Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I heard about people using melamine for racks well, today I went to lowes, for what I want to make I could get one 4X8 peice of particle board for $8.00,the guy said that it would work good. Then when I returned home my mom said, "it may release phirmaldihide,' is this true..
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Chad
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I had no idea, but I guess all or most particle board(including melamine) has formaldehyde in it and some of it is released into the air. However, melamine has been used for years with reptiles and I've never heard/read of the formaldehyde being a problem with thier health.

Thanks for bringing it up. Your herps will be fine.
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Rob Jenkins
herpcam.com

Rob ,
Thanks for your help.I have your post from the archives on how you made your rack and thats where i got the plans for mine.Is melamine made mostly of particle board?
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Chad
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I believe so. It's just coated in plastic on each side. You can get some iron on trim to cover the sides you cut.

I doubt that the formaldehyde can penetrate the plastic coating to get into the enclosures in any large quantity, and whatever is released can't be more than regular (particle board) furniture in your house.
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Rob Jenkins
herpcam.com

Instead of using Melaminewould it be ok to just use plain particle board...
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Chad
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The formaldehyde apparently comes from the particle board, not the melamine (coating?). You could use it and it may work, but hte reason people use the melamine is the resistance to humidity from the coating. Plus, it looks nicer. I'd be afraid of the particle board soaking up the humidity/water and coming apart.
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Rob Jenkins
herpcam.com

...
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Chad
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n/p
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Rob Jenkins
herpcam.com

That's formaldehyde. I do recall something written years back about losses of snakes kept in melamine cages which were exposed to high heat levels. The high heat caused the material to outgas formaldehyde and adversely affected the reptiles.

There was a movement to use only formaldehyde-free melamine in reptile cages. If you look around, you can find it.

If the particle board you purchased contains formaldehyde (something you should be able to find out by contacting the place of sale), then you may either want to think twice, or try sealing it extremely well and avoid exposing it to high heat levels. If you're using it in a rack, rather than directly as a cage, this may be easier to do.