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I have several Boaphile cages, Condos and Coupes, and all of the acrylic doors have developed star faractures around the bottom hinge bolts. I called and was told I damaged the doors by using Virosan to clean them causing a chemical reaction. Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks,

E

Something about that response doesn't sound right. I do not own any Boaphiles at this time, but if cleaning them with a very popular disinfectant causes a negative reaction, I never want to own them.

I am more inclined to think they are stress fractures which began when the material was drilled and just worsened over time. I do not know why Jeff would say it was caused by a chemical reaction (assuming that is who told you this). That seems a bit absurd to me.

Bart

I would have to agree with Bart. It seems fishy to say that a disinfectant would react with the plastic of the door. If it reacted badly enough to cause cracks why didn't it cause yellowing, cracking, or crazing of the surface - all effects that one would expect from an adverse chemical reaction. More likely than not it's because the bolts on the hardware were over tightened. What a lot of people don't realize about acrylic plastics is that they are very susceptible to heat and humidity differentials and will expand and contract with temperature changes. This is all made worse by having an interior that is typically much warmer and either dryer or more humid than the temperature outside the cage. I find it odd that Jeff Ronne mentions that the cracks are caused by a reaction with a cleaning agent yet his website has no cautions of any sort regarding cleaning agents causing adverse effects. Finally, I know from personal experience that Virosan/Nolvasan is one of the best cleaners on the market and is used on a multitude of surfaces by thousands of people every day without problems. Sounds really fishy overall.
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Matt Campbell

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir

Yes, I've had the same thing happen and it was caused by the cleaner. I just wipe them down with water now and have not had a problem since. A friend of mine had the same problem, also caused by cleaner.

Sorry, but I find it extremely hard to believe that a common cleaner damaged the cage. Doesn't say much about the cage if you ask me.

On another note, if the only thing you are using to clean your cages is water, then your cages are not clean. Not trying to start arguments or question husbandry techniques, just pointing out the obvious.

Bart

LOL thanks

I still have to agree with Bart. I find it HIGHLY UNLIKELY that a simple cleaning product would have an adverse reaction with the acrylic they use for doors. I still don't see how using a cleaner causes cracks to form yet doesn't adversely affect the appearance of the acrylic. It sounds like Boaphile needs to perform a recall or issue warnings to all buyers of their cages regarding which cleaners they can and can't use on their cages. Again, like Bart said, it doesn't say much for the cage if you can't use a completely common cleaner - one that I'd mention again is so widely used because it doesn't have adverse reactions with the surfaces it's used on.
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Matt Campbell

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir

Years ago when I was thinking about building/selling cages I researched various plastics extensively. Acrylic and other plastics can and do develop cracks from regular ammonia and quaternary ammonia compounds and other cleaners, like Nolvasan, Virosan, etc.

Bush/Neodesha cages were really bad and in fact one of the distributors of that product even had warning labels on the cages to only use soap and water.

However, please note that this is not meant to say that this is what caused the problems mentioned in this thread. There could be numerous other reasons and the cleaner issue is just as easy excuse for the companies.

Also, this topic has been discussed extensively on the Boaphile forums so it has been mentioned on the website before. I don't know if those forums still exist.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

>>Bush/Neodesha cages were really bad and in fact one of the distributors of that product even had warning labels on the cages to only use soap and water.

I've seen the warning labels on Neodesha cages. However, that doesn't change the fact that if there's a problem with cleaners reacting with the acrylic doors of the cage there doesn't appear to be any overt information on the Boaphile website relating to this problem. If I marketed a cage and used materials that were not 100 percent cleaner-safe I'd be sure to put warning labels on the product and make sure that buyers knew about it before they bought the product.
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Matt Campbell

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir

I agree. But I have had no interest or desire to go and dig through his site to see if it's mentioned. It used to be but I'll take your word for it that it's no longer there.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

>>I agree. But I have had no interest or desire to go and dig through his site to see if it's mentioned. It used to be but I'll take your word for it that it's no longer there.

Well, let's just say I couldn't find anything where you would expect to find such information. Nothing in the FAQ section about his cages, nothing under the warranty section. Oh well, if I'd recieved a cage that didn't come with explicit instructions on which cleaners were safe and which were not, and then I damaged my cage because of this oversight and was then told that it was not under warranty for that reason - whooo - I'd be p*ssed. That's why I'll stick to manufacturing my own cages, that way I've got no one else to blame but my myself.
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Matt Campbell

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir

That's why I'll stick to manufacturing my own cages, that way I've got no one else to blame but my myself.

I hear that!

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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.10 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.2 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child

If you are gonna make your own cages and you want to avoid chem reaction problems Polyethylene and Polypropylene are your two best bets.

These two types of plastics have no reaction with even harsh cleaning chemicals.

Or, you might just purchase a cage made from one of these two types of plastic.

>>If you are gonna make your own cages and you want to avoid chem reaction problems Polyethylene and Polypropylene are your two best bets.

At this point, those are probably the only two caging materials that I haven't experimented with. However, the plastic with apparently the most issues is acrylic and I've steered away from using it recently. In the past I'd mostly used acrylic for doors but from now on I'm going to use glass, chiefly for it's stability in high heat and humidity environments, unlike acrylic.
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Matt Campbell

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir

Biggest mistake with using acrylic is people go cheap and get extruded acrylic. this moves like a latin salsa dancer with heat & humidity lol . Cast is a much better material in that its properties dont move and shift like those in extruded due to the heat process in the extruding of the acrylic under pressure VS a poured cast material.
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__The Revolution has begun ... www.junglehabitatsplastics.com_

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I'd have to agree- acrylic doesn't seem to make good doors for larger cages (I did not know about the problems with virosan etc, good to know) just for the fact of warping and expansion/deformation.

I have two cages (not boaphile) with acrylic doors. The larger of the two shows significant warping at certain times (usually the center of the door is "sucked inward" as if the whole cage were a vacuum). The smaller one doesn't show as much warping (but of course has a smaller surface area, and the shorter something is, the harder to bend it becomes).

However, for both of these doors, the acrylic is GLUED or epoxied/solvent welded to the hinge and not bolted or drilled.

Definitely something to look out for...
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com
1.0 Ball Python, 1.1 Hog Island Boas, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 0.1 Green Tree Python

That is one of the reasons that these two plastics are used in the medical field extensively.