Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I will be in the process of building 5 melamine cages in the next month for my Bigger female boa's!Since I live in a trailor park with stupid rules I kinda have no choice but to use melamine!I feel I would be pushing my luck with using plywood in which I would have to paint or polyurithane to protect the wood,since this would definatley have to be done outside!Melamine while looking nice once you have a finished product,in time the silicone wears down while cleaning an leaks,causing,a ruint enclosier!OK I was thinking in order to install the tracking for the sliding glass doors,one would use liquid nail!If one was to also use this in all the seams while putting the cage together,wouldnt this also creat a water tight seal their also?I understand that you would have to clean each seam afterwords,but it would still be water tight correct?Last problem is my home depot cannot an will not get 1/2in melamine only 3/4! Can a 2ft flex watt produce a 90 degree hot spot threw 3/4 meamine?Thanks in advance for answering these questions!Eric [Hypoboa]
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E&C's Exotic House of Reptiles

>>OK I was thinking in order to install the tracking for the sliding glass doors,one would use liquid nail!If one was to also use this in all the seams while putting the cage together,wouldnt this also creat a water tight seal their also?

It should be more water resistant but not necessarily water tight. I may try a polyurethane glue or caulk for my next melamine cages. I suspect the foaming/expansion action will fill all the crevaces where water could get it. I would then silicone the interior edges after scraping away the excess polyurethane glue.

As always, I recommend you build the cages without a wooden floor. The simply use silicone and staples to attach some sort of plastic sheet directly to the bottom rim of the cage. This gives great protection where cages need it most and there is a significant weight savings.

This also takes care of your heating concerns.
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Current snakes:

0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

7.6 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

0.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

>>>>OK I was thinking in order to install the tracking for the sliding glass doors,one would use liquid nail!If one was to also use this in all the seams while putting the cage together,wouldnt this also creat a water tight seal their also?
>>
>>It should be more water resistant but not necessarily water tight. I may try a polyurethane glue or caulk for my next melamine cages. I suspect the foaming/expansion action will fill all the crevaces where water could get it. I would then silicone the interior edges after scraping away the excess polyurethane glue.
>>
>>As always, I recommend you build the cages without a wooden floor. The simply use silicone and staples to attach some sort of plastic sheet directly to the bottom rim of the cage. This gives great protection where cages need it most and there is a significant weight savings.
>>
>>This also takes care of your heating concerns.
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>>Current snakes:
>>
>>0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)
>>
>>1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)
>>
>>7.6 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)
>>
>>0.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

Thanks ok got another ?You know the plastic like[Not sure what its made of]tub surrounds you can buy at home depot will that work for the floor?Maybe attach it to a piece of 1/4 in partical board then put that as the floor of the cage with the glue you mentioned!Thanks again!Eric[Hypoboa]
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E&C's Exotic House of Reptiles

Most of my "floorless" cages have actually used showerboard. Reasonably light, cheap, and easy to replace. It can be attached to the bottom of a floorless cage with no additional support.

Or you might be talking about FRP board. That would also work with no extra support. In both cases whatever flat surface the cages set on support the floor.
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Current snakes:

0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

7.6 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

0.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

Hi, i haven't posted much in ages but wanted to pipe up here...

Melamine isn't watertight even if you use something to seal any edges (very water resistant ...BUT...). If enough is present, moisture will find a way into the subtrate (core) of the board and then you'll have swelling and all kinds of other troubles. It's tough to say what the limit or exact factors are but i'll use my cages as an example:

I have two stacked 4'x 2'x 2' melamine box syle cages. One has a Mali Uromastyx with about 10 inches of soil substrate, the other a Tangerine Honduran Milksnake with only a couple inches of a soil mix substrate at most.

The Uro cage is very desert-like with 80-100 degree temps and a hotspot of 120-150 degrees for basking. The soil, while dry on the surface does hold moisture and gets regularly added moisture to keep it a bit humid underground in the burrows as it would be in nature. The moisture combined with the weight of the soil has created a very bowed and swollen bottom of the cage. The weight was fine but when the moisture was added over time it was eventually soaked up into the melamine's particleboard core and now it's bowed and swollen so much that it's pulled away from the rest of the cage leaving a gap at the back.

This is with long term moisture and weight sitting on melamine

Now the Hondo cage is perfectly fine, and it gets soaked down pretty good with a spraybottle at least once a week. The difference being there isn't a lot of weight and it gets lots of time to dry out, and there isn't moist substrate or moisture sitting on the melamine for long periods of time.

So hopefully someone can learn something from my boo-boo lol and becareful when using melamine if you have moisture concerns. It should be fine for most herp needs but keep in mind it's not "waterproof"

Sorry for the long post.

Spanky

oh PS...

I'd like to add that i work for a lumber & sheet-goods wholesaler so i used only top quality thermal fused melamine with the finest particle core available. This is professional cabinet grade quality material.

would be the glue to use on concrete melamine lol
but serious the gorilla glue is a polyethelene glue. it takes VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY little of this glue on a joint because it triple expands in a foam base . on a 4ft seam of 3/4" material you can use a bead about the size of a toothpick then spread it around and clamp it good!. then make sure you dont walk off and leave it as it expands it may need to be wiped off or if not once it dries you have to serioulsy sand it lol.

Another thing to also try and i have used it before on melamine is a rubberized spray paint ( rocker panel spray for cars ) this can be applied for ( snake use only lizards may dig it and ingest it ) but it can create a water tight seal and actually create a pool effect when used in a box. just make sure you allow AMPLE drying time when using it and i would say make sure its done OUTSIDE and cures well before sticking a animal in it 72 hr minimal drying time at 70 degrees
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edited sig file 2/8/05