Using ABS for enclosure

[JPG]

Has anyone built enclosures with ABS sheets? I know there are people that build them for reptiles but haven't seen one for Ts yet.

I've moved away from Acrylic due to warping issue and started using custom cut glass. Now I'm looking at ABS for the lighter weight and requiring less 3d printing.

I'm planning to use ABS + clear polycarbonate sheets for the affordability while keeping aesthetics.

Any suggestion would be appreciated!

 

[Stardust1986]

Has anyone built enclosures with ABS sheets? I know there are people that build them for reptiles but haven't seen one for Ts yet.

I've moved away from Acrylic due to warping issue and started using custom cut glass. Now I'm looking at ABS for the lighter weight and requiring less 3d printing.

I'm planning to use ABS + clear polycarbonate sheets for the affordability while keeping aesthetics.

Any suggestion would be appreciated!

May I ask, what is ABS glass?

 

[JPG]

May I ask, what is ABS glass?

ABS is a type of plastic, stands for "acrylonitrile butadiene styrene". they are typically used for making things like lego and such.

 

[Stardust1986]

Interestin

ABS is a type of plastic, stands for "acrylonitrile butadiene styrene". they are typically used for making things like lego and such.

Interesting, I think this could be good for many types of pets, acrylic is recommended historically, but this sounds better to me, it sounds like it lasts and has the same performance qualities, maybe better, than acrylic sheeting, I would try this myself

 

[The Snark]

Use caution with ABS. It uses a hardener, bisphenol A, which is controversial and has kept ABS use for potable water pipes and containers sidelined as tests on various animals showed toxin caused syndromes.

That said, avoid heating ABS or having ABS near your animals that has been heated. Once a certain temperature is reached ABS produces hydrogen cyanide, traces of which remain after it has cooled off.


Reference: NFPA. ABS plastic is one of the combustion components common in fires and a known significant hazard to fire fighters. If ABS plastics are suspected present, SCBA use is mandatory.

 

[Scorpiobsession]

As long as it's unheated and it's not a high-humidity tank then it should be fine.

 

[JPG]

Use caution with ABS. It uses a hardener, bisphenol A, which is controversial and has kept ABS use for potable water pipes and containers sidelined as tests on various animals showed toxin caused syndromes.

That said, avoid heating ABS or having ABS near your animals that has been heated. Once a certain temperature is reached ABS produces hydrogen cyanide, traces of which remain after it has cooled off.


Reference: NFPA. ABS plastic is one of the combustion components common in fires and a known significant hazard to fire fighters. If ABS plastics are suspected present, SCBA use is mandatory.

I've also read this and that is why I did not use ABS for 3d printed parts for my current enclosure. (they also stinks during print)

I'm not heating them and will be waiting at least a day after cutting them so It should be okay for the safety procedures.

As long as it's unheated and it's not a high-humidity tank then it should be fine.

This is what I'm worried, as I am probably going to be setting up some high humid enclosures as well. I read that abs doesn't absorb as much water as some other plastics but I'm still a bit skeptical about it. I may just need to go back to glass if there will be problem with humid setups.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Use caution with ABS. It uses a hardener, bisphenol A, which is controversial and has kept ABS use for potable water pipes and containers sidelined as tests on various animals showed toxin caused syndromes.

I agree on the caution. The same chemical, and the same concerns, exist with polycarbonate (though not acrylic). Similarly with PVC, which is used widely in reptile enclosures as well.

There are many studies showing a range of negative effects on invertebrates, though nearly all studies are on aquatic inverts. The most troubling findings are of teratogenic and reproductive harms to vertebrates.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if these materials have a moment in time similar to the (extended) moment at which we collectively stopped fooling ourselves about the harms of tetraethyl lead in gasoline.

 

[JPG]

It would be very nice if there are any other light, affordable and safe material to build the T enclosures but seems it's very limited from what I find.

 

[The Snark]

we collectively stopped fooling ourselves about the harms of tetraethyl lead in gasoline.

Unfortunately my parents never equated 'For use as a motor fuel only. Contains lead' to my almost daily exposure for several years.

 

[viper69]

PVC has been used for eons with reptiles and Ts- no issues to our knowledge
Here’s an example

AF E. sp. Red, Post-Molt

• viper69
• Aug 29, 2016

 

[JPG]

I may as well try pvc sheet instead.

 

[The Snark]

PVC has a reputation for being completely stable and non toxic with one minor caveat, it breaks down under exposure to UV light where it becomes brittle and develops a chalky like surface. There isn't much data on UV degraded PVC but no supplemental hazard warnings have been published that I've found.
Again, as with ABS, avoid heating it. This was the brother to the ABS bad news bear in NFPA warnings. PVC heated to a certain point creates hydrogen choride which upon contact with a moist surface like your lungs and sinuses produces hydrochloric acid, and melted PVC produces polychjorinated biphenyls, PCBs, one of the most toxic substancees there is.