is melamine best?

[lordkovacs]

obviously it's not the nicest wood out there, but would it be considered teh best for building viv's? what are it's benefits and drawbacks? Also, would glass or be best for hte front? thanks...

[HetForHuman]

melamine works excellent. i have 2 cages i made out of it right now and no problems.
just make sure you seal all the cracks inside with 100% silicone and let dry for a few days before you put anything in it.

the only real drawback i find for the melamine is that once constructed it is a fairly heavy cage.

if you have any other questions you can ask me or try a search, it will prob bring up most of the answers you need.

[RaVeNo888o]

is melamine the wood that those white bookshelves and stuff are made of? they have a plasticy coating?

[lordkovacs]

yeah

[Lisa]

Melamine is probably the easiest/cheapest to work with as the wood is presealed, just have to seal the corners.

Draw backs are that it's heavy, can chip and isn't as strong as other woods.

[Linds]

It sucks. I hate the stuff. It chips, its heavy, it bubbles no matter how well you seal it, it isn't durable. It doesn't hold up over time at all. Only good things are that it is cheap and you don't have to paint it. Only suitable - if you even want to call it that - for snakes. Lizards will rip it up in no time.

Glass works well, make sure its tempered though. If your housing snakes plexia also works well. Lizards will scratch plexi.

[RaVeNo888o]

i agree, it would be good for snakes but i would imagine any lizard that has claws would rip through the coating readily.
how would it be for geckos? specifically for cresteds.

[Bryce Masuk]

its fine for any gecko. Things that will shed it are monitors and tegu's... bearded's are fine in it. you wont need tempered glass either not of my cages are and neither are aquariums(except the bottom)
Melimine Is not fun to work.. with its a pain in the a$$ I use screw in blocks to support it otherwise I fear it will fall apart with just screws while the glue drys Its ok But plywood is much better Out here they cost the same but with plywood you need paint as well

[JDouglas]

The first cages I made had a thin paperlike coating and bubbled and chipped easy, so i made new cages with really thick coated melamine countertop and man that stuff is tough! I still don't think it would hold up to a large monitor or tegu but they work great for boas and pythons.

[lordkovacs]

hmm... hope this makes sense...

how much approx. would it cost to build two enclosure, each 3X3X2 using melamine? just for the wood...

[JDouglas]

Well, I bought my 2ft by 4ft sheets at about $8 each, and you would need 5, so roughly $40, plus screws, glue, caulk, vents, glass track or hinges, and glass or acrylic.

My cages cost about $75 each to make in total, so two would be about $150.

I see you have a male IJCP, do you have any pics?

[JDouglas]

Here are a few of my cages. The black circles are 2" vents painted black.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/504/2806cage_setup.jpg

[JDouglas]

Here they are again at a different angle.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/504/2806snake_den.jpg

[lordkovacs]

nice pics...thanks.
I just took some pics...I will post soon. thanks
MIKE

[Kyle Barker]

Plastic laminate, A.K.A arborite (the stuff counter tops are covered with), is the ultimante in display cages! Its pricey but you just cant beat it. You have to glue it onto your wood, but it is completely water proof. You could house fish in a cage made with it. Again you have to silicon the joints, but it is very hard to scratch through it, even with a knife. Its basically 1/16" plastic with a desing of your choosing in it. However its like $50 a sheet (4x8'). If your willing to spend the $$$ i garauntee you will be very happy with the results for as long as you have the cage.

I use it when i do display cages. I screw holes bang bump carve, everything and i have NEVER seen a bubble with it. It works great if your doing a natural style cage and need plumbing, dirt, arboreal stuff, everything. Its even easy to apply and work with, no goop, no hassles, and great results. I cant say enough about this stuff.

enough rambling for me, i think i made my point :rolleyes:

[Invictus]

I'll be looking into Arborite, but have you seen the Melamine they sell at Home Depot? It's got about 1/8" of coating on it. Yes, I've seen melamine with peper thin coating, and that stuff will bubble and rot in no time. But as I said, I know people who house bloods in melamine enclosures at 100% humidity for YEARS with no problems.

[Kyle Barker]

I have only seen the htin stuff, so i guess the 1/8 would be good to. But just think how some peopel their counter tops with knives....... Know what i mean.

[lordkovacs]

that's a good tip kyle... thanks. I will look into both and see what's in my budget. t hanks all.
MIKE