Exo Terra Styrofoam Backing Safe?

[Ben Do]

I use exo terra enclosures for a lot of my animals and I tried modifying the backgrounds that come with them. I noticed how some people would get their T's, crickets, and other inverts on the other side due to a couple of pieces of styrofoam creating a gap between the glass. Taking the suggestions for many where they said to shave it off with a knife, the backing was very "crumbly." So with a lighter, I quickly wiped it over so the heat could smooth it out and make it completely flush to the glass. Now that I'm thinking about it, it was probably a bad idea to do so but I am unsure. There's no chemical smell or anything but I'm afraid that would it be possible that some chemicals or toxins leech into the substrate or the air of the enclosure making it unsafe for animals?

 

[Dorifto]

You can apply some polyurethane foam on the grooves to fill the gap. Then cut the excess to make it flush. Instead of shaving, using fire... etc

 

[KaroKoenig]

Still, should be fine if you let it evaporate for a few days.

 

[viper69]

Give it some time

 

[Cas S]

You could make your own background with expanding foam

 

[testdasi]

I use exo terra enclosures for a lot of my animals and I tried modifying the backgrounds that come with them. I noticed how some people would get their T's, crickets, and other inverts on the other side due to a couple of pieces of styrofoam creating a gap between the glass. Taking the suggestions for many where they said to shave it off with a knife, the backing was very "crumbly." So with a lighter, I quickly wiped it over so the heat could smooth it out and make it completely flush to the glass. Now that I'm thinking about it, it was probably a bad idea to do so but I am unsure. There's no chemical smell or anything but I'm afraid that would it be possible that some chemicals or toxins leech into the substrate or the air of the enclosure making it unsafe for animals?

If that's a problem then Petko (aka The Dark Den on Youtube) would probably have had many dead tarantulas. He uses flame to even out surfaces on his styrofoam background on the side facing the tarantulas (albeit the plain white kind and not the Exo Terra coloured kind and he added stuff on top of the styrofoam).

Just leave it out for a few days just to be safe and that would be all I would do.

 

[Cas S]

If that's a problem then Petko (aka The Dark Den on Youtube) would probably have had many dead tarantulas. He uses flame to even out surfaces on his styrofoam background on the side facing the tarantulas (albeit the plain white kind and not the Exo Terra coloured kind and he added stuff on top of the styrofoam).

Just leave it out for a few days just to be safe and that would be all I would do.

dont use that kind of foam in amphibian enclosures though, its an endocrine disruptor.

 

[Rhino1]

I have glued these in before, but Ive also had issues with scorpions and Ts trying to burrow into it and making a mess in the enclosure