Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So i helped my buddy build a 5'x2.5' box out of plywood for his new Arugs moniter, i sudjested using tompsons water sealer on the inside to make sure the water/feces/urin doesnt rot out the wood and smell etc.

Is a water sealer like this safe for a moniter? Are there any adverse effects of using a sealer like this? If so, what do you guys sudjest be used?
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Russ
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Apollo)
1.0 Columbian Rainbow Boa (Odin)
1.0 Guyana Red-Tail Boa (Ares)
0.1 Pastel Salmon Boa (Minerva)
0.1 Rosy Boa (Athena)

Melbourne, Fl

It doesn't matter if its toxic or not, it will not work.

Two things, monitors take lots of humidity and moist substrate. This rots out wood. Wood is a bad material to work with(longterm). Also, Argus monitors will dig thru or completely resurface plywood. If nothing else, just climbing wood(a favorite passtime) they will perforate the wood and no sealer will be of use.

Try covering it with a FRP panel, or metal or other plastic.

THE HARD REALITY is, you do not need to seal it, as your friend will not use it long enough for the wood to rot. Sadly that is the truth and normal. If for some reason hes an exception and keeps the monitor long enough to be a problem, he will understand the problems and understand the cures, by then. Cheers

No, it won't work. It's a surface sealer and the argus will scratch right through it, rendering it useless. I'm not sure how toxic it is, either.

I've successfully used fiberglas resin. It's difficult to work with at first and you have to work fast, but it dries hard like epoxy and coats well, is waterproof, and it's not expensive. You do want it to cure and the odor to go away before you use the cage. Also, see FR's response.

At that size, that should be a temporary cage fo sho.

Rosy