Reptile & Amphibian Forums

has anyone used melanine (sp?) board to build a cage. I've been thinking of getting a burm and me and the wife were at Home Depot today and i decided to look at the wood material. I've worked with block, concrete and steel but not wood much. The melanine board looked to have some type of plastic coating on it. I got what i think would be a great idea for a large cage 96x48x20 and the only way to test my theory is to build one. I know the one big down fall is that the cage is going to weigh as muck as a Volkswagon but if my idea works i think it will be worth it. if not the melanine board, if anyone has built a large enclosure of wood what material did you use. Also would the melanine hold up with a radiant heat panel?
any information would be great, thanks for your time.

Melamine is great in that it's moisture proof, easy to wipe clean, and cheap. The only problem like you said is weight. Make sure to get 5/8 inch instead of 6/8 because that makes a HUGE difference and still get the job done. You also need to place support pillars centered in the cage to prevent it from bowing.
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0.1 Albino Burmese Pythons (Annie)
1.0 Normal Burmese Python (Judo)
1.9 Ball Pythons (Salazar and Slytherin, ...)
1.1 Black Samatran Blood Pythons (Hades and Medusa)

I don't recall melamine being moisture proof. In fact it is quite the opposite. If scratched and exposed to water it will begin to crumble.
I can however stand up to the humidity levels a burm needs for a little while, but in a relatively short time, it will just fall apart. Especially the Home Depot variety.
If you want to use melamine, I would go to my local lumberyard, or cabinet supply shop and get a higher quality.
In lieu of melamine, you can build one out of plywood, which will need some sort of finish, and fiberglass reinforced panel.
This will give you major water resistance, and give you light weight.
At the same time...keeping your cost down.