Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I thought I already posted this but could not find it.

I want to build my last enclosure for my burm. The floor is the only hard part. It has to be strong, resist urine and moisture, seal to the wall etc. Silicone caulk comes off after several cleanings. I need a material that will hold up to years of srubbing etc. I'm not sure if I'm going to do a room or a cage but the floor is my problem. Anyone know how they make the floors at the zoo?

DZ
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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

I used to work in the reptile house of a pretty big zoo and most of our smaller exhibits were fiberglass modules pushed up against the exhibit glass from the back. Our larger exhibits were built-in room size exhibits that had concrete floors. All of these exhibits were raised and had built in pools with drains underneath that ran out into our service area. I am pretty sure the walls were block walls covered with plaster (it was a pretty old building). We did cover the floors of our indoor tortoise exhibits, which were also concrete, with stuff called mondo flooring (I think that is what it was called) which was basically like a hard rubber floor. The problem with that is that it would have to be sealed against the walls like any other floor and you may have the same problem you have had with the caulk. I don't know what they used to seal it in our building but I can say we scrubbed it an awful lot (giant tortoised indoors = big ol' mess!) and did not have any problems. I hope this is at least a little helpful but as I read it back I am not sure that it is. Good luck.

Rob

This "Mondo" flooring, is it easily accessable? How well does it hold up to heat, humidity, urine and scrubbing? Is it easy to work with, cost? I plan on covering a space about 11' X 4-6'
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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

Here's the pic

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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

Whoa. Wit that space, you could put like a smallish cave in the corner made out of great stuff and like Habacrete and then cover the floor in leaf litter and put like a few umbrella plant trees or a few ficus and a bunch of smaller plants and that would be a sweet tank

TS

What is Habacrete?
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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

Habacrete is a type of vivarium mortar that people who make vivariums backgrounds use. I think fi you google it or search it it will come up. It would probably quite expensive, and tile grout would do the same effect, just not as easy as habacrete. I am not exactly sure the advantages to ti compared to grout or other materials. Here is a link.

http://www.herpinvert.com/HabaCrete/

TS

Unfortunately, I don't know where to get it or the specifics on working with it as we had it installed by a contractor. I can tell you that it came in sheets that were roughly 4' x 6' and about 1/2" thick and it was really heavy. It was not glued to the floor in any way; it was just laid down and cut to fit around the edges. The edges were then sealed to the walls and all of the seams were sealed, presumably with some kind of caulk. I have worked on it in several different situations - Aldabra tortoises,wallabies and large hoof stock. In all instances, a lot of scrubbing was required and the floor held up really well. It also held up well under the basking sites for the tortoises. I think it is pretty tough stuff. Again, I am not sure of the name (mondo may have been just what we called it) but it was basically a hard rubber floor. If you want more info, let me know and I can try to find out for you.

Rob

If you don't mind looking up that "Mondo" flooring, I'd appreciate it. I really have to get started on this cage and money is available for now.

DZ
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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

Give me a couple of days and I will see what I can dig up.

Rob

I also worked at a major zoo and later designed and built exhibits for a smaller zoo.

Most of the larger exhibits had floors consisting of nothing more than sealed concrete. Some were painted with single-part oil based floor paints, others were painted with two-part epoxy paints. None of them held up that well.

Will your cage have sub-floor or will it be the existing floor of an existing room?
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

It's a half round room in my basement. I'll make a sub floor and insulate, then plywood, then the covering (if I do a room) If a cage, the same will apply but elevated. How long does it take for the paint to wear out? Epoxy? If all I had to do was refinish the floor every few years that would be fine.
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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

I depends on what the paint is being applied to. If it's a plywood sub-floor then it might hold up better, but then you have the issue of the seams, since this room is bigger than a single sheet of plywood.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.