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I finally finished a new cage for my burm. It's pretty big and I think I did a good job (will post pictures next week) The next step is to seal the cage. Tenchi has the bad habit of tipping his water bowls and since I havent gotten a good bowl yet that he cant type.. I need to somehow seal the cage so that the water doesnt leak out, or ruin the wood. (wood cage.. cheaper)

What can I use/do to keep the wood (and my floor) from water damage? And that is safe for a snake to live around? Thanks
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Randilyn -;,-
Desolate Gray: Reptiles

Hey Randilyn,

I think anyone that's ever owned a burm has run into the same problem. The only type of bowl that I have found to ward off tips are HUGE heavy ceramic ones. But still, during feeding, it's getting sloshed around.

Around 50% of my cages are wooden and of my own design. There's a few ways I've sealed them while building them in the past.

My job gives me access to large pieces of leftover sheet vinyl...same stuff installed in kitchen and bathroom floors. I install it on the floor and flash it about 6" minimum up the sides. All corners and joints are sealed with acrylic caulking. This works great, even for my high humidty species like eyelash and trim trigs. And I've used it in burm cages too. It can be a pain to work with if you're not familiar with it though. Has to be glued down with a notched trowel and rolled out.

Another is melamine tile board. Same deal, but these are rigid sheets. I install them and flash them up the sides the same way, acrylic caulking, etc. Except you can just use beads of liquid nail to adhere it. I have noticed that the melamine finish does begin to crack and chip after time with constant-heavy- dampness though. Considering you probably won't be spraying your burm down daily...shouldn't be a problem.

My latest try is with fiberglass sheeting. And I think this will be my top choice from now on. It costs more when compared to the others, up to around $30/ 8'x4' sheet. But totally water proof and extremely durable. I just finished two new retic cages with it. If you're interested in checking them out, let me know and I'll take some pics. This stuff is so durable that a friend of mine used it to cover the floor of his 75lb water monitor's cage. The cage floor was wooden with a layer of tileboard over top of the ply, and the monitor scratched his way right through it originally. He repaired the floor and sealed it with this fiberglass sheeting and hasn't had another problem since.

Good luck...

Joe @ HellFire Reptiles

If you can find it, boat resin aka marine resin works great. That stuff hardens like glass and water doesn't get through that stuff! It doesn't take long to cure either. Its nice stuff.

Thanks for the info With the next cage I build I will have to try it.. my Budget right now isn't quite big enough to involve all that, and I have to have this cage complety finished by Tuesday as I have a new burm coming.. so my current burm gets the new cage and the new one gets the other cage

I really like the idea of putting in flooring though, definetly will have to do it someday! Thanks
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Randilyn -;,-
Desolate Gray: Reptiles

Although these guys made some really good suggestions, I think just regular silicone would do just fine. And good paint or polyurethane protects the wood very nicely. Personally, I used to use a very good exterior poly, but now I just use good water base exterior white paint. Bowl spills won't hurt it any more than rain hurts a house.

>>I finally finished a new cage for my burm. It's pretty big and I think I did a good job (will post pictures next week) The next step is to seal the cage. Tenchi has the bad habit of tipping his water bowls and since I havent gotten a good bowl yet that he cant type.. I need to somehow seal the cage so that the water doesnt leak out, or ruin the wood. (wood cage.. cheaper)
>>
>>What can I use/do to keep the wood (and my floor) from water damage? And that is safe for a snake to live around? Thanks
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>>Randilyn -;,-
>>Desolate Gray: Reptiles
>>
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The fastest way to achieve great wealth is by living more poorly for much longer.

Thanks Brian, your suggestion is what I'm going to end up going with. Probably the easiest and cheapest Thanks!
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Randilyn -;,-
Desolate Gray: Reptiles

To seal my burm cages, I use aquarium silicone in every joint where wood meets wood....corners, angles, etc.
For sealing the wood itself, Ive been using a relatively new product called Polycrylic, made by Minwax. Its a non-toxic, water-based urethane and is at all the home stores, comes in a blue can. Works great and stands up to burm pee even! I recoat the cages every year with it. Check it out if you like to paint the cages (like I do).