Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a Black Throat Monitor that I am building an enclosure for. I don't know what product to use to seal the plywood against spilt water and defication and also be safe even when scratched at. Any comments please help!

I'd make sure to ask this question over on the monitor forum if you have not already. That particular forum is a great source of information on caging.

For a black throat you'll have to worry more about the scratching than the water/deficate/urates. Any product that is scratch proof for that species will also be water resistant.

In my mind you have two options. The first is some sort of epoxy product. Fiberglass resin is the cheapest of the epoxies but is a royal pain to apply. Any durable epoxy will not be fun to work with. Again, the monitor forum is a great place to go for information on fiberglass resin or other epoxies.

The second option is to line the cage walls with Fiberglass Reinforced Panel. This is the hard, textured plastic panels often seen lining bathroom walls. This is also called FRP board, not to be confused with Fire Resistant Panel.

Jungle Habitats posts on this forum and may have another suggestion. He posted a picture of an Argus Monitor habitat that he coated with some sort of plasticized sealer. I do not remember the details nor do I know how well it has held up. Hopefully he will respond.

Thanks for the info Chris. Hopefully I will hear from Jungle Habitats.