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Building Mt. Mungi ;)

Germ

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
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4,493
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North America
Yes, butttt ... NEVER use dyed sands. Natural sand only. The dyes will transfer & seriously stain your BD's feet, legs, tail & belly, anything that has frequent contact with it. The transferred dyes, I'm told, can also block the pores in the skin.

Do not use particle substrate of ANY kind, not even Strained Play Sand, until your BD has grown to 10+", nose to tip of tail. Prior to this a non particle substrate must be used to prevent\reduce impaction risks.
 

Bushmaster11B

Juvenile Dragon
Messages
543
Location
In the U.S. of A.
2 questions now:

1. Can you use alfalfa pellets for substrate? Not saying I would use it but I was just curious....

2. On Mount Munji, how did you get that fade look on the rock where it appears to be white or off white? It makes your structure have more depth and I like it! Is it Mod-Podge or did you use a paint and technique to achieve that look?
 

Mungi's Buddha

Bearded Dragon Veteran
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Mungi's World- Dayton,Ohio
No alfalfa pellets are not a good choice for substrate. The do pose a risk of ingestion and while alfalfa is organic it is dried. When it gets wet it swells quite a bit. It would be much like feeding dry pelleted food to your dragon which should never be done as it can contribute to dehydrating your dragon.
There are plenty of safe and viable choice already available to you for substrates such a slate or granite tiles, non-stick vinyl tiles, paper towels, non-stick shelf paper to name a few and when your dragon is of appropriate size then if you want a particulate substrate you can safely use Washed, Sifted Children's Playsand. I would recommend you sticking with tried and proven safe alternatives.
As to the structure I built in this thread..after I finished the grouting process it was painted with ordinary acrylic artist paint. I used probably 8-10 colours of varying shades of browns and tans as well as black and dark purple. Those were applied using spray bottles in a water colour technique. Once I had the natural stone look that I wanted the the final step of the painting was a dry brush technique using a very tiny amount of white and a very dry brush and then quickly flicking the brush over the rocks to highlite them.
Its an easy process and to give you a better idea just check out the bids on lizard-landscapes.com He demonstrates the dry brush technique on a lot of his builds.
I was trained as a watercolour artist so already knew how to do it but it is really nothing difficult.
Once you finish all of the painting then you will seal it with several coats of sealer. I use and recommend Matte Mod Podge and at least 6 coats if you are building for a dry climate enclosure.
Hope that helps!
 

Bushmaster11B

Juvenile Dragon
Messages
543
Location
In the U.S. of A.
Thanks again Mungi. I would have never used the alfalfa pellets, trust me! I knew someone that has the "safe" children's play sand and then put the pellets in there as a mix. She had an adult BD BTW. Unfortunately, she is an ugly person in life in general and my Brother broke mends with her. So sorry for her BD though. Ignorance can be a killer..........
 

TEAMGREEN5252

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
20
Location
Santa Clarita, CA
I know this is an older post and not sure if you are even still active here in the forum but i just had to say...AMAZING and thank you for the idea and inspiration i cant wait to start one similar for Boss!!!
 

raemlpz

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
27
Amazing work! I wish I could do something like that for my beardie. I think I'll give it a try, but it won't come out in any way like your masterpiece.
 

PatsyB

Super Moderator
Staff member
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Chicago
is it just me or can nobody else see the pictures on this thread anymore? shame ,its a great article


You can't see the pictures anymore because he's not a member or an moderator anymore and he took all his pictures with him.
 

Krystal0

Juvenile Dragon
Messages
142
8/14- Stage Three building Mt. Mungi;)

After having allowed the initial coat of grout to completely dry for 24 hours it was time to apply grout coat #2 to the mountain. The first coat was very liquid if you remember. The second coat was thicker..about the consistency of thick batter but still able to flow into crevices.
Note: When handling your piece after the first coat be careful because the grout is a little brittle. You may also see some cracks or even pieces that will flake off. Don't worry just handle with care and apply the thicker second coat.
Here are the pics of Mt. Mungi just after having 2nd coat of grout applied. In a couple of the pics you may see what appears to be white areas as if I missed those areas. Actually those are reflections of wet grout is all.
Also with the thicker grout you can start building up areas..It's hard to see in the pics but additional grout was added to the stair step edges which will aid Mungi in climbing;-)

stagethree1.jpg


stagethree2.jpg


stagethree3.jpg


stagethree4.jpg


More pics to come after this dries (24 hours) and I put on next coat! ;-)
ewww perment enclosure べかれふlI liek bearded dragons
 
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