Reptile & Amphibian Forums

can someone please give me the safe materials for building cages for my red tail boa and ball python. i keep reading different thing so i just want to know which is best. i would appreciate if you can give me the name brands of the products. thanks

"Safe" is not an objective measure and what fits my definition of safe may not fit yours. If you really start splitting hairs with safety and toxicity then by logical conclusion you would not being a Boa constrictor into the typically constructed home.

As far as sheet goods for cage construction, there is little that I would avoid, other than marine plywood (although I have no idea how marine plywood is treated nowadays so I might change my mind).

For sealers, I would avoid oil-based paints and varnishes in most every circumstance.

Regarding sealers, one thing that people overlook is toxicity when uncured and toxicity when fully cured. Basically all sealers are safe once fully cured, unfortunately some of them take a very long time to cure, essentially years.

You can have one sealer that is extremely toxic while wet but then dries to a finish you can eat off of. Another finish might be fairly safe when wet but never fully cures so it would be considered unsafe for a food surface. So what I'm getting at is that an extremely dangerous product can actually end up "safer" than a "safe" product once it's fully cured.

I am willing to deal with the extended offgass time of solvent based caulks in situations where silicone will not work, such as when you need a paintable caulk or when silicone is unable to adhere to the substrate in question. But I do try to use silicone as much as possible.

Other than that, I think choices are wide open and really depends on your budget, preferred look, and how much you want/need a "build-it-and-forget-it" type of cage.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.