Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi i have a 6ft long by 3ft tall by 3ft wide wooden

snake cage the inside is bare ply wood,,

i was looking for suggestion what i could use to protect the wood but not harm the snake?

thanks

I've been playing around with the Repti-Shield product. I just made a wood top for a tank and finished the underside with Repti-Shield.

This product is the only paint-on product aside from epoxy that I have tried that is completely usable and odorless 24 hrs after application and that can stand up to water and washing. The only drawback is that it is rather glossy and therefore highlights the wood grain and imperfections in the cage. But for the cage floor and 4 inches up the sides, it would be perfect.

Here is a test piece of finely sanded birch plywood with the product (black in this case, there are other colors) on a portion of the plywood. You can see how the glossy texture shows the grain even on the very smooth plywood. I let this piece float in the pool awhile. The coating held up unbelievably well. I hammered it, rubbed sand on it, etc. Best coating I've seen for a single-coat paint-on product. Low odor when curing, and absolutely 100% odorless when cured. That is what I like. Water beads on it as if it is plastic. One coat is likley sufficient and is far and away tougher than 3 coats of polyurethane, oil or otherwise.

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Mark

For "paintable" sealers I would recommend either a 100% epoxy resin system or a catalyzed polyurea like Repti-Shield.

For other options there is FRP board, tile board, scrap vinyl flooring, self-adhesive shelf liner and thin expanded PVC.
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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

Is there a specific kind of shelf liner that works best?
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I am number Nine.

jeff pfeifer

Contact Paper brand was considered the best for a long time but evidently the company changed the adhesive formula due to customer complaints about the liner being too hard to remove. Good for people lining the kitchen shelves, bad for herpers lining cages.

I don't know what's considered best now.
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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