i have considered everything from lining the entire inside with vinyl flooring or laminate, to sanding it all out and using urethane or or epoxy, or simply just painting it with a 100% acrylic, or a nice wallpaper under some type of clearcoat...

First let me say that I have always liked the looks of a nice furniture quality corner cage/terrarium so I'm really looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Second, I would probably not use any sort of oil-based urethane on this thing, either inside or out. In particular avoid spar urethanes. I think I mentioned earlier that Spar urethanes are formulated to be flexible and UV resistant, both of which make them less water resistant when used in an interior application.

Given how versatile you want this enclosure to be and that the back does not have panels of any sort I would probably use some sort of plastic liner or laminate. If the inside was all veneered plywood and you wanted to keep the wood grain look then I would suggest clear epoxy or clear polyurea (Repti-Shield).

I like the idea of using black PVCX or counter-top laminate. I really like the appearance of black PVCX and think it would contrast really well with plain (i.e. un-stained) oak. I think it has the perfect semi-matte finish. Some of the newer black laminates are also very nice as are some of the faux granite laminates.

What are you going to do with the outside? Personally I would not stain it and would probably use two coats of de-waxed shellac followed by two coats or more of waterborne polyurethane.

I would avoid oil-based polyurethanes for this project, even on the outside. If you want to use an oil-based project due to its durability and the slight amber color than I would use a non-polyurethane varnish.
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Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (Javan, mixed colors)

0.0.4 Rhynchophis boulengeri

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.1 Lampropeltis triangulum multistriata

0.0.1 Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus

0.0.2 Morelia viridis (Aru & Merauke locale types)

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

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