Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello-I was hoping to get some advice on the first cage I've built. The cage is plywood & is 72" x 24". I use it for my yearling Texas Indigo snake. Im attempting to make it as sterile & easy to clean as possible due to the "messy" nature of Indigos. In hindsight I now realize wood isnt the way to go for this type of cage but Im trying to make it work. I have a sheet of plexiglass which covers the entire base of the cage & contact paper on the walls & roof. My question is what should I use to seal the edges between the plexiglass on the floor & the walls. At certain points there is a tiny gap between the plexi & the walls-any ideas? what would be the safest for my snake & how long should you wait after applying the sealent before its safe for the snake. Any advice would be vastly appreciated...

Easy solution:

I would pull the plexiglass out temporarily. I would put layer of contact paper on the floor as well, taking cage to get as close to the walls as possible.

I would then put a very thick bead of 100% silicone around the lower edge of the cage where the contact paper on the floor meets the contact paper on the walls. Then place the plexiglass back in the cage and press it down into the silicone while it's still soft.

Then just silicone the verical edges, just like you see in an aquarium. Also put more silicone along the floor if needed.

Put the snake back in the cage when you can no longer smell the vinegar type smell coming from the silicone.

My only concern with this is that contact paper is not the same product it was when it became so popular in reptile cages years back. The adhesive is much weaker than the actual film is about 1/3 the thickness. I'd be concerned that it won't stand up to the type of cleaning that is required in a Drymarchon ssp. cage.

More complex solution(s):

Consider scrapping the contact paper and plexiglass solution and sealing the cage in a more permanent fashion. If the cage is nice and you like it otherwise, this might be a good idea.

But even if you do go with the contact paper solution you can still go back and do something more permanent later on. You'll just need to scrape all the silicone out which may make you wish you had never done it in the first place.

Either way you're not stuck with the decision.

Arrgghh... My writing skills are not normally this bad. Correction below.

>>The adhesive is much weaker AND the
>>actual film is about 1/3 the thickness.

Thanks for your advice-I've read a lot of your posts on this forum & was hoping you'd respond-seems your a guru on all elements of cages for reptiles! Thanks again-much appreciated..