Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm building two cages out of 3/4" plywood, one 4'x2'x18" and one 4'x18"x8". I'm trying to decide what sealer to use for the interior of the cages. I'm looking at either latex Drylok or water-based polycrylic, I'd prefer to use the polycrylic, but it cost twice as much as the drylok. Would a quart of polycrylic be enough for the interior of one cage? Also, I'm using 1/4" pegboard for a vent across the back, and I can't decide whether to use regular pegboard or plastic. Which would you guys recomend?
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LONG LIVE METAL!!!!

MY COLLECTION:
1.0 '04 Columbian BCI
0.1 '05 Blood Python
1.2 Ball Pythons

MY WISHLIST (I turn 18 on June 16th ):
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
1.0 Salmon BCI
0.2 Columbian BCI
1.1 Sumatran Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Borneo Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.1 Suriname BCC
1.2 Spotted Pythons
2.4 African House Snakes
1.2 Rubber Boas
2.4 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Rankins Dragons
2.6 Crested Geckos
1.1 purebred Dobermans
0.1 black German Shepherd
2 ferrets
A Senegal Parrot
A Sun Conure

I would use plastic pegboard over regular pegboard.

Regarding the sealers, these are two very different products. Drylok is a very thick and highly textured cement based paint. It goes on thick enough that the coverage might not be that different. A quart of Polycrylic should give you a few coats in a cage that size.

If you want to use the Polycrylic then use it. But I would put down a plastic floor of some sort. Seal the cage and then put plastic over that and silicone the edges.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Malaysian locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

>>The reason I'm not sure about the plastic pegboard is it's not really 1/4" thick. The edges of the sheet and around the holes are 1/4", but the rest is about 1/8", although it does seem pretty strong. And is there actually 1/4" regular pegboard? All I can find is 3/16". I'll probably use plastic though.
>>The texture of the drylok is the reason I'd prefer polycrylic. What is the shelf life of polycrylic? I'm going to make a couple more of these cages in the next year, and 2 quarts costs almost as much as a gallon. If I get a gallon, will it still be useable in a year or so?
>>I'm going to seal the cage then use linoleum for the floor and seal all the joints with silicone. Does anywhere sell tubes of aquarium grade silicone to use in caulk guns?
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LONG LIVE METAL!!!!

MY COLLECTION:
1.0 '04 Columbian BCI
0.1 '05 Blood Python
1.2 Ball Pythons

MY WISHLIST (I turn 18 on June 16th ):
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
1.0 Salmon BCI
0.2 Columbian BCI
1.1 Sumatran Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Borneo Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.1 Suriname BCC
1.2 Spotted Pythons
2.4 African House Snakes
1.2 Rubber Boas
2.4 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Rankins Dragons
2.6 Crested Geckos
1.1 purebred Dobermans
0.1 black German Shepherd
2 ferrets
A Senegal Parrot
A Sun Conure

Opened Polycrylic will have a reduced shelf life, although I'm not sure by how much. Maybe email Minwax.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Malaysian locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

>>Opened Polycrylic will have a reduced shelf life, although I'm not sure by how much. Maybe email Minwax.

Do you know what the shelf life is unopened? And I have one more question about the pegboard. I was originally going to make the vent 5"x34" like in the plans on arbreptiles, but after looking at the pegboard, that's 150 1/4" holes. It seems like this would let alot of heat and humidity out of the cage. What size vent would you recomend for a 4x2 cage? I was thinking 5"x20"(100 holes) or 4"x22"(88 holes), would this be enough?
-----
LONG LIVE METAL!!!!

MY COLLECTION:
1.0 '04 Columbian BCI
0.1 '05 Blood Python
1.2 Ball Pythons

MY WISHLIST (I turn 18 on June 16th ):
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
1.0 Salmon BCI
0.2 Columbian BCI
1.1 Sumatran Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Borneo Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.1 Suriname BCC
1.2 Spotted Pythons
2.4 African House Snakes
1.2 Rubber Boas
2.4 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Rankins Dragons
2.6 Crested Geckos
1.1 purebred Dobermans
0.1 black German Shepherd
2 ferrets
A Senegal Parrot
A Sun Conure

I believe WB poly has a shelf life of over a year unopened, but I would certainly check with the company.

Regarding ventilation, I am a big believe in too much rather than too little. My reasoning being that it is easier to seal off ventilation in an occupied cage than it is to add ventilation to an occupied cage. So don't worry about it too much.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Malaysian locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

>>Regarding ventilation, I am a big believe in too much rather than too little. My reasoning being that it is easier to seal off ventilation in an occupied cage than it is to add ventilation to an occupied cage. So don't worry about it too much.

One of the reasons I was thinking about making it smaller is I can get 6 5"x24"(120 holes) pieces out of the 2'x4' sheet compared to 3 34" pieces. Do you think 5"x24" would be enough? This is my last question, I promise lol
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LONG LIVE METAL!!!!

MY COLLECTION:
1.0 '04 Columbian BCI
0.1 '05 Blood Python
1.2 Ball Pythons

MY WISHLIST (I turn 18 on June 16th ):
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
1.0 Salmon BCI
0.2 Columbian BCI
1.1 Sumatran Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Borneo Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.1 Suriname BCC
1.2 Spotted Pythons
2.4 African House Snakes
1.2 Rubber Boas
2.4 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Rankins Dragons
2.6 Crested Geckos
1.1 purebred Dobermans
0.1 black German Shepherd
2 ferrets
A Senegal Parrot
A Sun Conure

That makes sense, and I do think that will be enough ventilation.

Keep us posted on your progress.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Malaysian locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

I couldn’t disagree more on the ventilation. With that much ventilation it will be impossible to maintain humidity and will be hard to heat. Look at the professional enclosures by Vision, the only ventilation they have is around the front door.

As far as how to make ply water proof, I prefer attaching Formica using contact cement and silicone the corners. It looks great and is so easy to clean.

I couldn’t disagree more on the ventilation. With that much ventilation it will be impossible to maintain humidity and will be hard to heat.

I still posit its easier to cover excessive ventilation than it is to add it to an occupied cage. I would also argue that most people don't use enough.

And if it were impossible to maintain humidity, how is it that some of the most successful breeders of the most delicate species keep uses cages that are nearly 100% ventilation?
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Malaysian locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

First of all I live near San Jose CA. The average temperature is 61 and low humidity (today it was 76 and 33%). I DON’T live in the tropical southeast! I also keep tropical snakes; Carpet Pythons, Blood Pythons, Balls, and Boas. I don’t think ANYONE is breeding them in screen cages within 200 miles of me.

If you look at the care sheets, most say that a wire screen top for a glass tank won’t work (in most cases) well unless you almost completely cover it with plastic (example: New England Reptile Distributors-NERD)
I guess all what matters is what you are putting inside. Oh and if you need more air holes, take the animal out and put the holes in when you are cleaning the cage.

Sure, you can take an animal out and add holes, but you're avoiding the issue, and that is anbody who is unsure about ventilation is better off installed too much rather than too little.

Regardless, what about the dozens of species of reptiles, plants, insects, bird, etc. that have high humidity requirements but also require high ventilation and high air flow? There are numerous high humidity species that simply can't be kept in restricted flow cages. This has been addressed quite a bit in the scientific literature and I tend to trust them more than any online care sheet. Funny thing is that a lot of the places that work with these species are well within 200 miles of you.

The fact of the matter is that any of the species you have mentioned have and can be kept in cages with high ventilation. And there are numerous other species that simply cannot, they need the air flow.

Combine that with the fact that its easy to cover ventilation, I simply don't see why you would suggest my suggestion is incorrect, especially given my use of conjecture.

And you may also want to read some of the handful of articles written by reptile veternarians warning about keeping Boas and other high humidity snakes in cages with minimal air flow as its correlated with upper respiratory problems. Again, I tend to trust them more than any online care sheet. If you care to dive into some of the European articles then there's even more information.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Malaysian locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

So in your opinion, Vision enclosures are Death traps for Python and Boas? Na…just kidding.

I know other species must have lots of fresh air but I’m going to stick to (most) pythons and boas. I have found that a lot of beginners don’t monitor humidity as well as they should. The average Joe has a Ball or a Red Tail Boa in a fish tank with a screen top that they purchased from Petco. They know nothing of temperature gradients and proper humidity levels for their species. With the low humidity of the west, this setup produces snakes that have never shed right and nearly blind snakes from the result. You can get IR from dry conditions also. Anthony Caponetto (a very well respected Carpet Python breeder) keeps his pythons in conditions that are considered dry for all but shed times and it’s 50%. At this moment SJ is less than 30%, and it will get a WHOLE lot dryer this summer. It doesn’t take long before the enclosure is dried out. I can’t imagine keeping a Green Tree Python in a cage with a pegboard back around here. East Bay Vivarium (VERY well respected in the SF Bay Area) advises against too much Ventilation, meaning screen tops and walls for most Pythons and Boas.

Now that being said, I think a well-ventilated enclosure is much better for the health of your herp IF you can have a heated room with a humidifier and a humidistat. Some day soon I would like to do that.

So I’m sure we can agree that there are some variables at play: local humidity and temperature, type of herp, and knowledge of care giver.

PS: I would tend to put much more stock in care sheets put out by NERD and Anthony Caponetto, who have been there and done that, than some “ European” academic. I just got back from a long trip to Germany. My business is Microscopy and I deal with Professors every day. Most of the time I’m not impressed, especially with French and German Scientists! Give me success with practical application any day!

Does anywhere sell tubes of aquarium grade silicone to use in caulk guns?

What you can use is GE Silicone I. I believe "For windows and doors" is what you will see on the tube. Just stick with the silicone one.

GE silicone two contains a chemical that helps stop the growth of mold and mildew. When it is used in aquariums, it can kill the fish.

I have used the silicone one in some of my aquariums when we had them. No problems at all.
Good luck,
Rob
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"I reject your reality and substitute my own" Adam Savage
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa-Ziggy
1.0 Creamscicle motley corn--Cozmo
0.1 Creamscicle corn--Wanda
0.0.1 Normal corn
0.1 Black Pine - Spazz
1.0 Bearded Dragon - Gomer