Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been making my own cage out of an old projecter TV. I woul like to paint the inside and waterproof it as well. What should I use for both. I need to paint it because half of the inside is already black and I would like it all to match. I not sure what I'm going to keep in it yet but it might have high humidty, so I need a good water proofer.

Thanks,
Stuntman Mike

For water proofing you'll need some sort of epoxy. There are epoxy paints and there are pure epoxies. Either will work but it sounds like you'll want a paint. Sweetwater makes epoxy paints for aquaria that are safe to use around animals although you'll need to wear a respirator while applying it due to the solvent carriers.

Some of the garage floor paints will also work but you'll probably have to tint these yourself to get a black color.
Of these only the solvent based types will waterproof the cage.

The pure epoxies are clear so you would have to apply those over a black paint of your choice. The bar top epoxies work well for this.

Another choice is to use Drylok's Latex Masonry Waterproofer. This is a hydraulic cement based paint that has been used to waterproof wood even though it is not designed for such an application. It is a highly textured paint (like cement) and would make for a hard to clean surface. A friend of mine used this is plywood cages and then top coated with several coats of a high gloss paint and he says it has made for a cheap but somewhat easy to clean surface. I just got off the phone with him and he says the cages are still holding up. I think it's been about a year.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

I know this topic is a bit outdated but I felt I should comment as I sell specialty coatings for a living. Depending on what you use as support should affect your decision on the coating...I built a wood enclosure so I went with a stain and waterbourne polyurethane clear coat. Stain is a tung oil which resists water permeation, the water based poly clear further protects with a diamond hard finish and is non toxic. Metals should be coated on an oil base as it bonds better than latex and is longer lasting. If you must use a latex go with a semi gloss or higher sheen for durability and ease of cleaning. Glossier paints are less porous like epoxies. I dont advise using epoxies unless you have used them before, and it is a waste if you have to cook up a batch for a small area, as pot life is only one hour then it hardens up. A REAL paint store can help anyone get these products, not home depot their stuff is garbage. I even went a step further and stained the upper canopy of my cage green the sides bark brown for that forest effect.

you could build an arcylic box to slide inside the tv carcass, that way you wouldn't have to worry about waterproofing anything. Put the door an vents at the rear so the "front" of the tv would look like a regular tv. How mig is this tv??

The TV on the inside is 50 inches long, 38 inches tall, and about
22 inches wide. It's an older projection TV. I was going to throw it out when I got the idea for the cage.

totally could pull that off then... plenty of room... I'm not sure where you're from or what kind of acrylic resources you have around you... but here in the great San Diego area, there's a place, ( eplastics.com ) they do custom fab work ( might be able to make you a seamless cube to slide inside of it... Or you could easily do it yourself as well... just a thought... not sure what kind of budget you have... can't wait to see it when it's done with whatever design you decide...