Ideas for forest themed viv

Hello, all! As some of you may already know, my boyfriend has recently decided that he would like to get a corn snake. Yay! As it turns out, he has some very specific ideas about the kind of corn snake he wants, one of them being that he wants a young snake. This means, he may have to wait for new hatchlings to arrive. I don't want him to get discouraged, as it took me a long time to get him interested in snakes, so I thought it would be a good idea to focus, for now, on creating his ideal viv. I have ordered up all the required stuff, like uth, thermostat, etc. So now we can focus on the fun part, decorating! I asked him what he had it mind, he says he wants to make it feel like a beautiful Wisconsin forest. I love it! What a sweet idea. I have been looking online to try to find decorations, but I keep wondering if we could do better than what I'm finding. Mostly, it's the trees I can't figure out. You can't have a forest with out trees! I use a peice of driftwood with plastic vines in my viv, when it's a 10 gallon tank for babies, it would be hard to fit more than one in there. I can find palm trees, or desert trees, made for pets, but none that look foresty. I have even been looking at fairy garden accessories, and plastic bonsai trees, but it's like they are all way too big, or way too little. I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on where to find better sizes, or maybe making some with out spending too much money.
Another thing I was thinking, is that maybe I should let him use my leftover jungle mix substrate I bought for another pet. It would look more forest like than the aspen I use, but are there any issues with using it for corns? I wouldn't think so, but I thought I'd ask, just in case.
Any ideas to help me help him create a super cool forest viv would be greatly appreciated. I understand how frustrating it can be to get excited about something, and then realize you have to wait. I am really excited that he is taking such an interest in something I really love, and I want to make it as fun and exciting as possible. It's always great to share the things you love, with the people you love. Plus, I love creative decorating for all my pets. I am always building something. Thanks so much for your help everyone! You were all right. One snake just wasn't enough. Lol

Oak leaves suggest a forest, and they are pretty sturdy. you can buy them if you don't have access to any nice ones under the snow.

I use a lot of large sections of bark in my vivs. This practice is controversial, but the bark comes off fire wood that has been out under the sun for about three years. I haven't had any problems with it. You can buy some moss slurry, and grow moss on bark and branches. Requires daily misting, but not a big deal if you already tend to your snakes frequently anyway.

I like faux rock ledges and planters in foam (safe and light weight) from Magnaturals. They attach with very strong magnets (Careful, or they will SLAM onto the glass). Pricey, but I think they look nice, and I'm not going to make them on my own in the forseeable future. Not hard to do, however.

The planter ledges accept a 3" (4"??) pot - you could add a live or plastic fern. Actually plastic/silk plants can be a better choice if you want decor specific to a mid-western forest. I can't think of any viv suitable/snake sturdy live plants (except moss) that would be found in a Mid-western forest/prairie woodland.

You can also get a nice rock background that suggests a forest outcropping. The aquarium people actually seem to have the best ones for easy install - at least those are my favs in the photos. I like the ones that are flexible, and 3-D. Again, haven't used one myself, just seen videos with them. You can go all out with "Great Stuff" foam, and make a really naturalistic background. Check out the dart frog vivs for that. These are lovely, but more of a project than I've ever wanted to get into.

These are all great ideas. I do love those magnetic ledges! I don't like anything that is too permenant in the glass aquariums, because as animals grow, they move, and we alway end up with new and pets, and also we just enjoy changing things up once in a while. I guess I was thinking more of a miniaturized forest, but I didn't really ask him if that's what he had in mind. The nice thing about having time, is that we can do a lot of planning before we decide. I know that when I move my snake into the big viv, I want to get one of those planter ledges and get him a live plant of two. My theme is just whatever I think is cool, and that my snake would enjoy.

Instead of a vertical forest, which has all kinds of problems with scale and space in a small enclosure, go with a hollow fallen log with some ferns and shelf fungi. Bark or cork background, vines, a fake mushroom, twigs, leaf litter. It'll look nice.

Oh, yes. I have already found a few really cute log hides with grass, mushrooms, moss, and all kinds of cool looking stuff, that I'm going to let him choose from. I just thought that a few smallish vertical trees might be fun too. Plus, I just wanted to offer up a lot of choices when I present all these ideas to my bf. I even thought that perhaps a little project to do together, like creating some of our own tree decorations might be fun.
On the plus side, we may actually be welcoming our new addition sooner than expected! We just got an email about a sweet little female bloodred, and we are now just waiting to hear back about payment options, and shipping dates! It's a good thing we already have the important stuff covered. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

There is a bark that works great and that is cork. It's also pretty lightweight, yet insulating. Cork rounds look like fallen logs. I have cork in both of my vivs. My snakes love it.

I actually just found a website with some cool cork bark pieces, and my bf had asked me earlier about making a mini retention wall to create a second level, so I suggested to him that he could do it with the cork bark. My idea was to section off a corner, and he could even put a toilet paper roll down, and then rest the cork bark on top of the outer edge of it, and build up the substrate in a corner behind it. That way, it would create both a tunnel/hide, and a small upper level in one corner. And the cork bark does look pretty cool. I was even thinking we could get some tiny fairy garden mushrooms, and we could use a hot glue gun to put a few along the edge of the cork bark. (Hot glue is reptile safe, right?) I'm getting a lot of cute ideas for my own new viv as I do all this research.

Actually, you can make almost anything you can imagine. It's cheaper than buying ready-made stuff, and you're not stuck with just whatever you find.

http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/reptile-terrarium.html

Your only limit is how much time you want to invest and how much room you have. Some tips, however: 1. Make sure you have access to every nook and cranny. You don't want to have to disassemble the entire enclosure every time you want to remove the snake. 2. Keep it simple to facilitate cleaning. 3. Don't create unexpected hiding places where your animal can disappear and leave you searching the house for days only to have them magically appear back in their enclosure again.

I made an Avatar themed cage that didn't follow any of the above advice. That's how I learned...

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141218

Jim

AFAIK hot glue is safe. It has been recommended here more than once and I've used it in my vivs.

Thanks everyone. I couldn't get pictures of the avatar themed viv to load because my phone is low on data, but I should be able to check it out tomorrow. It sounds amazing! I have been searching around, and I think I have some good ideas of things he can use. I have some really cool wood that I originally bought for my bunny to chew, but she doesn't like all of it, so I think some of those pieces would be greal. I do have a hot glue gun, so I can get some of that hot glue that's safe, and we can make whatever my boyfriend wants. I am super excited to decorate or big viv for Nightmare, as well, and I'm trying to decide how I want to do his decorations now that I will have so much room to work with. I always like the jungle/rain forest look, but I want it to be somewhat unique as well. We are having fun with it. My boyfriend did end up buying that little bloodred girl, so it won't be too long now, before we get to see our ideas in action. I hope she loves her new home.

Oh, wow! I just got the pictures of those display vivs. They are absolutely stunning! I love the colors. That is exactly the type of enclosure I would like to create.
We did end up buying the little bloodred, and after discussing with my boyfriend, we decided that we aren't going to get really elaborate with her first viv, which is a 10 gallon. Instead, we are going to first go ahead and fix up one of the 55 gallons for Nightmare. I know most people stick with a 40 gallon, but we already had two 55 gallons, and I don't think the extra room will hurt. I have been considering trying to create my own foam insert. I like the ones that only come up about half way, so you can still use the magnetic rock ledges and planters if you wanted to. I am still trying to keep in mind the difficulty level of cleaning as well, so I am trying to make sure everything could either be easily removed, and washed, or wiped down easily without needing to be removed. We actually just bought a shop vac, so when we do a complete substrate change, we can remove the decorations, and just suck it out. We also have a really cool LED light strip for the 55 gallon, that have some really cool functions, like sunset, cloud cover, and moonlight. I think that would be nice, so we could have a bit of lighting, without making it too bright for a corn snake. Currently, we don't use any lighting, and there are times I wish we at least had the option of turning on a light, to help see where Nightmare is hiding out. I love the idea of using some pretty flowers, too. I am definitely thinking a trip to Hobby Lobby is in order!

Sounds like it is going to be very pretty. I like the idea of a background that goes up only half way, with magnetic ledges above that.

I've noticed that most vivs are lit flat - that is, all areas have the same level of lighting from the top. I only light one end, which gives a sun/shade effect, and the corn's "basking" ledge under the radient heat panel, is in the shady part, which I think he prefers. Depending on where you space plants with high light requirements, you might want to consider more of a dappled, spot lit effect. Some of those strip LED's are flexible, and can be coiled. (the King of DIY used coiled LED's to good effect in one of his aquarium videos, for VERY bright light.)

Our light is not flexible. It's just a long strip. It will work to light only the front, or only back, though. It was originally used for a freshwater planted aquarium, but just for display effect, as it isn't bright enough for underwater plants. We have a second light, that it much brighter, but I don't think it would be good for a corn snake. I'm still not sure about using live plants. I have been checking out some websites, like Josh's Frogs, and thinking about it, but it may be easier to stick with silk, or plastic. If I do use any live plants, I would just use low light plants. I don't have the best track record with plants, to be honest. I can take care of animals, and kids, but somehow, I always manage to mess up house plants! I even killed a cactus once. I swear, I followed the care instructions! Lol

An artificial arrangement can still be attractive. You can always add in a pot of something live later, if you want. Basic solid green potos, is pretty much bomb proof and ok with lower light, just don't keep the roots soggy.

I kill a lot of plants. Failures abound in the garden, the greenhouse, and in the house vivs. I focus on what does well for me, but am always adding new stuff to see what else will work. That's plants for you. As long as the critters remain in good shape, I don't worry about it.

Wow. Have you guys seen the website neherp? They have some really cool stuff. I love all the wood choices! And the neat little seed pods! I am loving that spray foam, too. I could probably do a lot with that stuff! Idk how the new girl will be, but Nightmare loves climbing. His hammock is one of his favorite spots, and I noticed that he doesn't burrow into his substrate as much whe he has high places to lounge. I like that because he feels safe, but he's still easy to see, and actually, that's the easiest place to get him out from, because he's always relaxed when he's up there. Oh, I am really thinking I could make him a place he would LOVE, with lots of fun ledges for relaxing. Our snakes are going to be spoiled.

I wouldn't bother with live plants. The snakes won't care one way or the other, there is really no benefit, and they are likely to just smash them aside. My blue Baron's racer smashes his plastic plants in the Avatar cage. Most of the colorful ones were intended for aquariums, so they aren't as sturdy as ones meant to support themselves. Regular silk or plastic ones should do just fine and look better longer, with no light requirements. Plus, you don't have to worry about the snake nosing around in the dirt or excess humidity or water leaking all over. What you see at NEHerps is really intended for dart frog vivariums, which I hope to get into sometime this year, but I will only use fake plants in my snake vivs.

If I did do any live plants, it would only be one or two in pots, that I could easily remove. I'm still not sure if I want any live plants at all, but I haven't completely ruled it out. The things I liked on that neherp site, were the cool woods, and that foam you can use to make a background. According to their website, there is a kind that is for larger heavier animals, but I'm sure it has to do with the way you use it as well. Those seed pods looked like they could make a cute little hide for a baby corn. I got lucky today, and when I stopped in at Hobby Lobby, all the floral stuff was 50% off, so I got some pretty cool stuff to work with from there. I found some cool looking vines, and twisty branches, and grasses, and cool looking leaves, and only spent $15.00. Not bad.