Water resistent

[P. Novak]

What can I use to make my wooden cages more water resistent so they won't really rot over time,. but be safe for the animal at the same time after some airing and sitting.

 

[Archnophil]

Its not quite what your looking for im sure, but i made a wooden cage and i fitted the insides with plexi glass boards. So it has the nice look of the wood on the outside, but is water tight on the inside.

 

[Elapid]

probably the best way is to use boat resin. it's made to withstand uv and moisture and after some thorough rinsing is quite safe. I made a saltwater aquarium with a plywood base that had been treated with the boat resin. for a herp cage, you'd just have to paint all the surfaceswith the stuff and you're good to go!

good luck!
rob

 

[P. Novak]

Boat resin

Wheres a good place to get some, and how much does it usually go for? Also, any specific brand names?

 

[arachnocat]

Thanks, I was curious about that too. I wanted to make a wood terrarium a little more waterproof to house frogs. That might be worth a try.

 

[arachnocat]

This place is near my house. They seem to have a lot of sealants and things. Is this the stuff you're talking about? http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=55&

 

[Meaningless End]

i use hardybacker board for the inside of my monitor cage. i cut it to size and used liquid nails to bond it to the plywood. then used calk to seal teh edges

 

[P. Novak]

You think it would be cheaper to get the boards rather than the resin?

 

[Meaningless End]

you can get a 8-4 sheet of hardybacker for like 10 bucks.. 4 bucks for the calking and like 4 bucks for the liquid nails.

make sure you throw a couple screws in there two... it will definalty be less mesy and probrably look better. but it depends on what you have on hand.. either way would work.

 

[P. Novak]

Alright well I ended up getting Cabot(brand name) Polyurethane, and just finsihed the second coat yesterday. The cage has been sitting outside for almost 24 hours, and I plan to let it vent out for about a week. Do you think this will be fine, or should I wait longer. I know if I can still smell it after a week I'll wait another week, but if it doesn't smell would it be safe to put everything in?

 

[Galapoheros]

I like both the Hardyboard and resin idea. I think the "resin" that he was referring to is the stuff they use for fiberglass. I restored a boat several years ago and bought fiberglass sheets and the resin you paint over it to put on the new wooden decking. I was pretty expensive back then!

 

[JayzunBoget]

Resin is a pain in the butt to work with and clean. Polyurethane is slightly less so, but still sucks. I have made a number of display cases for the pet store I work for. Using backerboard or melamine to line the entire inside of the cage and then putting another layer of thin plexi on the bottom and a strip that goes up 4 to 6 inches along the bottom sides has been the easiest to clean and maintain. You can also get the melamine in many different rock or wood finishes.
Here is our Frilled Lizard cage. I am trying to sell off one of my mouthier employees, but he was too aggressive so no one bought him!

PS when making your own cages for reptiles that require UVB, keep in mind the actuall UVB penetration depths of different UVB sources. In that six foot cage, we used a metal halide bulb for that kind of extreme depth.

 

[P. Novak]

The thing is is that these cages are already built. I bought them from other people, all 4 of my wood cages have the melamine on the bottom, so I just decided to use polyurethane on the remaining sides. THen I'm gonna put a strip of silicion in all of it's corners and sides. Now my question is what would be a SAFE amount of time to let this dry for. I was going for a week. Am I going too long with that or too short or is it alright?

 

[JayzunBoget]

The thing is is that these cages are already built. I bought them from other people, all 4 of my wood cages have the melamine on the bottom, so I just decided to use polyurethane on the remaining sides. THen I'm gonna put a strip of silicion in all of it's corners and sides. Now my question is what would be a SAFE amount of time to let this dry for. I was going for a week. Am I going too long with that or too short or is it alright?

Depends on the weather. That and the fact that you're better of safer than sorry, I say give it as long as you can. I'm sure a week would do the job.

 

[P. Novak]

Oh yea, I forgot to ask, would 2 coats be sufficient?

 

[P. Novak]

Oh yea, I forgot to ask, would 2 coats be sufficient?

bump. :wall:

 

[JayzunBoget]

I think that if you are thorough and then come back later and caulk the seams, that two coats should do the trick!

 

[P. Novak]

Should I silicone all of the corners and seams or just the whole bottom?

 

[JayzunBoget]

Should I silicone all of the corners and seams or just the whole bottom?

I recommend sanitizing the entire thing regularly, so I recommend sealing the entire thing thoroughly.