Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just curious... I'm really wanting to repaint my room but i'm afraid of the latex odors harming my snakes in here. I really have no other room in the house they can go... my grandma is deathly afraid of them so i've pretty much just decided i'm not going to do it. Was wondering though if I opened the doors and windows and had fans running do you think it would be ok? I don't, but I wanted a second opinion from someone with more experience with reptiles than I have.

Thanks,
Chris
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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)

Toon,

I have used latex paint on large surfaces in rooms containing reptiles before. I highly doubt it's a problem. When it comes to my zoo background, I've seen much worse. I won't get into that.

Leave your grandmother alone and paint away...

Now my questions:

I need to buy paint for my reptile room. I primed the bare drywall with two coats of American Tradition Interior Mult-Purpose Primer. It is an acrylic-latex.

What do you recommend for mild moisture resistance, durability, and easy cleaning?

Oh yeah, and what color to help mask a really bad job of mudding, taping, and sanding the drywall joints
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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)

Now my questions:

Oh yeah, and what color to help mask a really bad job of mudding, taping, and sanding the drywall joints

That primer will help out a lot. Did you get the primer tinted at all? If not, you want to stay away from any red color. Liquid red tint (which is the only kind a paint store uses) is translucent in nature, thus you need either a pink or gray primer (pink for a brighter red, gray for a darker red, such as a maroon).

I would personally go with a light color, some varation of an off white, or any light or pastel color. We just painted our break room at work in a pastel yellow and it looks really good. It will make your room appear larger, and help hide imperfections - however the sheen of the paint is more important than the color in this aspect.

The question boils down to this. How dirty are you really planning on getting your walls? If it's just normal wear and tear like the rest of your house, and your walls are REALLLY bad, i'd suggest just a flat paint. If they're not REALLY bad i'd go with a flat enamel. Enamel will make your imperfections stand out, however this paint will clean up a lot easier. Flat enamel has the minimal amount of enamel in it, followed by eggshell, then satin, semi-gloss, and high gloss. Satin enamel will still hide your imperfections fairly well.. but you have to decide if you like the sheen it gives off. Personally, I am going to be using eggshell enamel for the walls and semigloss enamel for the trim.

As far as I am aware, Menards and Lowe's neither carry a flat enamel, eggshell engamel, or even a satin enamel. For durability, Behr has been rated #1, 2 years in a row. It's all I use on my place, and I've been happy with it.

No matter what kind you use, make sure you get one that says 100% Acrylic. As i'm sure you know, acrylic is the type of glue they use when manufacturing the paint. However you see one can thats $10 that says 100% acrylic vs the $19 can that says 100% acrylic. The difference is in the amount of acrylic in the can... this is very deceptful. The other types of glues are vinyl and polyvinyl, neither hold too well.

I'm sure you're getting sick of reading this... I could give you a whole lesson on differences in paints if you want me to though.

To make a long post short, i'd go with a flat enamel or eggshell enamel. Just make sure it's an enamel paint.
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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)

Oh, one other thing. check out www.behr.com - they have this thing there called the color smart program. it's a flash based thing that runs in your browser. You can choose your color, then it tells you what will go well with that color.
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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)

Nope, just normal (blinding) white primer.

>>The question boils down to this. How dirty are you really planning on getting your walls? If it's just normal wear and tear like the rest of your house, and your walls are REALLLY bad, i'd suggest just a flat paint.

The walls are very bad. I subluxated my shoulder while hanging the drywall (sort of a minor dislocation - it happens to me all the time) and it just got worse and worse since I did not stop working. By the time it came to sanding the drywall I just could barely do it. We made an executive decision that getting the snakes out of the house was more important and primed over some pretty bad drywall joints.

I'll go with a flat offwhite or pastel. The walls will mostly be covered with cages and should not get dirty nor be seen. If the ceiling is an eyesore I'll think of something else. My fiance says she'll practice faux finishes, LOL.

But regarding the dirtiness factor, I don't expect the walls to get dirty. Especially since they'll be covered and I have no HVAC to pump dust into the room.

>>As far as I am aware, Menards and Lowe's neither carry a flat enamel, eggshell engamel, or even a satin enamel.

You know, I think I'll go to Sherwin Williams. They're closer and it's always easy to get an answer. I'm really sick of driving to Lowes.
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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)

vv

I believe I have a picture of the room framed out. Still on the digital. I'll snap some pictures once two coats of paint are up.

Fiance picked out a color that is between a light sage and a light pastel green. I may have to use that as an excuse for more and taller cages

I've got to admit, the time, expense and frustration of getting this room up has made me wonder if the snakes are worth it.
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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 believe I have a picture of the room framed out. Still on the digital. I'll snap some pictures once two coats of paint are up.
>>
>>Fiance picked out a color that is between a light sage and a light pastel green. I may have to use that as an excuse for more and taller cages
>>
>>I've got to admit, the time, expense and frustration of getting this room up has made me wonder if the snakes are worth it.
>>-----
>>Current snakes:
>>
>>0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)
>>
>>3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)
>>
>>2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)
>>
>>3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)
Chris, Use the fattest knapped roller you can buy to apply the paint. The heavier coat and the texture (orange peel) will hide alot. The flatter the paint the better, maybe a washable flat? I would also like to see the work in progress. Clint
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0.1 Colombian Boa (Honey)
1.0 Hogg Isle Boa
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Houdini)
0.1 Argentine Boa (Lacie)
0.0.2 Green Tree Python (Biak (Smog) & Sorong type)

Well the color is a disapointment. I wanted to go with a shade of off white but the fiance wanted to experiment with a light green she liked. I don't think they mixed it right as it's quite a bit darker than anticipated. But the flat color does hide my drywall mishaps better than I thought it could. Thanks Toon.

The snake room is 9'x17', the shop in front of it is 15'x17'. I would have like more room for the snakes, especifically for me inbetween the cages, but I really wanted to leave enough room in the garage for a vehicle, especially if we need to sell the house.

We added three new circuits to the garage. One 220V for the electric radiant heat, one 20 amp circuit for the snake room outlets, and another 20 amp circuit for the shop outlets/snake room lights.

So my snake room lights, heat, and outlets are on three different circuits. Good idea, I think.

I put in a VERY POWERFUl exhaust fan and put in on one of those twist timers. That way I can just run it for a few minutes and not worry about forgetting about it. Another good idea, I think.

The room only has two overhead lights, one being a porcelain incandescent, the other being a ceiling fan. I thought it was going to be wired such that the two lights were operated by a switch, and then the fan operated by the pull-chain. As it is now I have to have both lights on in order to run the fan. Not what I wanted as I'll probably leave the fan blades on 24/7.

My electrician's wife is my fiance's assistant so I think we can fix that.

I insulated both the floors and walls with foil-faced poly-iso insulation board. Should work well with the radiant heat.

I really only have to put in linoleum flooring and have the electric inspected before I move the snakes out.

Then I get to buy tools and start building cages...
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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)

On the porcelain light, this is just a single incandescant bulb, correct? The easiest way to fix this is you can go get yourself another fixture just like that with a pull chain on it. Your fan should have a pullchain for the light to go on and off, as well as a speed selector for the fan. This way you could leave the switch on and just turn off the lights with the pullchain.

Then I get to buy tools and start building cages...
Then the fun begins...
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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)

>>This way you could leave the switch on and just turn off the lights with the pullchain.

That's my plan for now. Not what I originally wanted, but good enough. Fortunately the porcelain fixture is right by the door so this won't be a problem, even if it's a long-term solution.
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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)