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Cornsnake Canyon

Laurelhach

Laurelhach

New member
Thought I'd show off the background I made for my baby Salsa's adult tank; It won't be installed for some time but I certainly enjoyed working on it!

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Hot glued the foam sheets together, began carving with an electric bread knife

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All carved!

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Primed with Krylon craft foam primer — works well, as long as you don't hold the spray too close and get it overly thick, because it will still melt the foam slightly. I didn't care because it was weathering the rocks!

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Sprayed with acryclics, finished with ModgePodge

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You should make some to sell at the reptile shows, but it looks like a lot of work. Sure puts my paper towel rolls to shame. Salsa will love it.
 
Nice, I recently got the sample kit from hot wire fome factory to try and do some stuff for my tanks. I hop I can do as good a job as yours.
 
I made some similar backgrounds and took them to one of our local shows just to test the water. I sold two out of the four. If you had the time (I don't), the possibilities are endless: desert, tropical, mountain rocks, forest, etc. Make them in sizes to fit 10g, 20g, 40b, and the common sizes of Exoterra and ZooMed vivs. Incorporate hide caves, planting pockets for live vivs, even water/food dishes. With a hot wire foam cutter, you can make almost anything. If I only had more time... Nice job!
 
What's the sale price for something like this? I enjoyed it immensely and wouldn't be opposed to creating more (though I imagine shipping would be a pain, and clearly I am oblivious to the market)
 
The two I sold were small, made for a 10g aquarium. I think I got 25-30 each for them, but they were pretty simple. I think I was asking maybe 45 for the ones I made for 20g tanks. I didn't sell them, but it was a pretty crappy show, and many vendors didn't sell anything at all. I think with a good selection to offer, and a decent reptile show with buying customers, they should sell pretty decently. If you made them so you could disassemble any projections which added to the front to back dimension, you might be able to ship them in rather flat boxes. They don't weigh much. Maybe flat-rate boxes? Design them to fit those.
 
I wish I had access to shows! I may make some more just for fun (the possibilities are endless), but not as large - this one was a direct response to the lack of large viv backgrounds (this one is 48''x12''). Could also definitely make them narrower, this one is almost 9'' wide at the base. Post them somewhere, see if I could find a buyer? You're right, they're not heavy, so shipping may not be as bad as I originally thought.
 
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