Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a smokin' deal on some 4-ft Neos but only one came with a dam. I made a couple of dams from 1/4" plexi and now I need to affix them to the cages. I usually use aquarium sealer for something like this, but I thought I'd see if anyone had a better idea. Is Gorilla Glue suitable for this applicaton? Is it safe to use? Any other gap-filling adhesives that would be safe and effective?
Thanks!

Gluing two different plastics together is hit or miss and I have no idea if gorilla glue will bond to both acrylic (plexi) and ABS. I would take a scrap piece of acrylic and try to glue it to the back of one of the cages in a hidden area. I tried gluing PVC with gorilla glue and the bond was poor, if I remember correctly.

Silicone, if that's that you mean by aquarium sealer, bonds very poorly to acrylic and is probably not the best choice.

A few more ideas for gap-filling (and flexible) adhesives:

Lexel, which is a clear caulk. This is sort of like a solvent based silicone, and very strong and sticky. It is not rated suitable for aquaria or animal enclosures, but it rated suitable for outdoor fish ponds. Certainly if you use this you'll need to let if offgas completely. Neodesha cages tend to be well ventilated so I think it would be okay, but you have to make that decision yourself.

Vulkem or other polyurethane based caulks. Again you'll need to let this stuff offgas. Has been used in both aquaria and animal enclosures, although I'm not sure if it's officially rated for such use.

Thickened epoxy. No experience with this myself, but have heard of it being used in similar applications.

Some of the various IPS Weld On caulk-like adhesives. I believe these are two part and come in a gun which mixes during application. Have heard very good things about them for bonding plastics. Last time I checked their website was very difficult to navigate so it may take some time to see if they make an appropriate product. These have been used in reptile cages.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

Thanks, Chris! I hadn't heard of the IPS product but a quick Google search tells me that it's carried by the home supply box stores, so I'm going to give that a shot. A couple of other links I saw referred to it as the kind stuff for gluing acrylic.

Thanks again!

I have never seen the caulk like IPS products sold anywhere, not even large plastics distributors that carried IPS products. It was always special order.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

I just went to their site. Found what I was looking for pretty quickly but still don't like navigating it.

Here is a page with IPS Weld-On Products. You'll want the gun-type products in either Polycarbonate or Structural. By gun-type products I mean the ones that look like this:

You should call the company and see which product is flexible and thick enough for your application. This will depend on how big the largest gap is, I imagine.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

Thanks again, Chris....I don't know what the people who posted elsewhere about finding IPS stuff at Home Depot were smoking, but neither of the box stores here carry anything of the sort. So I'll take your advice and order it online.