Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Seems no matter where I go, I can only find white melamine sheets. ( 4'x8' )
Has anyone here actually bought black? That's what I'm looking for.
I want to try building a melamine cage to avoid offgassing time.
I usually use oak.
I'll keeo trying the specialty lumber dealers, but I can't find black here in Connecticut.

I don't know of black melamine, but I learned plenty about offgassing before building my new snake enclosure. I found a clearcoat poly that contains no toxins and prevents offgassing from whatever you coat with it. It is waterbased and takes only 48 hours to cure. The trouble with it is that it is expensive. About 27 dollars a quart and 90 dollars a gallon. I don't worry about my snake getting sick though. I found it at needs.com It is called AFM Safecoat Polyureseal BP. Hope this helps.

1.0 Corn Snake "Motega"

I've never tried the water based based polyurethane. I've only used the oil base, and flooring finish at that.
If I build another cage out of wood, I might try an epoxy finish. I need a durable finish as I keep burms, and the humidity needed to simulate jungle habitats may damage water based finishes.
If not an epoxy finish, maybe I'll just line the cage with FRP..done once and forget about it...
I'll keep trying to find my black melamine though. I want all my cages to match. Yup..all except one is black
And this is for Chris... cuz I know he'll read it.
Our local Lowes has 3/4 maple plywood. Nice...very nice.
Harder than birch, and almost as clear grained as birch.
And the same price.$44.95 per sheet. Looks as though it will be very nice to work with.

Bob,

I don't recall if I ever actually purchased black melamine, but I do know it was available from two different cabinet shops in a small town where I used to live. I'm sure you can find it. And any place that carries it will likely have the higher quality melamine with the much thicker and more durable thermofused layer - VERY important for Burmese Pythons.

>>I've never tried the water based based polyurethane. I've only used the oil base, and flooring finish at that.

There are actually a couple of waterborne flooring finishes out there that outperform oil-modified finishes. They are VERY expensive, however. I still plan to try one of them at some point, simply because the cure time is so short and they are so easy to touch up in the future if there is wear. If you use oil-based, reparing the finish is tougher and you have to wait for offgassing all over again. Also, they don't require as thick of a build as epoxy, meaning you end up using less of it.

The product I plan to try is a catalyzed WB Poly. You have to add a catalyst just like epoxy to cause it to cure.

The stuff has water cleanup when it's wet, but once it cures you have to clean it with acetone. That's impressive. This stuff is basically a waterborne epoxy with 100% urethane solids.

>>If I build another cage out of wood, I might try an epoxy finish. I need a durable finish as I keep burms, and the humidity needed to simulate jungle habitats may damage water based finishes.

Epoxy is still tough to beat. But due to it's thicker build you don't get much coverage. I think a great combo would be epoxy on the floor and the first 6" or so of the sides, followed by something cheaper and/or easier on the rest of the walls and ceiling.

>>If not an epoxy finish, maybe I'll just line the cage with FRP..done once and forget about it...

That's still tough to beat but I dislike the look on the cage walls. I would only use that for monitors or other species that can scratch cage walls.

>>I'll keep trying to find my black melamine though. I want all my cages to match. Yup..all except one is black

You could always build the cage from white melamine and line the interior with black vinyl film. That film will stand up to almost anything. However, the outside will still be white.

Personally, I'd find the black melamine. I'd still line the inside with black vinyl film for the extra protection, though. I'd probably also cover the floor with FRP. Cut several large squares out of the floor to reduce weight.

>>Our local Lowes has 3/4 maple plywood. Nice...very nice.

I was just at Lowes yesterday and did not check out the plywood selection. But I agree that the laminated plys at HIC's are pretty darn nice for the price. The laminated layer tends to be quite thin so I might not use it on furniture, but I still think they offer exceptional value.

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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

2.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

4.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)