Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am building a custom wood enclosure and would like to know of a brand or type of sealant I should treat the wood with to withstand humidity, water damage and ease of cleaning the enclosure.

I have some nice birch plywood laying around and is the perfect size for a nice big cage. Any help would be appreciated......the less toxic the better and also....How long do I need to air it out for??

Based on what you have told me so far, the only thing I would definately remove from consideration is an oil-based polyurethane. They can offgass for months, even years, and don't look good on light colored woods like birch, assuming you're not staining it a dark color. Otherwise, I'll need more info before I can help.

What species is/are going in this cage?

Are you staining/dying the wood? If so, what color?

Do you want a clear coat?

Do you mind refinishing every couple of years or do you want an apply it once and forget it finish?

What city/state are you located in?

I am thinking to put a Boa constrictor in the cage.

I am leaving it natural colored, nothing fancy.

Do you want a clear coat? Yes

Do you mind refinishing every couple of years or do you want an apply it once and forget it finish? I wold like to finish once and forget it.

What city/state are you located in?

I am located in Sacramento, CA.

For a boa constrictor you'll want something pretty tough due to the humidity requirments as well as the fairly caustic urates a Boa produces. I'm sure you already knew that.

And I think your idea of leaving it natural colored is a good one since birch plywood is very hard to stain and happens to look great as is. Just avoid any finish that is designed to amber slightly over time. That looks great on some woods but birch is not one of them, IMO.

For a apply it and forget it interior, I would recommend starting with a plastic floor. It will be covered with substrate so the appearance won't matter.

Do you have any intention of using a undertank heat source or are you sticking with an overhead radiant source? I can give more info on plastic floors once I know your heating plans.

At any rate, for the visible areas of the cage I would use either a water-based epoxy or urethane. But not the stuff you buy at Home Depot. You'll want something better for a Boa, especially if you don't want to recoat every few years.

I can think of two products available on the West coast.

One is Envira-Poxy made and distributed by Kelly Moore. It is a concrete floor finish used by Boeing in their hangers but is suitable for nice woodwork. You should be able to get it for about $40 per gallon if you ask nice. But it only comes in gallons, which is a problem.

Another product is BonaKemi Traffic, a two part catalyzed polyurethane designed for floors. It is also hard to buy in small quantity but maybe you can find a flooring distributor with their own installation department and they can sell you a smaller portion of the urethane and catalyst.

Both products are extremely safe and incredibly tough, but not something you can purchase by the pint. However, if you have a garage floor to seal it might be nice to have some of the EnviraPoxy lying around. On the other hand, the Bonakemi might be nice if you have hardwood floors to finish at your home. Or either product bought in bulk will be nice if you have more cages to build in the future.

Another scenario would be to buy a smaller quantity of a one-part polyurethane. They won't be as tough as the above products but in conjunction with a plastic floor things should still be okay. And if you did need to refinish the cage a water-based poly makes it pretty darn easy.

Two of the better waterborne polyurethanes are made by General Finishes and Fure. Both companies make several products so I'll have to do some digging to figure which are the good ones. I do think they are worth the extra money over readily available WB polys from Minwax and Varathane. And they should not be hard to find in Sacramento.

Sorry to ramble on. Let me know you intentions with the heating and I can give some advice on the floors.

Sounds great. I plan on using either felxwatt or a UT pad and possibly overhead heating in the form of ceramic heat emitter but I definitely would like to use belly heat. Plastic flooring sounds good and I appreciate your help and would like some suggestions.

Thanks-

Brett

Brett,

My recommended approach is to cut a rectangle out of the floor of the cage. Make the rectangle 2" longer and wider than the heat source you'll be using. Don't cut it to close to the cage walls to avoid affecting the structure and/or coming close to screws or other fasteners.

Then go ahead and seal the entire cage with whatever you choose, including the floor.

Next cover the entire floor with Sintra or other brand of expanded PVC. This makes the cage easy to clean, durable, and increases thermal mass, which is a good thing with flexwatt. It also transmits heat very well. Make sure to silicone the edges.

The flexwatt can be attached to the underside of the plastic with the appropriate foil tape. Route a groove for the cord to run out the back.

Regarding TAP Plastics mentioned in the other post, they make and distribute good stuff. The marine epoxy can be a pain to work with and offgas for a long time, but the finish is very durable.

Another word of warning is that some marine epoxies can yellow over time. But there are numerous types of epoxies so read up and see what the particular product is known for.

I'd be more inclined to use TAP's polymer based bartop epoxy, assuming they still carry it.

Below is a link to TAP's polymer epoxy. $69 for a gallon kit is a bit expensive. I can get Envirotex, an identical product, for $55 locally. But maybe local sales are cheaper.

Ultra-Glo

TAP Plastics has a lot of really cool products, two stores in the Sacramento area, and the employees should be able to point you in the right direction.

Perusing their site, this:
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=27&

with B-side 109 looks to be a decent option for your application.

.