# DIY Coco Hut



## charga (May 24, 2006)

This has got to be the craziest DIY I've done in this hobby so far. Give me more time I'll come up with more idiotic ideas to post.
I was out at a few pet stores and checked the prices of coco huts, 4.00. Uh ah, not when I can make one or two for 1.99 and have a bunch of coconut left over.........yum. OK here goes the hut.....
1. Local food store for a coconut of your choice.
2. Hole saw a hole about 1" to 1 1/4"
3. Empty out coconut milk.........drink up
4. Cut in half on table saw (with CAUTION) or use a hand saw. The blade is a fine tooth blade in a reversed direction for lexan and raised only 1/4 to 1/2 inch just to cut the outer shell only.. The hand saw is the safest.
5. I boiled the halves and it softened up the pulp soft enough to dig out in huge chunks.
6. Rinse and install.
HOME SWEET HOME..........































































Two huts for 1.99


----------



## Android1313 (Dec 15, 2006)

Very nice. 8) 

I`ve done that more times than I can remember. Except, It would seem, I`m a dummy, I never boiled it, and it`s a real pain in the arse to chip/peel out the coconut.
Does boiling make it that much easier?


----------



## charga (May 24, 2006)

Oh yeah, it softens up all the pulp and it comes out in huge chunks.


----------



## Marty71 (Nov 9, 2006)

Beats the hell out of my way. Have a couple beers, run a chop saw through a whole coconut, spray coconut milk everywhere, and then try and drill the halfs. Lesson learned, I'll try your way....


----------



## charga (May 24, 2006)

OK but keep the beers around.


----------



## jasonflooringman (Mar 17, 2007)

hey marty how many fingers are yo missing... I also never thought of boiling it to get pulp out will have to do that next time.. thanx


----------



## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Ya'll forgot to mention keeping the 'milk' and adding it to spiced rum. Good times. 

You can also cut a hole in the coconut, and leave it out in the yard for a month or two, then boil it - the pulp comes out alot easier.


----------



## Marty71 (Nov 9, 2006)

> hey marty how many fingers are yo missing...


None yet, but it's not for lack of trying....


----------



## charga (May 24, 2006)

zBrinks said:


> Ya'll forgot to mention keeping the 'milk' and adding it to spiced rum. Good times.
> 
> You can also cut a hole in the coconut, and leave it out in the yard for a month or two, then boil it - the pulp comes out alot easier.


OK now I know what I'll do with the saved coconut milk after I slice the coconut in half on the table saw. I'm starting to feel like Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway eating coconut.........I've had enough.......burb


----------



## Herpboyben (Mar 18, 2007)

thats how i get my coco huts cause i love coconuts.


----------



## pl259 (Feb 27, 2006)

> 4. Cut in half on table saw (with CAUTION)


Yea, be very careful when trying to cut a round object like a coconut. Things like table saws and band saws will tend to spin the object out of your hands when the blade hits the outside edge of the object. Been there, done that 

FYI, These days a lot of the coconuts you pickup at the store are already scored and will split in half when properly whacked.

EricG.NH


----------



## dustin_grey (Mar 8, 2006)

Charga, you are definitely already a GREAT resource to DendroBoard and its members. I do believe I'm going to pick up a coconut next time I go to the supermarket. I cannot bring myself to eat one though because last time I did, it was rotten and the milk tasted like alcohol. I havent been able to go near a coconut since.

Great DIY!


----------



## Nash (Jan 29, 2007)

This is by far the longest conversation I have ever seen about cocnuts. Kepp it up, Ill call Guiness.


----------



## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Ha, try searching for the cocohut in the microwave thread. It has pics, and is much longer than this!


----------



## charga (May 24, 2006)

zBrinks said:


> Ha, try searching for the cocohut in the microwave thread. It has pics, and is much longer than this!


Look at the date the thread was posted, 08 Apr 2005 for the nuked nut and let's see what the total is on this thread by 08 Apr 2009......Ha
And all I wanted was a nice little honeymoon suite for a pair of frogs.....yikes


----------



## forestexotics (Nov 14, 2006)

Instead of boiling the halves try putting in oven for like 5 minutes on like 350. The meat comes out in one piece. No chiseling away at the meat for over an hour for me. :wink:


----------



## Jayson745 (Dec 13, 2006)

Dont forget about the coconuts if you put them in the oven 

I just did and they both split, after about 20 minutes. :x


----------



## charga (May 24, 2006)

Bummer, do the frogs get to live in a split level hut.............


----------



## Jayson745 (Dec 13, 2006)

hehehe, its not to bad, so I will probably still use them. One half just has a little crack vertically from the door. The other one goes circular around the roof. They aren't too bad though, you can barely see light through them. 

I think they turned out really good besides the cracks though. Being a first time coco hut maker, I think they look pretty good.


----------



## Nash (Jan 29, 2007)

charga said:


> zBrinks said:
> 
> 
> > Ha, try searching for the cocohut in the microwave thread. It has pics, and is much longer than this!
> ...


Just keeping the dream alive.


----------



## RRRavelo (Nov 21, 2007)

Hey guys,
The coco hut I have from the store has a good sized hole drilled in the top. Should I drill this out after cutting it in half or before. After I think.

Is the hole for ventilation or what? Is it not needed or did we forget this step?

Cool post, I'm getting a "lovely bunch of coconuts..." for sure.
Anybody old enough to remember Monty Python?


----------



## charga (May 24, 2006)

Not sure why the hole is on top. Is the coco hut exclusively for frogs? Drill the hole then cut it in half even if you use a hand saw. Will be tough to hold still cutting by hand or a dremel does some nice work of it.


----------



## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Were the coconuts carried by an African swallow?


----------



## zaroba (Apr 8, 2006)

thats pretty neat.

its surprising how many companies will sell things that people could cheaply and simply make by themselves.


----------



## Marty71 (Nov 9, 2006)

zBrinks said:


> Were the coconuts carried by an African swallow?


Nicely done...


----------



## AlexF (Sep 26, 2007)

I did the coconut thing from collection to hut. 

First I went to an isolated beach and found several coconuts that had been saling in the ocan for some time. The fibers were almost gone or fluffy so it was very easy taking them off. The shell was usually empty by the time I got to the coconut, so no stoving or wating.

I cut the coconuts with a bandsaw and then tried several things. I first tried using round cutters in the Drill press but it didn't work very well, then cut straight cuts on the bandsaw and finished breaking the remaining part. Didn't turn out very well.

At last I got the dremel out and used a bit that allows side cutting and the entrances turned out perfectly. If anyone has to do the holes and has a dremel, that's all they need for a perfect job.

I just washed the huts in water for a day and they are in with the frogs.


----------



## ian (Dec 25, 2006)

Were they African or European swallows? 

If only the local stores had coconuts right now. That is a great way to make cocohuts.


----------



## Derek Benson (Feb 19, 2004)

Wouldn't the holes in the top of the huts just be the "monkey face" that have been knocked through?


----------



## FrogOly (Oct 5, 2007)

> Were they African or European swallows?


unladen?


----------



## RRRavelo (Nov 21, 2007)

You know now that I look at the hut more closely (I just removed it from a viv.) It looks like it _is_ the natural hole that has been punched through as there are no drill marks and the hole is more eliptical.
It looked rounder from outside the viv....hmm. 

Lots of Phython fans out there. 

*Look out for cows falling from the skies!*


----------



## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

AlexF said:


> I did the coconut thing from collection to hut.
> 
> First I went to an isolated beach and found several coconuts that had been saling in the ocan for some time. .


......Grrrrrrr....


----------



## scream-aim-fire (Mar 1, 2008)

think ill be making some this weekend.


----------



## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

Same. Now I'm just crossing my fingers that they have them in stock at the grocery store.


----------



## psychemjr (Jan 6, 2008)

For you coconut loving people. The meat is so much better from a green coconut and so is the milk. Then there is the other route. When I was a boy and we went to the beach we would go looking for a coconut that had just started to sprout leaves. Bt that time the juice and meat had turned into a spongy delicious treat. We called it coconut bread. I wish I could go get some but I am long way from the Carribbean. In fact the weather here in MI is calling for another snow storm tonight. Oh just another piece of usless info. The very center on a coconut tree is edible as well but only about 3 ft from the stump. I wish I could go run around the jungle chasing iguanas and scaring parrots like I use to.


----------



## kingfisherfleshy (Mar 17, 2012)

Cool idea for a hole drill...will be picking up an appropriately sized one tomorrow. Anyone else have tips for eating them? Seems like we always have coconuts of lousy quality in the supermarket. Also will these be big enough for tincs? I was looking at some coconuts and it just felt a lil small. Thanks


----------



## Steverd (Sep 4, 2011)

This is exactly what I was looking for. 
ALTHOUGH I do not have a table saw or vise, hhmmmm
Time to think of alternatives.

Steve


----------



## tinkgirl77 (Dec 30, 2012)

Exactly what I needed! Thanks!


----------



## tubbee (Aug 1, 2012)

I just put the coconut halves in the freezer for an hour or so, bang them on the counter and the meat comes out in 1 piece...


----------



## Broseph (Dec 5, 2011)

I like to check on the coconut every couple years over the course of about 7 years, then resurrect it.


----------



## gonzalez78 (May 27, 2014)

I also did this. I went to a local asian market and found a giant coconut I kid you not but it was about the size of a cantaloupe. Got home and punched in the hole (FYI the 3 holes are where they connect to the plant that is also why they're soft) then driller another hole in the bottom and poured myself a glass, and then some. To cut in half I used a Dremel and a cutting blade then for the door opening I used the sanding tube type adapter and just sanded it down to how big I wanted it.


----------



## chaka (Jan 13, 2014)

gonzalez78 said:


> I also did this. I went to a local asian market and found a giant coconut I kid you not but it was about the size of a cantaloupe. Got home and punched in the hole (FYI the 3 holes are where they connect to the plant that is also why they're soft) then driller another hole in the bottom and poured myself a glass, and then some. To cut in half I used a Dremel and a cutting blade then for the door opening I used the sanding tube type adapter and just sanded it down to how big I wanted it.


Ummmmm, that's awesome! I always wanted a giant coconut hut for my snakes!!!!


----------



## SoloSK71 (Dec 25, 2018)

Currently coco huts are going for $7.99 each here and a whole coconut (organic even) is on sale for $2.49. Since I want to use a couple of them split into quarters on the side of the tank for planters this seems a way better deal!

Solo


----------

