| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| BlueDragon |
Posted - 30/08/2012 : 09:54:29
So I went up the shops yesterday and found these in Boyes for a quid each:
(sorry about that mess : / )
And I thought to myself, I know what they'd be good for, baby Mantis houses! So I bought the three that they had. They had different sizes, and these were the smallest ones.
My idea is the have them stood up on their sides so that they're made taller and to somehow attach voil to the top for ventilation and also for them to hang on to. Not sure how to go about cutting the hole though. I don't have a soldering iron and my Dremel doesn't work so can't just cut it like that either. I think I'll have to heat cut it with a hot craft knife that I've heated up with my heat gun. That thing get's blazing hot so it should work.
Then I'm not sure how to attach the voil either. I know I could just stick it down with duck tape but that's ugly. Voil is funny 'cause it never seems to want to stick to anything. I thought of using Bostic, which is my superglue of choice, but it might end up eating the plastic. I have a gluegun, but that would also be ugly.
Any ideas?
As you can tell I don't like things looking ugly. I think if your going to make something you should make it look good, right? Not that any Mantises (Mantisi?) would care, it's just 'cause I'm a fussy B***er : )
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| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| BlueDragon |
Posted - 03/09/2012 : 09:02:29
Thanks : )
Still not sure what species to go for. I've narrowed it down to three. |
| chrisc |
Posted - 02/09/2012 : 13:44:16
looks good sure they will love it with the branches/plants in there.
no idea what plants are safe for them to be honest but look forward to seeing them in their tubs.
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| BlueDragon |
Posted - 01/09/2012 : 10:48:34
OK, stage two.
Yesterday I did up the tubs. So here they are pretty much finished...
* So firstly I needed to make holes in the tops for the voil to be. I had to use a hot craft knife which I used a tealight for. It took a while to do that way (I really should get a soldering iron). I melted a rectangle away.
* I then used the tip of the knife to make a few tiny holes just for extra ventilation.
* I made two bigger holes on the opposite sides of the tubs (one at the top and one at the bottom) to be able to shove sticks or stems into when decorating.
* I sanded all the edges to make sure there were no sharp bits.
* I then used the left over plastic rectangles to make smaller long peices. I figured that I could use them to stick at the front on the floor of the tubs so that any substrate would be kept in place.
I melted the edges over the tealight flame to smooth them.
* I took these bits outside and spray painted them green. Don't worry, I used Plasti-kote. Plasti-kote is the same stuff they use to coat the bars on Animal cages. It's non-toxic for that reason and that's what I use it for normally.
I sprayed the bits on both sides to give them a solid green colour.
* I then took the tubs outside and did the same. Spraying from the top to give the back of the tubs a solid green colour. I then lightly sprayed the sides and tops to give a very light green colour that you can still see through.
I sprayed the tubs on the outside.
* Drying everything off with a heatgun I then stuck the long bits to the bottom of the tubs to make a sort of subsrate barrier. I used aqarium sealent for this 'cause it was easer to hold the barriers up with it while it all dried.
Plus I figured that it wouldn't rot with any damp substrate like other glues might after a while.
* Meanwhile I made the voil covers. I cut lenghths and then folded the sides to stop any fraying.
I used Bostic super glue to stick the sides down.
* I used Bostic again to stick the voil covers over the top holes.
I stuck the voil to the outside of the tubs.
* To finish I used parcel tape to go around the voil edges. Just to tidy it up a bit really.
I used parcel tape just 'cause it's brown and I thought it would match the green and not look as 'off' as, say, duck tape or some other tapes.
Took me three hours to finish all three.
And I think that's it. Hopfully you can see what I've done in the photos well enough.
I know they haven't exactly came out perfect. I think they're a mess really, but I tryed my best with what I had. I'm sure once they're all tarted up with a bit of plant etc then it won't look as bad : /
I'm planning on using real plants to decorate. I know people use fake ones, but I like real ones better and tend to use them whereever practical. I go out and find brambles for the Hissers. They like to eat the tiny new leaves, flowers and I'm sure they'll enjoy the berries when they're out. But it just makes their home look good too. And I just replace them when they wilt or go brown (the brambles that is, not the Hissers).
So I thought doing the same for the Mantids would work as well. Don't know weather to use brambles or some other plant yet.
I got two Elder trees in my garden I could use, it's just a shame they're toxic.
Anyways, did I do good? : )
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| BlueDragon |
Posted - 31/08/2012 : 11:14:15
I should imagine it's the same kind of plastic with these little tubs as RUBs then. I'll see if I can test it, 'cause I thought I'd test the Bostic as well.
Thanks : ) |
| carlb1981 |
Posted - 31/08/2012 : 10:06:57
Aquarium sealant should be fine on plastic I've used it to fill holes for probes on my Cornsnake rub |
| BlueDragon |
Posted - 31/08/2012 : 09:27:17
For those that maybe arn't as familiar with Mantids here's a video of a species called Idolomantis Diabolica. One of the largest. But here they're just little babies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EylQPM1itI4
And, no, they're not Aliens, they really are Mantids ; )
I swear. |
| BlueDragon |
Posted - 31/08/2012 : 09:22:18
I do have aquarium sealent, but I thought that ate plastic as well?
Yeah, I love Mantids. Always wanted them really but thought hey were hard to keep for some reason. Always thought they were hard to get to feed. I suppose people might have been keeping them wrong back then?
And I don't think your the only one Lotabob, from what I've been reading people seem to get one species and then move on to another, and another... and before long their houses are full of little boxes!
I came across someone (in this country, forget where) who kept her Mantids lose in the house. She reconed if you fed them enough then they wouldn't really go anywhere and it was safe to just let them find their own spot to live. She had one (I think it was a Giant African) who had taken up residence in her indoor hanging basket!
I'd never heard of that before so found it quite interesting. Turns out she's not the only one who does that either. |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 30/08/2012 : 19:34:16
Yey another Mantis person! I'm so taken by my Budwing's beauty and savagery that I want more. |
| carlb1981 |
Posted - 30/08/2012 : 11:51:45
You could use silicone to stick voil down |
| BlueDragon |
Posted - 30/08/2012 : 11:02:53
You not got a Boyes near you? I'm sure you could hunt something similar down, they're easy enough to find. Craft shops sell them but be warned that you may end up paying three times as much for the same thing. Aldi or Lidl often do storage boxes just like these and although I don't have one I'm sure places like £stretcher or Willkinsons would do them too.
These tub things are good 'cause you can open them quite carfully without it making too much noise or movement. You just pull the two 'top' clips away from the tub and you can tip the lid off. I know 'cause I was trying them out in the shop... people were probably wondering why I'm opening them up again in slow motion X ) |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 30/08/2012 : 10:54:42
I think the plural is mantids but I'm still not 100% sure lol.
That's going to look great, much better than my damn faun'thingy which created scale 8 earthquakes for the guy whenever I open the lid!
Can't wait to see him |
