Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I am about to begin building some custom enclosures for my beardies. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about using treated lumber for reptile enclosures. Is it safe? I wouldn't be suprised if it were not.....

Also, what about paint? Is all water based, non-toxic paint the same? Or are some types better than others?

Finally, how does everyone's dragon's do with plexiglass? Do they scratch it up badly? Do you recommend glass instead?

thanks very much for everyone's expertise,

wes

i made mine out of plywood and plastic. seems to be fine. theres even furnace tape on the seams. shes been in there for a year and doing fine. i didnt seal or paint the plywood though, so i cant say anything about that

Personally I prefer Melamine. It is durable and non absorbent. I think paint would be fine as long as it's cured completely. Plexiglass does get scratched up very quickly. Even the spikes on a dragons sides scratch the plexiglass.

We just had a decent coversation about this if you wanna scroll down a bit it starts with "Does anyone use" thats about all you will see but I will give you a little of what was in it. Most people are using the melamine board right now to build cages. I am about to do this so i have been really reading about it. Chris allen wrote this hopefully it will help you.

Posted by: chris allen at Fri Feb 6 21:27:03 2009 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

you don't have to worry about it. You basically use 4 sheets of 2 x 4 melamine. 3 of the sheets for the top back and bottom(screwing the top down into the back panel and the bottom up into the back panel .....gives you an inside height of the width of the sheet). Your 4th piece will be the one you cut for the two side panels(should be the width of the sheet - 3/4" and then you just have the front however you do that. I think a full sheet of melamine is mid/upper $20's with the 2 x 4 pieces costing about $10 each.......I think its well worth the $15 or so to not have to lug a full sheet around or worry about making all the cuts perfect.

I got to the point now where if I have the supplies, doing it this way I could probably do a whole cage wired/vented/and sliding doors in an hour or so.

Im not sure about the other things you were looking at using but figured if the breeders are using this stuff it would be in your best interest to know. Home depot has this board just ask for help from someone there and get them to cut it for you. Enjoy!

Thanks a million! Reading that entire thread was exactly what I needed. Thanks for being on top of things

wes

Wow! Thank you very much. Your help was invaluable. And your enclosures look incredible!

wes

Never use treated wood...pressure treated or other exterior lumber (basically anything which has been treated to prevent rot etc) is toxic. That is why its used outdoors for decks and things.

Untreated plywood, melamine and the like is fine. Wood should be sealed with paint or a clear varnish which does need to dry completely. Melamine is beneficial as its already 'finished' just needs to be cut and edges covered with the trim you can buy (either sticks on like tape, or can be glued or tacked on..)
-----
PHLdyPayne