Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am building my own retic cages. I am building them out of sanded plywood. Right now I am sealing the inside with clear wood sealer made by minwax. I feel that the sealer is not durable enough. What else can I use?

I know they make an epoxy coating (duraplate) but the cost is really up there. I am not a big fan of melamine.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Brett
330-815-2446

There is some stuff called "bar-top epoxy" that can work well. Depending on the size of the cage, cost may be a factor.

Tile and grout works really well but is very heavy.

You can fiberglass the inside. Fiberglass cloth and polyester resin. I would go at least 6 inches up the sides.

Did you use water-based polyurethane? Or is it that MinWax sealer only. The polyurethane affords better protection, but it is not as good as epoxy would be. With polyurethane, you still need to seal the seams with silicon or other sealant.

If you use a substrate that is absorbent, you may be able to get away with the polyurethane.

I have an old wood cage (small cage) that I used Bondo to cover and round all of the inside seems. Then I repainted the cage using regular waterbased paint. The new paints they have now are very durable. They go on with almost no odor and dry quickly with absolutely no odor. Touchups later on are easy since it dries so fast. Cage has held up very well considering I did not use anything fancy.

Hey there Brett -

We use a MINWAX product called fast-drying polyurethane. It comes in an aresol can, is easy to work with and has superior durability. We do a couple coats and finely sand in between them. You just have to make sure to give the enclosure ample time to dry and the fumes to escape 100%. It work great!! If you want something smoother/harder you could always coat it with fiberglass resin and let it set up. Hope this helps. Feel free to check us out, we do quite a few retic and large snake enclosures.

Nick
www.newreptilecages.com

Does it or would it seal over heat tape?