Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi. I am starting to build my enclosure. I have decided it is going to be 43" W X 22" L X 30" H. This is for my beardie. It is going to be made out of wood and screen mesh (I live in phoenix, AZ so it stays warm here). I have decided that the whole back will be wood so I can put the lights inside the enclosure. Since beardies eat crickets (and Sam eats about 40 a day) I would like to know what kind of paint I can use on the wood that crickets can't climb up? Someone told me epoxy paint? I am of course going to thouroughly let it dry before actualy putting it together. Is there any other (cheaper) kind of paint I can use? I am going to have the bottom 15" of the whole enclosure made of wood and the rest (15" will be the screen mesh. Thanks
Meghan
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1.0 Normal Bearded Dragon (Sam)
2.2 Russian Tortoises (Leo, Cole, Piper, Prue)
0.2 Dogs (Molly-Beagle, Zoei-German Shorthaired Pointer)
View My Photos: http://photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

A 2 part epoxy paint would do a very good job, however the only reason I would be hesitant is you will have to wait months upon months for the paint to offgas. the only 2 part epoxy paint i've ever seen is an oil based forumla. Behr does make a 1 part epoxy paint that's a latex, but I don't think it does that great of a job, myself. I would just go with a semigloss latex interior paint. Make sure to put a good primer underneath it. And 2 coats of paint.

I would also be more concerned with the crickets climbing the screen front of it moreso than climbing the back wooden wall.

Are you planning on painting the floor of the cage also? If so, I really don't know what i'd say to that (I don't know if you will have a substrate over this and what size/sharpness their feet/claws are). If you will have a substrate over it, I would just paint it with the same semigloss paint. If it's got big claws or will be right on the wood floor, i would go with a 2 part epoxy paint (rust oleum makes a nice 2 part epoxy garage floor paint.) If you're going to paint the floor, that is. You always have the option of expanded PVC, FRP, or something along those lines. That's what i'd reccomend over anything.
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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?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

Hi Chris,
Wow I really dont think I'd want to wait months for it to be useable (Sam would be too big for his enclosure he's in now!)!! So a semigloss latex interior paint should keep the crickets off the wood? The front is going to have a 15" wood barrier (and on the sides as well) and then the top 15" of the enclosure will be screen so the crickets shouldnt be able to even get to the screen unless they can climb up the wood somehow. I am going to have substrates. On 1/2 of the enclosure Im going to have shelfliner and on the other 1/2 I will have sand (5" deep) and in between that will be a 6" divider with a ramp going into the shelfliner half. Their claws are pretty sharp when they get older but I shouldnt have a problem since I will have the substrates. Thanks so much
Meghan

>>I would just go with a semigloss latex interior paint. Make sure to put a good primer underneath it. And 2 coats of paint.

>>I would also be more concerned with the crickets climbing the screen front of it moreso than climbing the back wooden wall.

>>Are you planning on painting the floor of the cage also? If so, I really don't know what i'd say to that (I don't know if you will have a substrate over this and what size/sharpness their feet/claws are).
>>-Chris
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1.0 Normal Bearded Dragon (Sam)
2.2 Russian Tortoises (Leo, Cole, Piper, Prue)
0.2 Dogs (Molly-Beagle, Zoei-German Shorthaired Pointer)
View My Photos: http://photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

Well... crickets do jump....
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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?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

Haha yeah I know. I am going to have 15" of wood all around the whole enclosure so hopefully they wont jump that high. If they do I'll just get them down but most of them will stay on the ground. I just wanted to make sure that with the semigloss latex paint that they wouldnt be able to climb up the wood? Thanks
Meghan

>>Well... crickets do jump....
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>>-Chris
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1.0 Normal Bearded Dragon (Sam)
2.2 Russian Tortoises (Leo, Cole, Piper, Prue)
0.2 Dogs (Molly-Beagle, Zoei-German Shorthaired Pointer)
View My Photos: http://photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

semigloss should be fine. if you wanna be sure, get some high gloss. lol.
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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?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)