Reptile & Amphibian Forums

People always talk about using melamine to make snake racks, can this stuff be bought at stores? If so, where should I go to find it? I'm wanting to build a few racks for my snakes and any help finding melamine would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Christy

Yep... you can buy it at Home Depot, Lowe's and other home improvement stores. One word of caution about melamine, though. Although the surface is waterproof, the core (particle board) isn't. If it gets wet, it will come apart. You have to make sure that all of the joints, holes, etc. are well sealed with silicone sealant.

Check out the caging forum. There are several threads in there regarding using Melamine for racks.

Another word of caution--unless you use formaldehyde free melamine (generally needs to be special ordered), then you must take precautions to ensure it doesn't become overly hot, and that the snakes aren't directly on heated melamine at any point in time. It WILL outgas formaldehyde when heated, and cages made solely of melamine have resulted in serious illness and death for herps kept in them.

I'll check with my local home improvement stores and see if I can locate it, and I plan on getting formaldehyde free melamine, if I can have it ordered. If not, I will just have to find another material to make the racks out of, I wouldn't do anything to put my snakes in danger and I really appreciate you letting me know about the dangers of it. Thanks again, Christy