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Q:
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Snakes and Shower Curtains?!
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Now that my title has your attention... I figure a fun question is in order to break out of the sad and depressing Q's and A's!
I have a large display enclosure who's walls are all glass. I find the wall of my house in view behind the pretty foliage and decorative setting to be a bit drab... I have come to realise that no simple petstore would carry a background that would fit this monstrosity! HOWEVER! Recently, on a hunt for a new shower curtain, I came across some various lovely, and sometimes quite hideous, jungle-print, tropical-pizzazed shower curtains. Do you think it might make an effective, relativly cheep backdrop for an enclosure? I also came to realise that the waterproof quallity of a curtain might work nicely stapled to the inside-backs of those enclosures who's backs are solid and blank! No one really likes a plain and boring background! ... Well, not most people.
I want to know YOUR thoughts on this! Do YOU like backdrops, or preffer things plain and simple? Do you think it might be tacky? Fabulous? What do you use for your backgrounds if you have them? What is the most creative back ground you have ever used or seen?
Pancakes or Waffles?
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 3:01:18 PM
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Sparkle
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Pancakes! And I like a naturalistic setup so long as it's not a pain in the arse to take care of. I tried live plants but they kept dying so I just have lots and lots of fake ones. Some of my tanks just have plain black construction-paper taped to the back, and others i've printed out forest scenes on the color printer and taped them back there. I'm sure the reptiles don't care but I like the look.
How large is this large display enclosure?
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 3:03:45 PM
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FyreFocks
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That depends on whats in the waffles and pancakes? If its chocolate chips then i could go either way. If they are plain, id rather have waffles. I dont like fruit or whipped cream on either. I do love syrup tho! Just not crappy syrup from canada. This might be the toughest question ive ever had to think about.
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Author Comment
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11/4/2009 3:06:58 PM
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Sydney
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Sparkle -- The enclosure in question is 5'Wx3.5'Tx3'D. It's a real pain to find a backdrop that's 5 feet long and 3.5 feet high, lol. I'd given up hope until I saw a lovely, realistic print of shower curtain with a jungle scene on it. :) I'm thinking it may be worth a shot! :) I also LOVE to use live plants, and I've kept them alive rather well, the only thing that irritates me is the pots, lol. I favor those that immitate the old Greek urns because the look a little better. :) I also like to mix fake and live. :) Yeay for seasonal sales at Michael's! XD
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Author Comment
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11/4/2009 3:07:37 PM
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Sydney
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Lol Fyre, I feel the same way! XD
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 3:38:09 PM
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Jeffriey
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If its not from Canada Nate it's not syrup...it's tree urine
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Author Comment
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11/4/2009 3:38:45 PM
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 3:48:44 PM
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Sparkle
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No no no.... If it's not from Canada, it's caramel-colored high fructose corn syrup. Yum!
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 3:54:05 PM
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FyreFocks
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You act like we dont grow maple trees in america. VT has awesome syrup!
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 4:22:59 PM
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Jeffriey
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The trees probably came from Canada.....
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 4:41:09 PM
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Jeffriey
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Oh I forgot about the question. If the enclosure is glass can you put the curtain on the outside of the cage. I know it won't be as nice. I'd just be cautious and check the materials used. Some plastics, paints and ink might emit toxins which may not necessarily be harmful to humans but no one will know the effects on herps especially when subjected to constant heat which the product was not tested for. Then there's flame retardancy too. Sorry I'm just paranoid when it comes to sticking things into cages. The shower curtain idea may be just fine. I've had snakes react oddly putting them into different brands of plastic tubs so these kinds of things makes me cautious sometimes
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Author Comment
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11/4/2009 4:42:58 PM
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Sydney
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Ahh, thank you for the tips! ;] I will have to research this and take these facts into consideration! Thanks a bunch, Jeffriey!
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 6:33:05 PM
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Skelegirl
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I tend to go for the cork bark tile backgrounds for my planted vivs...but getting one large enough to suit your enclosure would cost a fortune! The most creative background I've done is that I cut up an old Princess Mononoke poster of the forest spirits, and taped it to the back of my JCP's enclosure. :) The shower curtain idea could be cool...or you could try finding a cool oversized poster? I know they make wallpaper like wall-coverings that are one giant photograph of things like forests...that could be cool, depending on cost.
And oh yeah, waffles.
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Author Comment
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11/4/2009 6:44:49 PM
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Sydney
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I LOVE Princess Mononoke! :D I'm a huge Myazaki fan, as well as an all-around anime freak, hurr durr.
I actually found a way to do an imitation rock background like those used in the cube-like kits by ExoTerra, but it will cost me a chunk of money and a good bite of my time, lol.
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 6:45:50 PM
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Author Comment
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11/4/2009 6:46:54 PM
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Sydney
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Wow, thanks a ton, Sparkle! :D And what is a Wooly?!
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 7:03:11 PM
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Sparkle
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It's a sheepskin split roller with a divided tray, you paint with two colors at the same time. The effect looks like watercolor or rag-rolling depending on how many shades apart the 2 colors are, and how much you blend them. The more you roll, the more the colors blend. It was awesome and really easy. I got the kit at Menards for $20, came with an instructional DVD. I think if you go to my blogs, I have pictures of my reptile room posted there. I used two colors of green...
Ace Hardware has them too: http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1382335&cid=PPC:1884889
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Author Comment
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11/4/2009 7:04:20 PM
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Sydney
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Oh wow, that's so cool! :D Thanks so much for the tip!
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 8:57:38 PM
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abi21491
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I think both can be nice, depending on how it is done. If you were to put some fake or real plants in the enclosure it would be better, because the backdrop wouldn't be the only attraction in the cage.
Oh, waffles if I have to choose between those two... But French Toast is way better! Pancakes give me an atrocious headache and waffles are... Okay. lol.
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 8:58:11 PM
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abi21491
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I think both can be nice, depending on how it is done. If you were to put some fake or real plants in the enclosure it would be better, because the backdrop wouldn't be the only attraction in the cage.
Oh, waffles if I have to choose between those two... But French Toast is way better! Pancakes give me an atrocious headache and waffles are... Okay. lol.
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 8:58:45 PM
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abi21491
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Bah, double posting is such a drag. Stupid internet connection.
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Author Comment
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11/4/2009 8:59:09 PM
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 11:12:48 PM
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iashia
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waffles, expeciall the big ones from perkins with strawberries and whipcream.
as for the shower curtain, you might have to find out what was used to make them, like jeff said. im cautious about certin things as well when it come to human made things being used for herps. a few of the tings i did for backgrounds is with my big cage 4' x 2' x 2' i used (on the outside) foil christmas wrapping paper. it made an interesting reflection and made the cage seem like it was deeper, like it was truely in the forest because it was reflecting the plants that were in the cage.
another thing i would suggest is decorative wall paper for bathrooms. they would be pretty easdy to install, and can be cheap (idk on prices, i could look some up), they even come in waterproof for like in showers so the paper doesnt bubble, and im pretty sure that they are herp safe, but i would lok up materials there too. with the wall paper, you could get anything you wanted as a background. maybe a mountain scene, or a desert scene depending on the animal.
one of the fun things that ive done is take some of my artwork and (im going to spell this wrong) collage it together to make a backdrop.
i just though of this, show curtains get mildewy over a semi-short period of time if you dont keep it very clean, and that could cause a potential bacterial infection. i see the mildew grow in the bottoms where it normally stays wet in as short as a month from buying a brand new one.
try painting the cage! icrylic paint, if you get a good brand, is completly non toxic (make sure it says non toxic, dont listen to me, lol). you can paint your own forrest scene on it, or even go army and make random blotches of breen and brown and such, or go kindergarden and have splatters. the fun thing about acrylic paint is that it stays, but then youce you get it on (glass or plastic, it wont work for wood) and u dont want it anymore, peel it right off.
im dry on ideas, lol, but idk if the shower curtain would be safe because of the mildew. fantastic idea though!
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Accepted Answer
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11/5/2009 11:56:24 PM
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iatro
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hmm, if it's glass, couldn't you just hang/attach the shower curtain outside the tank? then you could switch it up now and then for fun... a little tacky, maybe, but definitely fab~
or get a mural, yeah, or just paint it, or...
hmm, you know, if you painted the outside, doing a faux stained glass design could be pretty awesome!
... generally I prefer waffles, because pancakes are usually overcooked and more like a bland, flat biscuit... I'd rather have the crunchy texture of a waffle. unless you mean like a pancake from Hash House, they are about a foot in diameter and like an inch thick and loaded with yummies like banana or blackberry & granola.
GOTTA have real syrup though! maple, birch or agave. not that nasty corn syrup filth! XD
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Author Comment
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11/6/2009 12:13:48 AM
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Sydney
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Excellent! I love the faux stained-glass idea! :D
Everyone's answers are awesome, and I love the thoughts and ideas you guys have given me! :D Now it's just a matter of deciding what to do! ;P
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