Melamine tarantula enclosure

[Tyler Lawrence]

Hello, I would like to at some point make a melamine enclosure for my adult tarantula.
I read somewhere that some people think a tarantula could chew through the melamine.
Is this true? And if so has anyone actually seen this happen?

 

[thatdadlife619]

Hello, I would like to at some point make a melamine enclosure for my adult tarantula.
I read somewhere that some people think a tarantula could chew through the melamine.
Is this true? And if so has anyone actually seen this happen?

Is making an enclosure out of melamine an actual thing? Not trying to hate, I’ve just never heard of that. I work in a cabinet shop and never thought that would work.

 

[Tyler Lawrence]

Is making an enclosure out of melamine an actual thing? Not trying to hate, I’ve just never heard of that. I work in a cabinet shop and never thought that would work.

I have seen people make many reptile enclosures out of it. But not a tarantula enclosure.

 

[Feral]

I've just seen it for herps with dry substrate.
How does hardware store type melamine do with continual moisture? Hmmm.

In non-animal-related applications, I've seen melamine get hefty water damage at the points where it's been cut and the particle board beneath is left bare, so sealing everything and leaving no raw edges exposed to moisture seems like a def must. But how does the rest of that material stand up to moisture?

Also, I have also wondered before about the ins and outs of making a tarantula display "rack" by modifying a pre-made melamine bookshelf. I've seen that done for leopard geckos, but they're kept dry. So that idea has just been superficial musings, I haven't thought too deeply or researched it for Ts/inverts, so I don't know the actual logistics and realities of it.

So yeah, I'm interested to hear people's opinions and experiences with relation to Ts/inverts.

 

[The Snark]

Questions about melamine. It's about the same as asking 'how safe is salt'? Speaking of which, melamine itself has about the same LD50 as common table salt.
It's most common use is when combined with formaldehyde creating a durable waterproof heat resistant plastic. Then things get a little different. Swing from cheap, often contaminated melamine sheets with craft paper backing that is priced and sold by the ton and of questionable durability to FRP, Fiberglass Re-enforced Plastic that meets sanitation standards world wide on out to multiple laminates backed with Kevlar that can cost several hundred dollars a sheet.
So it's safe, unless the manufacturer cuts corners. If in doubt and in critical applications, buy NSF certified FRP.