Hey Everyone,
I noticed a few posts here mentioning cages and the materials being used to construct them. While this is probably common knowledge I felt that I would post a few comments anyway.
First, both MDF & Melamine contain formaldehyde which is bad for both reptiles and their keepers. It's part of what makes us sneeze when cutting it... The other part is the glue used when the material is "pressed" together and formed. Again, very bad for living things. The second thing to keep in mind is that both MDF and Melamine are like sponges, both materials will actually swell quite a bit in turn releasing a smell which is the formaldehyde. Another downside to the swelling is that it can raise humidity levels in a cage especially if using glass, lexan, or plexi on the front and not having an open air environment for the critter caged inside. Lastly, both the materials are heavy in weight and not very strong overall. This can be disasterous should a keeper elevate the cage without providing strudy bracing... especially around all joints on the bottom.
A lesson that I learned many years ago was: I elevated a cage to be able to see a large Rhino Iguana better. His cage had some large "paver" type stones, and Mexican river pebbles along with some sand on the bottom. To make a long story short... The cage probably weighed 500lbs, he managed to tip over a "tip-proof" water bowl, and the bottom of the cage fell through. While he was not injured, he was also homeless while a new cage was built.
While I don't want to come off sounding like a know it all, and I would never say don't build a cage in a way that has probably worked for you time and time again, I will say that there are other safer building materials out there that do not contain chemicals that can be harmful and hazardous to your health.
BTW, I am not the Surgeon General !!
