Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a Black Throat Monitor that I am building an enclosure for and don't know what product would be best and safest to protect against water spills, defication and scratching. Any info would help.

Hey there,

I would try to stay away from the bare plywood approach.. Plywood will absorb water, even with sealers. I would recommend that if you go the plywood construction route, that you use FRP board, which is basically a plastic 4 x 8' sheeting, commmonly used to line bathrooms, due to its water resistence. This can simply be cut to size, adhered to the plywood shell, and then the corners sealed with silicon sealant... This will make your enclosure impermeable to water, and will help keep your cage from rotting at the same time...

Hope this helps, I believe several other people currently use this material to line their enclosures, all with great success. I think it is sold for about 30 bucks per 4' x 8' sheet at the Home Despot... Check it out... usually the texture is a little bit bumpy, but smooth(not rough, jagged bumps).

Take care, have a great day,

Bob

I've used FRP on 6 enclosures and am in the process of two part epoxying my newest two cages. I used (by DK's suggestion) West Systems epoxy, as I have seen epoxies that don't do too well in truly wet environments and have heard of some having very nasty fumes.

My impression between the two.

FRP is slightly more expensive, is much easier to apply to flat pieces, can be a pain to cut (use a circular saw with a very fine blade, that makes it much easier). Once over that, it is pretty simple to install.

The epoxy can be a real pain in the butt, use gloves (dohhh, don't ask), spread it out, and don't mix too much, once it starts to cure, it becomes almost impossible to work with. But I think (I'm not quite sure I have enough yet) it is slightly cheaper, and may be much easier to apply on non flat surfaces.

As Bob said, it needs to be coated, Paint only works so well the plywood will warp and eventually start to rot. Spending the dollars on doing it right the first time, might save you having to build a new cage (or refurbish the old cage) because the wood didn't last. I know that one from experience, and it didn't take near as long as I thought it might.

Good Luck,

--Robert

Hey, Robert,

I found the best way to apply the West Systems epoxy is to lay the boards flat (before construction), mix up a small amount (I splurged and use the little nozzles that squirt out the correct proportions)and pour the mixed amount on the wood (or, if you are using woven fibreglass cloth for extra strength, on that after you have laid it out flat on the wood), then spread it out with a flat spreader. I cut apart a big plastic juice bottle for thin, flexible pieces of plastic to use for a spreader. If you use a back and forth motion working from one end of the board to the other, you'll find that a small amount of epoxy goes a very, very long way. I only use brushes for detailed areas (sealing corners after the enclosure is built, or the frame around the windows).

I'm still using some of the epoxy I have left from my large enclosure (finished almost two years ago) to seal little juvenile enclosures.

Hope my instructions make sense!

Cheers,

DK

I got the pump set too, reading the ratios started to remind me of mixing paint for spraying, and I always sucked at that.

I think the key problem, is I am using OSB, because it is stronger, slighty easier to work with, and cheaper than plywood. It has a very coarse finish, which is fine when you slap FRP on top of it, but is a pain to paint or spread anything on. I really want to see how it all turns out.

Thanks DK,

--Robert

But FRP is easily cut with tinsnips or heavy duty scissors. Or even electric nippers(my personal fav.) Saws and FRP are a no no, but much dust, chips, itchy stuff. If you want me to show pics, I will dang it. hahahahahahahahahaha

There is more to the story then what your explaining, and that is long term results(sounds like other things here). With FRP you know where the weak spots are(edges), so you know what to fix(re-silicone). With epoxy, you do not, therefore, long term maint. is harder.

Again what is important is how well and how long it functions, In this, FRP is by far cheaper.

More importantly, FRP has a number of installation methods, as simple as screw it on and silicone the edges, to toxic glues(construction glues) to latex glues. There is lots of flexibility. With epoxy there is little and it does take far more experience to apply.

In reality, plain unfinished plywood outlasts most peoples attention span. Which means they will not have the monitor that long. Sad, but true.

What that means is, either of these are for serious keepers. Cheers FR

My bad, I really should have mentioned the dust, it is nasty, kind of like the metal dust from die grinding, it doesn't seem nasty at the time but if you don't wear some sort of filtration mask, you will feel it the next day, and it cannot be very healthy. Of course eye protection is always something you should wear doing this type of thing.

I will give a try with some electric or air powered nippers with the next cage (there always seems to be a next one).

I tend to ignore the attention span thing, it's kind of depressing, and hope that this one person is one that'll be around for his/her monitors (and the monitors will be around too) for a long time, as I hope my monitors and I will.

--Robert

I've used two-part expoxy paints (made for marine use) on plywood cages, and would probably not go that route again -- you basically need to lay the part of the cage you want to coat flat and level, and pour the stuff in. The fumes were something else, and were noticeable for a long time -- I had cages set up with lights in them for almost a month before the epoxy odor was truly gone. I'm sure there is a lot of variation among brands of epoxy paints and sealants, but I'm leaning towards FRP again. As Robert notes, you need a good table saw and a fine-toothed blade to cut it cleanly, but it's really durable.

If you really want a mess, you can attempt to coat the inside of enclosures with fiberglass (cloth and resin).

Hi Sam,

West Systems epoxy has a subtle (vaguely nutty) smell which lasts around 24 hours. Once it is cured, it's barely noticeable.

The polyester resin normally used with fibreglass has a really potent smell that is often still noticeable a couple of months after curing.

I used plywood to build my temperary enclosures and sealed them with 4 to 5 coats of polyurethane water based sealant they work well. But for life long enclosures for large monitors(in my oppinion)a galvanised trough is probably the best way to go.
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James Grigsby - " When you try of all your forces to make your own way, you will help some of others and will be helped by others. As long as you do not make your own way, you cannot help anybody, and nobody can help you. " (Shunryu Suzuki)

People make aquariums out of plywood, so it can be sealed off from moisture without too much effort. Go to Home Depot and purchase a product called Diamond Finish.
I used it on my large enclosure, and it works great.

Jim