# Painting Watson's Hut?



## Caffesaurus (Jan 15, 2012)

Soooooooooooo I bought Watson an igloo, but I (personally) think that it's not doing much more than a little shade, and he snoozes under his wheel for that :roll: So, while painting the windows at my local store, I noticed that the light coming through the windows was heavily blocked by the paint! So I wanted to know if it was at all safe to use tempura paints on the outside of the igloo? Is it toxic or anything? 

By the by, at some point I'l put up a sketch of what it'll look like... I want to make it look like a cottage


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I would suggest getting an igloo cover from our member Nikki. She has a thread in the for sale section. She does a wonderful job with her hedgie accessories and is very reasonably priced.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Awww thanks Hannah, that's so kind of you to say


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

You're welcome!  

Caffesaurus, if you do decide to go with paint, be extremely careful. Make sure to get non-toxic paints. If Watson seems interested in licking the paint even a little bit, I would throw it out and get a new igloo. 

Also, if he doesn't seem interested in sleeping in the igloo, he may just not like the igloo itself. Do you have a snuggle bag in his cage ? 4" PVC pipe? There are lots of options of hideaways that don't allow light in.


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## Caffesaurus (Jan 15, 2012)

Yeah, I thought of the non-toxic part, and I would use tempera paints - it's pretty much what preschoolers use for finger painting :lol:

I will take special precautions to not get ANY inside the igloo (in case of any trace fumes).

Also, this - http://www.ehow.com/how_5241036_make-own-petsafe-paint.html


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

That stuff flakes like mad... you'd have to use a primer on the plastic to get it to stick.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I don't think it will work very well and especially not with tempura paints. They are just water based paints and would stick about as well as water. :lol: 

As Christemo mentioned, you will need to use a primer and it will most likely need to be an oil based primer that is designed for use on plastic. Tempura paints are hedgie safe as I've used them to mark babies, but if your hedgie decides he likes the taste, he could lick too much of it off that wouldn't be good for him.


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## Caffesaurus (Jan 15, 2012)

Another way to prime it would be to sand down the igloo with a very fine grit sandpaper until all the sine is gone and paint one part at a time, keeping that part flat.


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