Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi i have a panther and i want to build a bigger cage. i plan on making it 4'hx3'l and 20"w. i was wondering what type of wood i can use. i also wanted to know if i can paint it if so what type of pain or sealant i can use. thank you for your time.

As long as the wood isn't green you can use whatever you want except for pressure treated exterior lumber. The pressure treatments can leach pretty toxic stuff over time (chromium, arsenic, etc). You can seal the wood with heavy duty water based polyurethane or paint it with latex marketed as "child safe". You may have to re-seal the frame occasionally as some parts of it will be wet most of the time. Some spots will probably stain too. Even with sealing you will need to keep an eye out for mold or mildew. Some sealers that say they inhibit mildew may be toxic too as I know they aren't safe for aquariums.

I just asked a similar question a few weeks ago. Here was the link I was provided: http://www.chameleonnews.com/diycage.html

Although this is for a mulitple cage unit, you get the idea and I think this could be utilized for a single cage.

Also with respect to pressure treated wood, you will see that the article discuss and concludes that it is not dangerous. I also checked with Home Depot and did some research on its pressure treatements and they claim this stuff is fairly non-toxic, except when burned in a fire.

Hope this helps.

Justin