Some people have asked me how I built the rear wall of my new terrarium. It's easy to find lots and lots of German websites that describe how to build such a wall (they are rather popular here because they look so good, are EXTREMELY cheap, durable, easy to make and "unique") but I haven't found an English website that has such a description.

I saw many pictures of enclosure where all 5 sides were only glass and I think dragons enjoy an enclosure where they can climb/hide/bask on their walls MUCH more (they have much more space to move around, and my dragons spend 90% of their day on the walls). That's why I thought I would write this article.

There are pictures to help you along the way if you can't follow what I'm saying.

List of materials

• Polystyrene/Styrofoam
• Paint Thinner/White Spirit
• PU Foam/Insulation in a can
• Silicone (which I personally don't recommend, as it takes a long time to dry) or something else to stick the polystyrene to your wall (I used a hot glue gun)
• Tile Adhesive (the same stuff you use to lay the tiles in your bedroom)

That's about all you need and, as I said, it's really cheap.

Directions

Take a brush and put some paint thinner (maybe diluted with water) onto the polystyrene. This is how you create your realistic rough surface and holes. Don't use too much thinner straight away, as the holes will probably end up bigger than you thought!

Stick the polystyrene onto the walls using whichever method suits you best. If your enclosure is made of wood or mesh, maybe you could use wire. I used a hot glue gun as silicone takes so long to dry.

You can also stick pieces up at angles to make shelves and ledges for the reptiles to bask on and hide under.

And here we use the "insulation in a can" to fill in the gaps between the pieces of foam.

Cover everything with the tile adhesive. For the first layer, put a bit more water into it to let it really settle into all the little nooks and crannies.

Let each layer dry for about 24 hours, making about 3-5 total layers. This will make your wall very hard and durable.

You can also put colours into the wall by adding different coloured sand, stones, pieces of wood, etc. in the final layer of the adhesive. If you don't put any additives into the tile adhesive, it will probably end up grey. You can always paint it afterwards though with a non-toxic paint, and allowing at least 48 hours for it to completely dry in a well ventilated area.

It's really easy and quick to make (except for the time the tile adhesive needs to dry) and I'm sure your dragons will enjoy it and love you for it!

Thank you Carina for allowing me to reproduce this article here on our site.