Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just received an order of Repti-Shield, sold as a reptile cage coating.

This product is catalyzed, meaning it is a two-part coating. Basically it is pigmented resin, epoxy or polyester, not sure which. The consistency is nice. It will be easy to use a roller or brush.

Now I need a wood cage to try this on. Anyone else use it?
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Mark

One of the guys selling it posted here that it is a moisture cure polyurea. He specifically said that it was not a two-part product.

You're saying it comes with a part A can and a part B can?

I have never used a moisture cure polyurea but have heard of excellent performance in fish ponds, plywood tanks and as part of a blend in truck bed liners.
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Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (Javan, mixed colors)

0.0.4 Rhynchophis boulengeri

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.1 Lampropeltis triangulum multistriata

0.0.1 Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus

0.0.2 Morelia viridis (Aru & Merauke locale types)

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

I looked it up online this time. It is indeed a moisture-cured polyurea product. Sorry for the confusion in my original post. It does come with a catalyst in a separate can. I guess with gloss moisture-cure polyurea products, the catalyst helps shorten the dry time considerably.

According to descriptions on various websites, this kind of coating is very hard, waterproof and can withstand much higher heat than oil based polyurethanes.
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Mark

Polyurea is really tough stuff. I wish there were more information out there about this specific product.

I gather from your post some keepers have started to report results on other reptile forums? I may have to do some searching as I'm contemplating doing a few larger wood cages.
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Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (Javan, mixed colors)

0.0.4 Rhynchophis boulengeri

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.1 Lampropeltis triangulum multistriata

0.0.1 Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus

0.0.2 Morelia viridis (Aru & Merauke locale types)

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

Any idea how this compares to a two-part bar epoxy?

From reading about polyurea (in general) I would say it would go on a lot thinner and would have more heat resistance. Bartop epoxy would go on thicker and be less heat resistant.

Both should be flexible enough to deal with expansion and contraction typical in wood products. But polyurea is formulated a lot of different ways so I just can't say for sure.

I think the Reptishield covers 75 square feet per quart. I think two coats are recommended to it would get about two to four times the coverage of bartop epoxy, depending on how thick the pour was. It is about twice as expensive so cost is basically the same, assuming one knows how to do a thin pour with bartop epoxy.

One other issue is that very few things stick to polyurea. So if you wanted to silicone edges or attach perch holders or whatever you probably could not do so. But again, maybe this formulation is different?

Another question is how repairable is it? For a product that goes on that thin I would want to be sure that it could be re-coated in the future.

Lastly, I'm not 100% convinced bartop epoxy should be the first thing people consider when wanting to use an epoxy. I have used them and liked them but they do have to be applied pretty thick. They can be poured at about 1/16" thick but that is not easy and not something a novice should try on their first attempt.

The upshot is that I think some of the thinner laminating resins are better choices for wood cages. How they compare to polyurea I just can't say.
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Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (Javan, mixed colors)

0.0.4 Rhynchophis boulengeri

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.1 Lampropeltis triangulum multistriata

0.0.1 Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus

0.0.2 Morelia viridis (Aru & Merauke locale types)

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

Do you mean something like this?

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=37

No, that is a polyester resin. They are a bit more brittle and really need the addtional strength of fiberglass cloth. I have painted it directly on plywood and know of others who have done so. But I don't think it's the ideal way to do it.

A good epoxy resin in a reptile enclosure should not need cloth.

What is that you need this for exactly?
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Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (Javan, mixed colors)

0.0.4 Rhynchophis boulengeri

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.1 Lampropeltis triangulum multistriata

0.0.1 Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus

0.0.2 Morelia viridis (Aru & Merauke locale types)

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

I've made enclosures out of wood before for terrestrial lizards, and am looking for something to seal the bottom with. I've previously used Minwax Polycrylic with good results, but some sort of epoxy sounds more durable and slick and I'd like to try it on my next enclosure.

One advantage of epoxy in this situation is that it applies well over a variety of materials and in fact adheres quite well to waterborne urethanes, like the Polycrylic you used.

In fact one bartop epoxy actually recommended waterborne urethane be used as a cheaper seal coat before pouring their epoxy.

But with that said, I'd be very interested to hear how well the Repti-Shield works. You might contact the manufacturer and see if it can be applied over a Polycrylic coated surface.
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Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (Javan, mixed colors)

0.0.4 Rhynchophis boulengeri

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.1 Lampropeltis triangulum multistriata

0.0.1 Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus

0.0.2 Morelia viridis (Aru & Merauke locale types)

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

One of the differences as mentioned by Chris is viscosity. The polyurea product, specifically the Repti-Shield product, is thin enough to be applied with a paint roller or used with spray equipment.

Here is what I have read:
Polyureas have extremely good tensile strength and elongation properties. If the wood flexes, so does the coating, better than epoxy in general.

Drop a wrench on an epoxy-coated surface and you may see fine spider-web cracks. It takes a bigger wrench to do the same thing on a polyurea-coated surface. That is because the polyurea coating is better at absorbing shock.

I think there is something about UV resistance as well. The polyureas are good with UV.
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Mark

Polurea is much more UV resistant then epoxy. But to clarify this only applies to outdoor situaitons. Even high powered metal halide bulbs don't seem to produce the correct wavelengths and/or intensities of UV to break down epoxy.

Both polyurea and epoxy are strong, but in different ways. Polyurea is much more flexible but both are more than flexible enough. Epoxy resin is flexible enough for use in plywood aquaria and those flex quite a bit.

One other comment I have heard about polyurea in certain applications is that it is hard to clean. But I'm guessing that Repti-Shield is formulated to be easy to clean.

Lastly, I want to stress that spraying polyurea is something that should not be taken lightly. The blends used in truck bed liners and for outdoor fish ponds require some pretty serious equipment and respirators in order to be sprayed efficiently and safely.
-----
Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (Javan, mixed colors)

0.0.4 Rhynchophis boulengeri

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.1 Lampropeltis triangulum multistriata

0.0.1 Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus

0.0.2 Morelia viridis (Aru & Merauke locale types)

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback