using great stuff foam.

In my experience it will stick and hold well to both glass and screen. I did use plastic "light diffuser" on the screen build to give it some extra stability.
If you're planning on hanging or building in pots for larger heavier plants it would be a good idea to have the dragon ledges for a screen enclosure.
Like others have said...make sure you let it cure out fully before carving, and take all of the glossy surface off before trying to cover it with cocoa fiber(or other)
 

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In my experience it will stick and hold well to both glass and screen. I did use plastic "light diffuser" on the screen build to give it some extra stability.
If you're planning on hanging or building in pots for larger heavier plants it would be a good idea to have the dragon ledges for a screen enclosure.
Like others have said...make sure you let it cure out fully before carving, and take all of the glossy surface off before trying to cover it with cocoa fiber(or other)
yes that first photo is what i'm aiming for. I want better aesthetics and a way for live plants to overhang from the top.

Can you buy dragon ledges in the uk?
 
In my experience it will stick and hold well to both glass and screen. I did use plastic "light diffuser" on the screen build to give it some extra stability.
If you're planning on hanging or building in pots for larger heavier plants it would be a good idea to have the dragon ledges for a screen enclosure.
Like others have said...make sure you let it cure out fully before carving, and take all of the glossy surface off before trying to cover it with cocoa fiber(or other)
I really wouldn't want anything taht big... the biggest being a plant maybe a foot high. I have glass and screen cages. Also can you just shove sticks inside it and it will stick? If yes thats a big win.
 
I am not sure if dragonstrand ships to UK, but wouldn't hurt to ask. If not you may be able to come up with something similar made of wood.
Smaller sticks you could just poke in to it once its cured, and they would stay. For bigger things I foamed in a few pieces of grape vine, and used those as support for the horizontal branches
 
I am not sure if dragonstrand ships to UK, but wouldn't hurt to ask. If not you may be able to come up with something similar made of wood.
Smaller sticks you could just poke in to it once its cured, and they would stay. For bigger things I foamed in a few pieces of grape vine, and used those as support for the horizontal branches
A concern would be that it gets too heavy and falls. I don't think you can put dragon ledges on glass cages? If not do you know anything that would help support the foam on an exo terra cage?
 
ok how would you recommend cutting pot holes?
I wouldn't. I would secure the pots in-place, and spray the foam around them. I would also use a release agent on the outside of the pot, so it could more easily be removed from the foam for cutting or drilling drainage holes.

I'm a believer in non-permanence. IOW, I'd spray the foam on some kind of intermediate removable structure like the egg crate mentioned, or the back (rough side) of a sheet of fiber-board, luan plywood, etc. I say this for 2 reasons:
1. I've screwed things up in the past (and all that can go along with that).
2. Sometimes I just don't like the result, or after living with it awhile, I realize what I could have done better/differently, and want to change things up. I did this with my beardie's enclosure. It has a great slate backsplash, but that backsplash is actually attached to a sheet of fiberboard.
1596643857141.png

If I ever get tired of it, or want to go with something else, it's a simple matter of pulling a couple/three brads and pulling the whole background out and replacing it, without having to build a whole new enclosure (or replace the back). :)
 
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I wouldn't. I would secure the pots in-place, and spray the foam around them. I would also use a release agent on the outside of the pot, so it could more easily be removed from the foam for cutting or drilling drainage holes.
How would I secure the pots in place? The whole point of why i'm using the foam is to secure the plants to the side of the enclosure. And aesthetics and sticks of course
 
I think shipping Dragon Ledges to the UK might be prohibitive, but something could certainly be substituted with aluminium [sic] strapping and a few bolts or screws.
 
How would I secure the pots in place? The whole point of why i'm using the foam is to secure the plants to the side of the enclosure. And aesthetics and sticks of course
Any way I could. If using a false backboard, it should be easy enough to attach via wire or zip-ties.
If your enclosure is all glass (I'm doing several things at once here), I'd attach a frame of some kind (see prev. post) to the enclosure frame, and wire or attach the pots to that.
 
In my experience, it sticks fine to glass, but I've heard of it failing before. Some people silicone a support structure (like plastic eggcrate) to the glass first to offer more grip.

I...don't think I would use it directly on the mesh. I haven't seen it done, but I assume half of it would just expand through the other side of the mesh and possibly distort it? I'm sure it'd hold, though.

I havn't read through the whole thread, so this might have been answered, but I have used both Great Stuff on mesh screen and a "cheap knock off" on the screen -- the great stuff did *not* expand through the other side, it stayed perfectly on the mesh. The knock off, however, expanded right through the screen. Sucked -- almost warped my cage and I had to spend time carefully cutting it away.
 
I havn't read through the whole thread, so this might have been answered, but I have used both Great Stuff on mesh screen and a "cheap knock off" on the screen -- the great stuff did *not* expand through the other side, it stayed perfectly on the mesh. The knock off, however, expanded right through the screen. Sucked -- almost warped my cage and I had to spend time carefully cutting it away.
the great stuff brand is not available in the uk. Theres one called 'fix n fill' which is sort of the equivalent. Has anybody hreard of this? is it ok?
 
The Only time I've used it is on wood and it seemed to work really well, also the reusable cans aren't any different they are just like 3 dollars more. As for poking holes i just used a screwdriver and went through the drain holes in the pots themselves. I didn't carve mine because i liked the look and was running out of time but i imagine it wouldn't be that hard
 
I have it attached to my glass walls for a year now and has no signs of sliding down or peeling off of the glass.
 
I used great stuff pond and stone and it stuck just fine to mesh. It kind of sticks out the other side and you can just pluck it off.
I technically put cardboard inbetween a lot of the mesh and cardboard so I wouldn't waste as much foam sticking through the mesh.
It worked great! Just a lot of it. An exacto knife works well with it
 
the great stuff brand is not available in the uk. Theres one called 'fix n fill' which is sort of the equivalent. Has anybody hreard of this? is it ok?
In addition to different brands, there are different formulations for different apps, so I'm not sure if direct comparisons can be made.

Whatever brand(s) you do have available, I think the best you may be able to do is try to match the apps. To be sure, I would do a little testing with whatever you do get before using it on the actual enclosure. This will also give you a little practical experience working with it, and an idea what to expect. Worst case, you've blown a few £ on a can (or 3) for experimenting. Best case, you won't ruin the enclosure with the wrong stuff (for you).

Use adequate ventilation. If urethane foam is still urethane foam, one of the ingredients is an isocyanate, which can be somewhat nasty if not formulated or mixed correctly (before it gets to you). Once properly cured, there should be no hazard apart from your cham chowing down on the stuff.
 
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