A possible sealent / water proof break through..

[Dom]

I have been thinking for a long time about what would work really well as a sealent on a bottom of a man made cage.. so far the best idea but too costly was using plexiglass on the floor with siliconed sides.. then I heard of the 2 mm plastic but that is not durable as one nail can rip it.

I think I found the solution ..

FIBERGLASS?????

It is durable, 100% waterproof, easy to aply .. not too crazy expensive.. althoguh I am pretty sure it off gasses badly .. Also uncertain if too much heat would make it melt..

What do u guys think .. is it a breaktrough or a bad idea..

[ETET]

Dom I think this a a good idea! Actually I am going to use fibre -glass and resin for the bottom and lower area of my cages. After the smell gone totally (1-2months?), it should be safe. I tried a semi-aquatic aquarium and the fishes are fine; so snakes should be ok. But I found out work with fibre-glass like playing with tarantula; need gloves, clothing and a good mask to keep the fibres from penetrating into your skin.....

ETET

[Dom]

I am gald to see someone else though of it before..

although I am not going to use the fiber but more just the resin.. I though ofusing it as paint. I could just "paint" the whole floor area .. although if I have to wait 2 month I am not going too ... I am way WAY too impatient for that.

[Pixie]

I am presently in the process of converting a big terrarium (height wise) into 3 separate enclosures. I was wondering for quite some time as to what I would put down as a bottom surface and then settled on some linoleum. I found a precut peice at Home Depot for 25$, it's 6' x 9' peice. It's the only thing I could think of that would resist water the best.

I'm sure it will take a crazy amount of time to make sure that the smell is completely gone. Oh well, can't have everything!

Pixie

[marisa]

Hmm I have no projects going on myself and I am VERY bad at construction and knowing materials BUT I thought I'd throw this out...

For guinea pigs, most keepers now use Coroplast. It is corrugated but I *think* you can get it flat. Its just like cardboard, but plastic. And since guinea pigs pee all the time its waterproof so far as I can tell. Its also easy to cut and work with...?????

Again this suggestion might be so far off its stupid but I found it to be very smart for guinea pigs and since the reasons are simliar (water proof easy to work with etc), hey thought I'd bring it up. Maybe someone with guinea pigs here will find it useful! :)

Marisa
If anyone wants to see what they do go here: http://cavycages.com/cubes.htm

Scroll down a bit to the corroplast info section.

[stormyva]

At Home Depot they sell hard board and plastic shower surround material. The hard board material is 1/8" thick, laminated on one side and around $10 US for a 4'x8' sheet.
The plastic one is more expensive and has one smooth side,one textured side, and costs about $27 US for a 4' x 8' sheet.
The 6x2x2 cage I am building has a hard board surround material floor and a 7" high "surround" around the inside of the cage for any mess that might get on the walls. I like the idea of the thin light weight material becuase it keeps the over all weight of the cage down and will transfer heat for a UTH much better than 3/4" plywood or melamine.

[jwsporty]

Hey Dom,

fibreglass will work fine, gassing off can be greatly reduced by using a product called BIN (this is wicked primer base, particularly good to eliminate urine saturated wood floors) Goes on easy, dries really fast and hard and can be painted afterwards. Just use a child safe paint afterwards and you will be fine. Regarding fibreglass meltdown. NOt an issue. Fibreglass ignites at a very high temp. Hope this helps


Jim

[gfisher2002]

I don't think you have to worry about heat. I have made a "land area" around the back of a turtle tank with plexiglass. The basking lamp was shining strait down on it and in only got warm.
It was an excellent waterproof solution. Once set and painted(I use a 2 part epoxy paint) I found there was no noticable gas emitted from it. My turtle basked on it for 3 years and now, 2 years later, he is healthier than ever. PLUS!!! You can can make some excellent looking textures,shapes and colors so your cage looks like you cut it out of the wild and set it in your house.

[Bryce Masuk]

yep 2 part epoxy is the stuff people build plywood fish tanks and line them with it www.garf.org i think has a 140 gallon tank made from plywood and a 500 gallon one too