Reptile & Amphibian Forums

HI, Iam using a 2 part epoxy (Glaze Coat) to seal the inside of my cages,it says this stuff is used for bar tops and such, indoor use only, how long should i wait to put animals in cages? It says it is fully cured in 72 hours, does this stuff off gas like paint? It has been about 2 weeks since i sealed the cages but i can still detect a odor. Thanks

Does the odor smell like the epoxy when you first mixed it? I don't remember how long it takes to cure completely but I'm pretty sure it was less than two weeks. Can you put a dent in the epoxy with your thumbnail?

It does not offgas like paint to my understanding.

The stuff can be fussy, however. Very important to mix the heck out of it and just deal with the extra bubbles that are created that way.

Another question is how warm is the area where you are allowing the cage to cure? And is it outdoors and exposed to UV light?
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

Chris, it smells like the epoxy itself. It has cured verry hard cannot dent it with fingernail, it is not tacky or sticky. I have the cages in a spare room temps in yhe lower 80s, they are indoors have not been outside in the sun.

I think you probably just need to wait a bit longer. My only concerns might be if one of your pours was not mixed very well and there are areas that are not curing completely. Or maybe that you poured a separate flood and final coat on each panel of the cage and there is just one area that is not curing properly.

How many pours did the cage take? Did you do a flood and finish coat for each area of the cage or just a single coat?

The last time I used this epoxy was for a non-reptile application and I poured it very thick. Now that I think about it there was an odor at least a week later. But it was cured well enough that I had no qualms about it being packaged in a suitcase full of clothes and transported on an airplane.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

I done 1 pour, mixed the whole 2 part mix, mixed verry well. Poured it on the floor of the cage then used a brush to do the sides and let it self level. I used this on a smsller cage about a year ago and i can still smell a faint ordor. I have reptiles in this cage and they seem to be doing ok, but i thought that once it has cured it would be ordorless.

That's strange. I just checked a project I did last September and it is absolutely odorless. And it was a very thick pour.

I used Envirotex Lite which I understand to be basically identical to Glaze Coat.

How well did the epoxy level out on the sides when brushed on? I have never brushed these products onto a vertical surface. Typically I pour the floor and let it dry. Then I place the cage on the other side and pour the opposite side. And so on. The typical cage ends up getting five separate pours. Three walls, the floor and the lower substrate dam.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

The sides level really well, i brush on thick and it levels out the excess going to the floor of the cage. What is your opinion on to use the cages or not? I have about $ 100 bucks tied up in them, 4 feet long by 2 foot wide by 20 inches tall, but my reptiles come first, i can build new cages.

If you ever get a chance take a picture of the sides. I do recall brushing the backside of a lower substrate dam now that I think about it. But I don't have that cage anymore and have not seen it. The friend I built it for has stated the epoxy has held up but I don't remember how smooth the back of that substrate dam turned out.

I would not use the cages right now. The odor is not toxic but one of the parts can cause minor skin allergies in humans until it is mixed and cured. I don't know what it could do to a reptile. Just give them some time to cure, although I am a bit worried that you have another cage still giving off an odor.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

My camera is down right now, when i get it fixed i will post pics. The sides turn out really smooth,. The outher cage that i was talking about was done last fall in october and i can still smell the odor. Is there any thing els i could use to get the same results without the odor? Thank You for your imput and advice. Atrox182

Is there any thing els i could use to get the same results without the odor?

I'm sorry to hear about your problems with this product. It is my understanding that all of these solvent-free epoxies are almost identical so I hope it's not just a product (Glaze Coat) issue.

To answer your question there is nothing really like these products. Other products offer similar protection but should not be used in an enclosed area like a reptile cage. Like I've said before, many durable clear coats should not even be used inside of a sock drawer much less a reptile cage.

The one group of products that intrigue me quite a bit are two-part waterborne polyurethanes. There are a couple of minor issues with them, however. One is that they can be very hard to buy in anything other than bulk and are not exactly an over the counter type of product. Another is that the hardeners by themselves tend need to be handled very carefully, even though the products are safe once cured and are very popular in areas where there are extreme VOC regulations (places like California and Sweden).

There are a couple of two-part floor finishes that can be found through flooring distributors but you still have to buy at least a gallon. These products are applied a lot thinner than your epoxy so a gallon goes a LONG ways. A bit more expensive than your epoxy per gallon but cheaper in the long run. Very durable stuff and very low solvent levels.

One last option is the prefinished plywood that comes with a UV cure epoxy coating. I have zero idea of how durable these products would be.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

There are two part waterborne epoxy paints. If you live on the west coast and have a Kelly Moore dealer you might see if Envira Poxy comes in clear. I have read that it does but when I asked the last time I was in Denver the guy behind the counter said he had never heard of clear.

The epoxies are a lot less fussy than the bar top epoxies.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)