil $4.24
1 bag of long sphagnum moss $3.97
4 Support/anchor boards $12
I made my enclosure have 6 plants. I had 2 pothos in my house already and then I purchased some Japaneses Ferns for the bottom and a few succulents just because I like they way they look.
1. I cut aprrox 1 inch off the side of my boards that way I knew for sure that it would fit into my reptibreeze cage. I glued the boards together length wise after measuring and cutting them to the size of my cage.
2. I had an old wooden stake in my yard that I broke into pieces and put in the corners that way I would have something solid to screw the wall onto the metal of the reptibreeze cage. After returning to Home Depot to return unused supplies I found these long thin boards that would have been perfect. They are 48 inches long. I would have ran 4 down the back of the wall to add support and to also act as an anchor.
3. Lay out all your wood and pots the way you want them to look on your wall. I had some large reptile wood from my old Cham cage that I used. I placed these pieces first because they are heavy and need support holding them while they dry. I sprayed some of the pond foam, stuck the wood on top and then sprayed more foam around it hold it in place. I propped the wood up with various items I found in my garage. While using the foam use gloves! If it gets on your hands it doesn't come off for DAYS or longer.
4. After the above dried (Approx 30-45 minutes) I placed all of my pots and other pieces of climbing paths. Keep in mind the depth of your enclosure. Mine is 24 inches so I kept a level handy next to me so I could measure while placing climbing sticks. I then began spraying the foam over the pots so they were fully covered leaving the top portion open and sprayed foam to hold the sticks in place too. Keep in mind that this stuff expands BIG TIME so try and spray it as thin as possible. Also make sure you keep it flat while drying or it will go into crazy places!
5. After allowing the above to dry I then went in and filled in all the remaining places with the foam. If you make it varying thicknesses it looks way cooler in my opinion. I added a few more sticks at this time too. It was easy because I could just poke them into the dried foam and then add more foam if need to hold it in place.
6. Once everything was dried I went to all the pots and poked holes through the bottom with a screw driver to allow drainage. I also cut foam that had gone down into the pots.
7. Then I sprayed the silicon on small sections, spreading it around with an old paint brush, and then added the dirt and moss on top. I did it in sections because I felt like the silicon would dry out. I think in total I broke the entire wall into approx 8 sections.
8. After giving the silicon dirt about 15 minutes to dry I tipped all the extra dirt off and tapped the back several times. I then went back and touched up any spots I missed.
9. Last I added all of plants! When placing keep in mind the sun exposure need!
My finished product
Supply List
2 corrugated plastic sheets $14 ( they look like plastic cardboard)
6 cans of black total pond waterfall sealant $77 ( I was told they make black "Great Stuff" for ponds that is cheaper but I wasn't able to find it at home depot. In all honesty, I probably could have only used four cans ,if I had know how to use it better.)
2 Tubes of black silicone $13
1 bag of ground up sphagnum moss soil $4.24
1 bag of long sphagnum moss $3.97
4 Support/anchor boards $12
I made my enclosure have 6 plants. I had 2 pothos in my house already and then I purchased some Japaneses Ferns for the bottom and a few succulents just because I like they way they look.
1. I cut aprrox 1 inch off the side of my boards that way I knew for sure that it would fit into my reptibreeze cage. I glued the boards together length wise after measuring and cutting them to the size of my cage.
2. I had an old wooden stake in my yard that I broke into pieces and put in the corners that way I would have something solid to screw the wall onto the metal of the reptibreeze cage. After returning to Home Depot to return unused supplies I found these long thin boards that would have been perfect. They are 48 inches long. I would have ran 4 down the back of the wall to add support and to also act as an anchor.
3. Lay out all your wood and pots the way you want them to look on your wall. I had some large reptile wood from my old Cham cage that I used. I placed these pieces first because they are heavy and need support holding them while they dry. I sprayed some of the pond foam, stuck the wood on top and then sprayed more foam around it hold it in place. I propped the wood up with various items I found in my garage. While using the foam use gloves! If it gets on your hands it doesn't come off for DAYS or longer.
4. After the above dried (Approx 30-45 minutes) I placed all of my pots and other pieces of climbing paths. Keep in mind the depth of your enclosure. Mine is 24 inches so I kept a level handy next to me so I could measure while placing climbing sticks. I then began spraying the foam over the pots so they were fully covered leaving the top portion open and sprayed foam to hold the sticks in place too. Keep in mind that this stuff expands BIG TIME so try and spray it as thin as possible. Also make sure you keep it flat while drying or it will go into crazy places!
5. After allowing the above to dry I then went in and filled in all the remaining places with the foam. If you make it varying thicknesses it looks way cooler in my opinion. I added a few more sticks at this time too. It was easy because I could just poke them into the dried foam and then add more foam if need to hold it in place.
6. Once everything was dried I went to all the pots and poked holes through the bottom with a screw driver to allow drainage. I also cut foam that had gone down into the pots.
7. Then I sprayed the silicon on small sections, spreading it around with an old paint brush, and then added the dirt and moss on top. I did it in sections because I felt like the silicon would dry out. I think in total I broke the entire wall into approx 8 sections.
8. After giving the silicon dirt about 15 minutes to dry I tipped all the extra dirt off and tapped the back several times. I then went back and touched up any spots I missed.
9. Last I added all of plants! When placing keep in mind the sun exposure need!
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