Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Looking at building a custom setup, and I've read how people have trouble with melamine not withstanding humid conditions. I was browsing over the new Reptiles USA annual magazine and saw and ad for www.sundragons.com, which had a enclosure built out of PVC coated sheeting. I did a web search and could not find a retailer for this material. Anyone have any suggestions for where I should look or who might carry it? Thanks

Peyton
NCSU Zoology/Wildlife Biology Undergad

It goes by several other names and you probably can find it within a few miles of where you live.

First start by looking for plastic distributors in your phone book. They'll be cheaper. Ask for expanded PVC sheet.

If the distributors are too far away they almost certainly ship to local sign shops. If you end up calling there you should ask for Sintra, the brand name of the most common PVCX sheet.

What species is this cage for and how large will the cage be?

Let me know and before you call around. It may be that you'll need a thicker version than the typical 1/4". I'll tell you now that I would not keep a monitor or other scratching species in it. It's a great material for snakes, though.

I also have some tips for joining panels of this material. It is not the easiest stuff to work with.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

Looking at keeping Lampropeltis sp. in the cages, roughly building a cage that is 3' long, 1.5' deep and 1' high for most. I was also looking at doing something for my 3 Hyla sp. that I have and making a bigger enclosure, around 4' long for my Ball Python. The reason I am deciding to try and aviod melamine is due to some of the species I have, like the tree frogs are high humidity. I figure that ill need something that is bigger than 1/4", but from what I hear expanded PVC is somewhat flexible and cannot be used for what i want to do because of its flexibility. Any other suggestions?

Expanded PVC will work fine for all of those applications. Numerous cage companies use this product for their cages, even those up to 6'. There may even be a cage company using it for their 8' cages.

Melamine can be lined with inexpensive contact paper and will work great for species requiring high humidity.

Heck, litterally hundreds if not thousands of cages for Green Tree Pythons are made from medium density fiberboard lined with contact paper. MDF is extremely susceptible to moisture and these cages have still held GTP's for years.

Read more about in on the FineGTPs.com website.

In a nutshell, PVCX if you want as light as possible and melamine or MDF coated with contact paper if you want cheap as possible.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

What I am looking for, at least right now, is for something i can apply to the surface of melamine to make it water resistant. Since silicone caulking is used for the corners of the cages, would a silicone spray, like scotch guard waterproofing work without hurting the animal, if allowed to air out and dry after multiple coatings? I have heard of the contact paper setup, but what about for the floor of the cages where you will have sometimes water spilling or an animal frequently deficating (such as my eastern kingsnake)?

Thanks

Peyton

>>...would a silicone spray, like scotch guard waterproofing work without hurting the animal?

I'm not exactly familiar with scotch guard waterproofing. If it's just another silicone spray that won't do anything to resist moisture.

The problem with melamine and sealers is that most products won't adhere to it.

>>I have heard of the contact paper setup, but what about for the floor of the cages where you will have sometimes water spilling or an animal frequently deficating

I believe the originator of this idea originally lined a wooden box with contact paper, siliconed the edges and then filled the box with water and left it there for weeks.

No leakage.

It was a brilliant idea, IMO.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

Hi,
Saw cages like you discribed at the Mid Atlantic Reptile Show last weekend. The email is www.cagecrafters.homestead.com I'm also in the market for cages(I tired of building my own) and compared these cages with Vision cages I also saw at the show. The pvc cages came with some features that you have to pay extra for on the vision cages. My only concern with both types is sagging of the material, i.e. "do they sag?"
SnakeMike

PVCX is not as tough as the material used in Visions, but plenty tough for snakes. Any plastic will sag with enough weight, but PVCX cages are so light that it takes quite a few to sag.

Visions are lifetime cages, and they clean easily. Cages made from PVCX can be lifetime cages if treated well, and they clean up almost as easy as Visions but not quite as easily.

Honestly, for colubrids, I think the Vision model 221 is tough to beat if you want a low-profile stackable cage that you can use and abuse for 25 years easily. And that new 4ft cage is fantastic for boas.

I used to not be a big fan of Visions, but I still got a few. Now that I've been using them for a long time, even dropping a few by accident, I see that they are the most durable cage out there and can work very well for almost any reptile.
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Mark