Securing bamboo horizontally.. any help?

[keeper_26]

Hi I'm looking to pimp one of my terrariums with some horizontal bamboo sticks for basking but I was wondering how to go about affixing them to the sides so they run the width of the enclosure or even diagonally from back to sides? I saw two posts here; one saying to use magnets but I don't have access to such magnets so that won't work and plus the wood's made of approximately 1/2" pieces of wood so the magnet wouldn't hold. Neither would the suction cup idea. So what I have in mind is maybe silicone? Would that hold? Or great stuff? Or would I be better off in your opinion(s) screwing some stainless steel screws through the bamboo via the sides of the cage? That may look kind of messy though as the bamboo would be wobbling around a lot when the gecko jumps on it and it would be noisy too. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

PS: I think I've seen someone use silicone or great stuff once before online with photos but I can't seem to find it anymore. Anybody know which one I'm talking about?

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

It all depends on what the enclosure is made of. Great stuff and silicone would probably both work just fine. But the obvious downside is that it can't be taken out easily. In some of my plastic enclosures, I use little stainless steel hooks screwed into the sides of the enclosure and then just zip tie (aka wire tie) the bamboo onto the hooks. You could also use adhesive backed Velcro. All of this stuff is easy to find at any local hardware store.

 

[acpart]

I find that the velcro ultimately comes loose in a tropical tank that gets misted often. Here are 2 ideas:
-what I do is to cut to size and then wedge the bamboo into the space. This wouldn't work so well for longer pieces
-someone once suggested making a "U" shape with silicon so that the bamboo ends could then sit in it and the bamboo could be removeable. I hope that's clear; it's kind of hard to explain.

Aliza

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

-someone once suggested making a "U" shape with silicon so that the bamboo ends could then sit in it and the bamboo could be removeable.

Along the same lines, they make some U shaped plastic things that are made to adhere to the wall in a closet and hold a pole. A pair of those would probably work well and should be available at any Home Depot type store.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

-someone once suggested making a "U" shape with silicon so that the bamboo ends could then sit in it and the bamboo could be removeable.

Along the same lines, they make some U shaped plastic things that are made to adhere to the wall in a closet and hold a pole. A pair of those would probably work well and should be available at any Home Depot type store.

 

[John_Woodward]

I have built many custom enclosures and my recent prototype that is made out of coroplast sheeting is very easy to drill or burn holes in. The 4 cages are actually one big tank with dividers and seperate doors so i just drilled a teeny hole through all of them and ran a coat hanger through the hole and hung the bamboo on the coat hanger wire.

 

[viktor]

For glass enclosures, like Exo terra or zoomed tanks, I wedge mine in place. Watch for bowing of the glass. If the glass bows, the bamboo is a bit too wide, and I file it down until it fits tight without bowing the glass.

For screen enclosures, I drill a hole through the bamboo on each end and run wire through, which I thread through the screen.

 

[keeper_26]

Cool thanks for the help. I ended up using screws as anchors where they would reach the 'knots' and then used some No More Nails and silicone to secure them further in place. It worked out really well. I'll post pics when the cage is together.