Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What is better for the inside of a cage, staining it or painting it? And if I paint it, do I have to use a layer of clearcoat too?
I am thinking of maybe staining the outside, and painting the inside. But again, I think it might turn out crappy. I am torn between staining and painting. Guess it all depends on what kind of plywood I end up using.
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Tim W.

Oh and what is BC Pine ULX Exterior? Is it suitable for building a cage from? I know it is BC grade, but I was considering painting it.
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Tim W.

You can paint the inside, I personally wouldn't paint certain types of wood, like oak; reason being that the grain will show through. Just use 2 coats of semigloss water based paint, with a decent primer (kilz-2 works fine. nice n cheap.) Semigloss paint actually works as a waterproofer...but this poses another question. What kind of reptile are you putting in this cage? Is it a snake that will need a daily misting? If so, what I did for my chondro's cage is I painted the entire interior with a black semigloss paint (just the color i had lying around the garage...) and then fully lined the inside with FRP. On the colubrid cages I just put FRP on the floor and up the walls 8 inches. It works very nicely.

On any floor and up the walls a bit a little I would reccomend to use FRP, expanded pvc, or formica. Any water based product will break down over time, and if you dont watch it your wood will be rotting out from under you. Any water based product on the walls will need to be touched up every now and then, every year or so. You'll have to do it more often on the bottom if you dont cover it... then keep your reps out for a couple weeks to let it offgas.

so you ask why don't you just use oil based? you can, and it will stand up a lot longer, but you will end up having to wait a couple months for that to offgas before you can put your reptiles in it.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

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Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Claudius)... coming soon

>>Oh and what is BC Pine ULX Exterior?

I'm sure the 'X' stands for exterior, which often means treated with chemicals to withstand harsh conditions. Best not to use it unless you know exactly what's in it.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

>>Guess it all depends on what kind of plywood I end up using.

Your last sentence says it all. It really depends on what type of plywood you use. I would not stain AC or AB pine plywood. Both tend to have a lot of repairs done to the 'A' side that basically look like small footballs. They really stand out when stained.

>>What is better for the inside of a cage, staining it or painting it?

What is better is what you prefer. I've seen some cages with painted interiors and stained exteriors that looked fantastic. I've also seen some that looked pretty bad. I don't think I've ever seen a cage with a stained interior and a painted exterior, but I guess even that would work.

A recent poster built a Uromastyx cage that was painted on the outside but only clearcoated on the inside. That also looked very nice, not that I saw it in person.

>>And if I paint it, do I have to use a layer of clearcoat too?

No, there are paints that can stand by themselves. May need touching up, but they don't need a clearcoat.

In a nutshell, decide what type of plywood you want to use and we'll help from there. If you are thinking about a combination of paint and stain look no further than birch-laminated plywood. Sometimes called maple or mahagany plywood, but anymore they're so similar it does not matter.

I agree with Toon - don't paint Oak unless you really like the look. Some people do like the small amount of grain showing through or even doing a wipe so only the grain is filled. It's just not for me.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

I use formica laminate on the inside of all my cages. I find different types of marble or grabite looks give a natural kind of appearance with out that really fake look. I caulk all the seams and corners and then a simple wipe on grout sealer doesn't hurt although it's not necessary unless the habitat is going to stay wet. It's easy to use and cut. Just measure score and break. Contact cement is used to attatch it and then your done.

I would suggest just a poly coat or other clear type coating especially if you plan to use the Oak plywood you were looking at before. that way it shows off the wood and you don't have to worry so much about stain color and the wood taking it evenly.