Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

Just wondering what is the best, longest lasting wood that can be used to build cages? I am looking for something that will last a long time, and wont' warp (atleast a whole lot). It will mainly be for burmese and reticulated pythons, but eventually Plan to build one for a water monitor too. Any help would be great.

Thanks a bunch,
Stan

I prefer plywood over medium density fiberboard or melamine coated particle board. I live just a couple of miles from Reptile Gardens and they have plywood cages that are decades old.

At a minimum I would go with AC plywood just so I'd have the smooth side for putting on a finishing coat. For a nicer cage you could go with a laminated, cabinet grade plywood. I think they are worth the extra money since you'll end up spending much more on the cage than the value of the wood.

Ultimately what you finish the cages with will have the biggest impact on their longevity. For the monitor that will be fiberglass or some other epoxy or Fiberglass Reinforced Panel (aka FRP).

For the large constrictors you have more choices for a durable finish.
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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

hey i was at Lowes a new home improvement store and they sell rolls of melamine sheeting. it irons on. so know you can get ply wood and then cover it with mel. I love it!

Paul

ps new rat racks

I noticed the sides are pretty thin on the racks for your snakes. This is actuually a good area to cut down on weight. What did you use? Luaun? I imagine 2 sides and a back of luaun weigh less then one solid 1x10 of anything for a single side.
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

But I will

There have been a few threads, all still on this 1'st page of this forum where this is discussed.

It's 1/8" showerboard, available for about $9 per sheet at most HIC's. It's a plastic coated hardboard so I've wondered if just regular hardboard would work.

What's most amazing to me is that he built like a 10 tub tall rack or something like that with the showerboard for the back and sides.

I have used 1/2" plywood for the sides of a rack and then not used a solid back. This saves a lot of weight but I like Paul's method even better.

You might type 'HTDesigns' into the Edit/Find function of your browser and look for all of Paul's posts about this.
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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

I said NO POST!!!!!!!! hehehe
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

NP

That iron-on melamine is supposed to be lousy. Does not offer great protection and achieving good adhesion is supposed to be difficult. Even worse, if you add up the price of the plywood the melamine it gets very expensive.

Melamine coated plywood is available through special order. I have heard the melamine coating on that product is as good as it gets. Or you can laminate a variety of other products onto plywood that will stick better and offer better long-term resistance.

Just what I have heard...

But hey, good job on that rat rack. I'm waiting to build mine until I can get to a Home Depot and buy their concrete mixing tubs. Evidently the particular product they carry is much better than Lowes or Menards - the only HIC's in my area. And I'm in no hurry.

What size mesh are you going with?
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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)