Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm in the process of building a couple large cages out of plywood for a burm and a few retics, and I'm wondering about my options for the interior. I've read through the posts and heard about a few different kinds of paints, but I was wondering about any other options there are out there (such as vinyl siding) so I can find which would work best for me. My other question is about heating, I have heard a few times that heat tape can melt the glues in the plywood causing them to offgas, however many others say that its the one of the better ways to heat wood enclosures, does anyone have any information on this? Thanks

Vinyl siding I don't think would be that great of an idea, for a couple reasons. It's not going to be a continous piece of plastic - it's segmented - so it will leak through. It also isnt flush to the cage, so you will have a lot of wasted space.

If you don't want to paint it, you could cover the interior with FRP, you could stain and polyurethane it, you could apply formica, but one thing i've been curious is possibly using a sheet vinyl flooring (linoleum).

The only thing I have used in my cages are the radiant heating panels... I use them in all my cages and they work great.
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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)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

>>I'm in the process of building a couple large cages out of plywood for a burm and a few retics, and I'm wondering about my options for the interior.

>>...but I was wondering about any other options there are out there (such as vinyl siding).

Don't like vinyl siding for the reason Toon gave. FRP, expanded PVC, showerboard, formica, and other plastic laminates would all work.

>>My other question is about heating, I have heard a few times that heat tape can melt the glues in the plywood causing them to offgas, however many others say that its the one of the better ways to heat wood enclosures, does anyone have any information on this?

Offgassing is a bigger concern with melamine, and even then many people heat their enclosures that way. Personally, I would never use heat tape to heat a large cage unless it was already in a relatively warm room. And I mean at least 80*.

If you do want to use it I suggest not heating through the plywood. Instead cut a large hole out of the plywood floor that is 2" wider and longer than the piece of heat tape needed. Don't have the hole run up to the side of the cage so the bottom maintains its structural integrity.

Then cover the floor inside of the cage with FRP or PVCX. The heat tape will be attached to the underside of the plastic floor with foil tape.

Route some grooves for the cords to run out the back.

This provides many advantages. It makes the floor more durable and easier to clean, it increases thermal mass and it provides and air space for the heat tape making it safer.

It certainly will make your heat tape not work as hard.
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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)