4/8/2024 0 Comments Fall burlap wedgesMake sure you shake or gently pull off as much loose material as you can. The burlap base provides a natural texture so it is OK if your coverage is not thick and some of the burlap peeks through. When dry, shake off the excess, turn the branch over and repeat until you have good coverage over all sides of the entire length of the branch. I wanted the adhesive to dry fully before working on the next side plus, I was laying on the layers of moss pretty thick. Brush or pour on good coating of adhesive over the top side of the burlap and press on clumps of the moss/coconut husk mix with your gloved hands. Work on one side of the branch at a time. Lay down a plastic drop cloth or some garbage bags beneath your branch. As you put more bends into the pipe, it will twist and give you a natural contour. I made two good bends that twisted and put a curve in the middle potion of the pipe to give it all a nice natural feel. How much of a bend or what kind of shape you want will be determined by what your needs are. Move the lamp away and push on the pipe with your foot to the desired angle and hold it there for about 2 minutes to let the pipe cool and harden in position. Careful not to melt the pipe! You just want to soften it enough to bend. You will feel when the pipe is soft enough as it will start to give. Put some pressure on the lower part of the pipe with your foot as it heats. The pipe will become soft enough to bend in about 3 minutes. Turn the pipe a quarter turn or so every minute. Hold the heat lamp right up to the spot you want to bend. I used my patio chair since it had spaces in the back to stick the pipe through and hold it in place. Wedge the pipe on an angle against the ground and something high enough so that you're not stooped over too far. I did this outdoors because I was unsure how much fumes there would be. Heat the PVC just enough to bend to the desired shape with the infrared heat lamp. A hand torch will work but be aware that burning PVC fumes can, well, kill you- so use the heat lamp and obey all safety precautions. The use of a heat lamp, such as is used to strip paint, is desired over the open flame of an acetylene torch. The branch needed to be big enough for a comfortable basking branch and allow a good grip since he is a weak climber.Ī word of caution about bending the PVC pipe. The branch I made was for my small-ish stunted iguana, who does not have very good use of his back legs. The benefit is that once the supplies are in hand, you are now equipped to make several branches for any size habitat. Plus, large pieces of suitable driftwood cost a lot of money! Here is an inexpensive method to create natural looking, tree-like branches that are more like the large vines or moss-covered limbs that tropical reptiles love.īuying the supplies for your branch will require a trip to the local big box stores or even your local hardware store, but if you have different kinds of reptiles, you most likely may have some of this stuff already, plus scrap PVC pipe can be gotten from plumber friends and the infrared stripper lamp borrowed from painter friends. The trouble is that you can't just find large tree limbs in the pet store and anything you pick up outside is not always reptile-safe even if you are able to have it treated and disinfected. These reptiles need naturalistic environments that mimic their natural rainforest habitat. Nothing is more disturbing than seeing large pythons, boas, or iguanas in tiny barren tanks with inappropriate things to hang or climb on. Large climbing reptiles require a suitable habitat.
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