Saffron's Water Bowl

A water bowl I made to go into one of my snake vivs. This is a "Reduse, reuse, recycle" project of mine. Shop brought water bowls and hides look nice but let's face it, there is a limited range out there, they are mass produced and they are usually expensive. I have seen some ceramic hides and bowls that are made in the UK (ie: local for me) but by far the most common brands available (in my local shops anyway) are made out of plastic and manufactured in China then shipped half way round the world. Seems a bit excessive for something so simple. :-S

I built this bowl out of polystrene, painted two layers of grout followed by two layers of paint and finally two layers of waterproof varnish. I hate throwing anything away so have a box full of polystrene sheets and blocks, drives the men I know round the bend but if I threw it out it would just end up in a landfill somewhere and I knew they would come in handy one day. The grout and the varnish were used for some household project years ago and have been sitting in a cupboard gathering cobwebs for years and would have eventually been thrown out to make space for something else.
Oh and of course the varnish was thoroughly dried and tested before being put in the viv.

Anyway, here it is, a shiny, thrifty and unique water bowl for Saffron.

EDIT: Here is a step by step how to guide on creating your own sculptures- [link]