Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So, I built this rack out of mdf last year, I think, and painted it with some interior acrylic paint after a good coat of primer. I am not liking this paint at all as it is tacky and I worry about it's clean(ability). I decided I wanted to either totally strip it and use the bare mdf or repaint it with some less sticky paint. I have spent an agonizing several hours trying to get the paint off of this thing, and just wonder if there is any type of paint I could use to cover this thing and have a nice hard coat.

Here's a photo of it, and I know it's not pretty work, but it works. I have since built two other racks out of melamine, which is much easier to work with, imo.

Hello all, has anybody else made racks out of mdf, and do you paint them or not? I am trying to salvage this one, but am thinking I will just build a new one to replace it.

I have read some old posts on paint for cages and have seen interior acrylic for bathrooms (high humidity) reccomended which is what I used on this rack. This paint has remained somewhat sticky even after a year, and I wonder if there is some kind of sealer or coating I could put on it that would be safe for snakes. Thanks... -Toby

Since the paint is still tacky after all this time I'm very skeptical about anything sticking to it. I think scrapping the rack and starting over is the way to go.

I believe I have heard that MDF is a bit fussy about what paints work best but that's all the detail I remember. Regardless, I don't think it has anything to do with whatever went wrong with your project.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

Thanks for your input, Chris. I don't know what went wrong, either, but something did. I primed it and put a couple heavy coats of paint on it. It dried, but has always been a little tacky and gives some resistance when pulling the tubs, etc. I live in a very humid area and maybe that had something to do with it, or not. You helped me talk myself into building the next one (haha). Bare melamine or MDF from now on, no more painting for me!