Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am building a indoor/outdoor enclosure made of B?C Pine Plywood. If this is sealed with a latex water based sealer(like Kilz) will it be ok to use? I already have the Plywood.

Thanks,

Jay

You'll want to topcoat it with another exterior paint that has UV inhibitors.

What species is this for and how much time do you think this cage will spend outdoors?

Will the cage have a lot of screen to allow sunlight exposure?
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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)

Thanks Chris,

It will have a chicken wire screen on top. I am going to put casters on the bottom to be able to move it half in the shade and half in the sun on nice days. To seal the Pine Ply I bought Kilz II water based indoor/outdoor sealer/primer. I was considering leaving the sealer on the inside (3 good coats) and toping the exterior with a water based exterior paint. I plan on moving the cage around depending on conditions.

Is the Pine Ply safe if its sealed? Its B/C. Its for a Pine snake.

Pine plywood is safe so no problem there. The sealer/primer you purchased may have some UV inhibitors but I doubt as much as an exterior topcoat would have. I would still be inclined to paint the cage interior which will get sun exposure due to the wire mesh.

I may be wrong, however, and the primer may have as much UV resistance as the topcoats.
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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)

Chris,

Thanks! Can you recomend a good safe exterior paint for the inside and out? I plan on letting the cage off gas outside for three weeks just to be safe.

Thanks,

Jay

I am not familiar with exterior products. I avoid them because the UV inhibitors and flexibility of the products make them less water resistant than interior products, believe it or not. But in your case you need them for the UV resistance.

I believe Drylok (the latex concrete waterproofer) is rated for exterior use. I would be inclined to use that and then topcoat it with another exterior paint if I did not like the texture or appearance of the drylok by itself. In fact you could probably just skip the Kilz primer if you used the drylok.

But back to general exterior paints, no doubt you get what you pay for. I would be inclined to buy a premium exterior paint, possibly even one rated for surfaces like decks or boats that need to have abrasion resistance as well. You really get what you pay for with paints and this is especially true with exterior products.

But like I said if this were my project I'd look into drylok and probably start with that. It is not made for wood but many people have used it with success.
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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)

Since you're concerned about safety, you should know that there is something harmful in chicken wire. I know it's not recommended for aviaries, because it becomes toxic overtime (at least to birds). I don't know if the effect it has on birds would be the same on snakes, and especially in the context of how you're using it. Just something worth looking into.