Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi

Just wanted to check what are the pros and cons between these two brands of expanded pvc. I'm planning to make a hollow core type of rack for the Iris CB75 or CB110 using 2x2s as the framing for the sheets. I wanted something light weight(it's going to be a huge rack), fire retardant (placing heat tape inside the shelf) and water proof (for easy cleaning) so I 'm thiking on using PVCX. Since I'm planning to place the 11" heat tape inside the shelving, would the heat adequate(78-82F colubrid standards) to warm up the box? Or would the heat tape needs to be in contact with the Iris box itself. I can get 1/8" Sintra 4x8 sheets for 30.00 and 1/8" Celtec 4x8 sheets for 21.00 but I was wondering if there is a difference in quality and strength between the two products. Lastly, is it even worth using PVCX rather than tile board used by some of the individuals who made a similar rack? Thanks advance for the help.
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Jonel M. Lopez

www.spsnakes.com

From what I understand, pvcX is lighter and more versatile than tileboard - since tileboard is only waterproof on one side. I'm not sure what the difference in quality of the two brands would be - perhaps see if you can look at a cross-section or cut piece of both and compare them. They should have similar qualities, since they're made of the same material. The foaming process might be a bit different, so the internal structure might differ.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers
1.0 BP, 1.0 Hog Is., 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 0.1 GTP

I'm all for using easily disposable or replaceable products like tile board whenever its realistic but I'd need to have a better idea of the design before I could say for sure. Same with recommending PVCX for that matter.

Bighurt will be the best guy to get advice from since he has built this sort of rack.

Also, heat will conduct through 1/8" PVCX fine as long as the heat tape is in direct contact with it.

Now, regarding the two specific choices you have, I'm guessing it won't matter a whole lot. There are two types of Celtec PVCX with one being heavier than the other, although I don't believe that will matter much at the 1/8" thickness.
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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)