Black Pond Foam or equivalents

[ajs]

I am going to look for some black pond foam later today to encase the plant pots and dowels that I attach to my new dragon ledges.

I have never used this foam before, but have heard things about carving and such.

Is carving necessary, or is it purely for aesthetic purposes?

Does the foam look really bad without carving and painting etc.?

I'll have to have my cham in a secondary smaller container while I reorganize his cage with the ledges and add the foam and plants. I imagine this will take me a couple hours at least. Are there any lengthy steps to applying the foam?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lennoncham]

You don’t have to carve it but it will fade after a while from the uv light.

you will want to wear gloves while working with the foam. It takes forever to get off skin.

You will have to let the foam set overnight to expand, solidify and off gas.

 

[DeremensisBlue]

Here is a short guide to using the foam. It is just used as an aesthetic approach to hide some of the zip tie connections and plastic pots. You don't have to carve or paint it. It really is just a way to hide unnatural items with something that looks less unnatural. After years of working with the foam I have learned to not feel like you have to use the whole bottle. Sparse use, just enough, is best.

Watch out because it will stick to anything and nothing is more entertaining than accidentally getting some on your hand and then unwittingly wiping it on your face and clothes and tools and everything else. Unfortunately, the entertainment is 100% on the people watching you. You'll want to let it sit for a day to fully dry. The outside dries first so you have to give time for it to dry all the way through.

Anyway, here is the link that might be helpful:
https://dragonstrand.com/working-with-great-stuff-expandable-foam/

Bill

 

[jamest0o0]

Lol so true about how sticky it is. I have things that still have black foam stuck from 4 years ago.

 

[ajs]

Oof, might have to wait until I upgrade to a larger enclosure then. I dont have a suitable secondary enclosure that I would want my cham to spend the night in. And i imagine it wouldn't be a good idea to let the foam solidify with my cham still in there

 

[reddog]

Bill’s link is a thorough explanation. You can find plenty of videos on YouTube on covering it with silicone and substrate or painting it with drylok to make it look more natural.

 

[jamest0o0]

Do you have a shower your cham could stay in for a little?

 

[ajs]

Do you have a shower your cham could stay in for a little?

Yeah I could either put him in there or in a makeshift secondary enclosure for a relatively short time. But I dont have anything as of yet that I would feel comfortable having him in overnight or for a full 24 hours to allow the foam to solidify in his current cage

 

[JacksJill]

I don't carve the foam but I like the free form look and cover it with 100% silicone caulk in black and brown to hide the fading. It fades to a grey green color close to the UVB lights.

 

[absolutbill]

I made a blog about how to set up a Dragon Strand cage and I use the black pond foam. Hope this helps, and feel free to ask any questions!

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/blog/setting-up-a-large-clearside-dragonstrand-cage.40644/