A cage for Spyro

So I wanted to make a cool cage for Spyro. Some place he could climb and explore. So I looked at faux rock walls and just about had a heart attack when I saw they could be upwards of $300!! So I took a tour of YouTube and found I could make one using styrofoam, silicone, cement, and some good old fashion elbow grease!  This is actually the second wall I created. The first wall ended up being too big, and when my assistant tried to "fix" it, he ended up cutting crooked and it got messed up. I was NOT happy! Sadly I didn't get any work in progress photos (unless they are buried on the computer someplace). But I started with plain sheets of styrofoam, Cameron drew out some rock shapes on them. I then cut them out and shaped them. Then I used silicone to adhere them to a larger piece of styrofoam. Then some I made them two layers deep. After waiting 24 hours I "painted" one layer of cement on and waited another 24 hours. Then the second layer I used a gloved hand to add some texture to the cement. Another 24 hours later and we added the third layer along with some cement coloring. Then another 24 hours to dry. After that I used some grey  mixed with a little white and terra cotta acrylic paint to add some depth between the rocks. Then I used a grey to tap along some of the texture to give it a more natural look. Then I covered it with at least 6 layers of watered down modge podge sprinkled with some fine aquarium sand. Below is a picture of half the rocks with the detailing:

 And below, the finished wall. If you look closely you can see Spyro climbing up the wall on the upper left of the picture. This is right after we put him in his new cage. The pictures don't do the colors justice. The wall is really I nice terra cotta color.

I still want to make him some ledges and caves to explore, but it just got too hot outside to work on it. Since this picture we also added a tile floor and a branch for him to climb (as well as food and water bowls). All in all it really took about a month or so to complete with working and such. But I am pretty happy with the result!

Lizards oh my!

So after our addition of the anoles, toads and frogs, we wanted a lizard that was more "hands on". We did some research and found that Bearded Dragons and Leopard Geckos are good lizard pets. So we started with one Beardie, and three Leos. And then it just grew to be more...
This is "Flame" Cheyenne's Beardie. He was just about 7 weeks old here:

 Next is my Beardie "Cynder" also about 7 weeks here:

 And this little guy was our first Beardie. He has such a great personality! And made us want more! This is "Spyro" Cameron's beardie. He is about 13 weeks here.

None of our Beardies have been sexed yet so we are just calling them all "him" for now. :-)

Strangely enough, we don't have any photos of our Leopard Geckos. At least not ones I took with my phone. They must be buried on my hard drive someplace. Oh and we do have a Tokay Geck. He is not friendly, I felt sorry for him at a Reptile Expo because he had him in such a small container and he was only $10. So we brought him home and then I did some research and found that Tokays like to bite. a lot. And hard. So I never have held him, and I dont put my hand close enough for him to get me. But he is pretty cool to look at. We named him "Frumpy". :-)

Gerbils!

A friend of mine Bonnie text me one day and wanted to know if we'd like Gerbils. Well of COURSE!  I never had gerbils but I had cared for them during my years at the pet store. The kids were so excited! This first photo is Cameron's gerbil Buddy. (I voted to name it Skippy but I got out voted.)

 And next is Cheyenne's gerbil Shadow.

 And below is the tunnel/box system we set up for them when we take them out of their cage to get some exercise.

Fire Belly Toads and Green Tree Frogs

This is a picture of one of our Fire bell toads. "She" had some dirt on her nose. This is either Ruby or Scarlet. They have a beautiful orange-red belly.

 And if you look on the back of the wall you'll see one of the Green Tree frogs. I believe that one is Maxx. I don't think my frog "Sticky" was in the cage when this photo was taken.

These little guys (or girls) have given us hours of delight! It is fun to just sit and watch them! And feeding time is always a little exciting!

Our Anoles

This first picture is of Rocco, Cheyenne's Brown Anole. Both brown and green anoles can change colors from green to dark brown. He shed the first night we brough him home.

 And this is what he looked like the next morning! Notice the ridge along his back? And he had spots on his sides and his tail curled too! I think he had an idenity crisis and thought he was a chameleon!

 And this little guy is Cameron's. He named him Zack "the Hulk" Thornton.  :-) Zack is a Green Anole.

A New Vivarium

It's no big secret that I LOVE animals! Over the years we've had many pets, cats, a dog, hamsters, bunnies, hermit crabs, lots of fish and a tadpole or two here and there. Right now we have 2 bunnies, and a cat and we recently added two gerbils. We also decided that we have grown kind of tired of fish. We will still have the goldfish in the pond, but we don't have the best of luck with fish in our house. When I was a kid I worked many years in a pet store, and I always thought the Anoles were really cool. Well a few months ago I decided to get a few new pets. First we got 2 anoles, and then we went back and got 2 firebelly toads, and a green tree frog. A few days later, while at the store to get crickets, I decided to buy the last tree frog the store had. (He looked lonely) Originally we started out with a 10 gallon tank, and now they are all happily living in a 29 gallon tank complete with a water side and filter and the land side has real plants and soil and a few worms in the soil for aeration. Above are pictures of the vivarium. Although I since removed the spaghum moss and replaced it with coco fiber. And I added some Pothos to hopefully add some vines in the background. In the bottom picture you can see one of the firebelly toads on top of the filter, and some rosey red minnows in the water.  Pictures to follow of some of the other animals in the tank.

>>>Now before someone says that these species SHOULD not be mixed, please note that I have done extensive research on all three species and if there is care taken they CAN be housed together. Thank you for your concerns.

Crafting time

It's that time of year again! I am busy creating for my next 3 craft shows which are coming up! I have shows the first 3 weekends in November. I will have some new items this year and some oldies but goodies in more styles and colors.  Some of the items I have been working on are:

 Post it note keychains featuring some retired Stampin' Up Designer Series Papers.

Key Fob wristletss which seem to be all the craze!

 and mini clipboards made from coasters!

I have so much more already created, but for the sake of being able to get around my craft room, I packed them up so they are ready to go.  I had my first show in September, but with a bunch of activities going on in town, including a Fireman's Parade, and hospital patients being transported from a local hospital that is closed now, to the new hospital they just built, the traffic was horrible!!! So there really weren't a lot of shoppers.

Well back to crafting! Hope to have more to show you soon!