Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am building some 4x2 and 3x2 snake tanks for my colubrids, corns, gophers, bulls. They will likely be 1.5 to 2 ft tall. I am using 3/4 in plywood and incorporating a sub floor where they can go from the main tank to a plastic tub underneath via a pvc tube for feeding, or cool, moist hide etc. My question is I want to use a water-based acrylic paint for the walls, ceilings, outsides. I'll use tile or sintra for the flooring on top of a coat of paint. I want to use acrylic paint for quick offgassing and ease of application and relatively inexpensive too. Plus, I want to "cover up" the plywood look. I'm planning on using maybe a hunter green color, maybe a sky blue. Do I get paint rated for bathrooms for the best protection or will any inside-rated acrylic paint do? I plan on buying it at Sherwin Williams. I am also thinking of doing RHP for heat and a flourescant light strip for light. If you have thoughts on the paint choice or any other comment, I'd appreciate it.
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

Sherwin Williams has a waterborne acrylic paint for high traffic areas that is getting good reviews. I don't recall the name off the top of my head but I'm sure they'll know what you're talking about.

Unfortunately, I think it's expensive for paint. If it's out of your price range then go for a interior bathroom paint in the highest gloss you can tolerate looking at.

Keep in mind when it comes to paint prices, a lot of it is due to the percent solids. So even though one paint may be half price of another, you may have to apply three times as much to get the same amount of solids on your walls. I think it's worth the upcharge.

Basically you want the hardest and highest solids paint you can find and with as much gloss as you can tolerate. Keep in mind that some of these harder paints can be a bit susceptible to crazing so if you have any thin panels of wood you may want something a bit more flexible.

Let us know what you use and how it works.
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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)

This is just the info I was looking for, thanks a lot! I'll report back what type I get and how it works out.
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

I went to Sherwin Williams today and bought a product called ArmorSeal. It's a heavy duty floor covering called Tread-Plex and it's a water-based acrylic from their EnviroSpec Series. It's 100% acrylic, low odor, waterborne floor covering. The salesman said this was their "industrial" product vs what they had on the sales floor and thought this would be better for the snake tanks. The nice part is that he sold me this product for the same price as the residential stuff. It was pricey at $43 a gallon but the industrial stuff ran about $64. I'll let you know how it works.
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

Ken,

I have wondered about the single component waterborne floor coverings. They should be hard and level out nice. They do not deal with flexibility well, however, so I don't think I'd put them on thin wood. Is your cage 3/4" thick?

Another one that I neglected to mention is latex based drylok. It's a great combination of durable and cheap but it does leave a highly textured surface that is hard to clean.

At any rate, I look forward to hearing how your paint works. Please keep us posted.
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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)

Hey Chris,

I picked up a Product Information sheet on ArmorSeal Tread-Plex and it had a whole bunch of info. I don't know what it all means but I listed a few specs below as you'll likely know a lot more about them. I'll keep you posted on how it works. Yes, my boards are all 3/4" plywood. But I think my front board is 3/4" oak.

* general purpose, interior, exterior VOC compliant, 100% acrylic, low odor, waterbourne floor covering. This dries rapidly to a tough, alkali resistant finish which will withstand hard wear, abrasion, grease, oils and cleaning equipment.

* one component, fast dry, slip resistant properties, abrasion resistant, water clean up

* Finish: semi-gloss, Volume Solids: 43% - 2%, weight solids: 55% - 2%

Plus it gives performance specs (test results) for abrasion, adhesion, dry heat, flexibility, humidity resistance, scrub resistance among other tests.
Here's what they said about a flexibility test:
Method: ASTM D522, 180 degree bend, 1/8" mandrel
Result: passes
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

Sounds like you picked a great paint.

I used some Sherman-Williams paint they sell for doors and trim. It is also acrylic water-based. I can tell you that the finish is very hard and durable. So the stuff you are getting will be even better. The extra cost is worth it. Plus, these S-W paints roll or brush on so nicely. Very silky. Not like painting with that cheaper, glue-like paint sold at a store that rhymes with Rome Neepo.

Thanks. Yeah, I'm excited to work with it and will post my results. The stuff you have is likely the "residential" stuff my salesman said should also work. But since he sold me the "industrial" stuff for the same price I thought I'd give it a try. If there's anything I've taken from the posters here on this forum (And I've learned a lot) is that cheaper in not usually better when it comes to paints and other building materials. So I'll stay away from the "Rome Neepo" paint this time
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net