cage making

[spidersweb]

crocdoc has said to not use melamine to make a cage so im going to go will plywood but what should i use 1/2 or 3/4 i was going to use 3/4 melamine to make my cagesmainly i have to make one for my water monitor my sav not really growing my sav is in a 90 gallon tank

[treevaranus]

Plywood sucks as a cage material, unless you seal it with a waterproof epoxy or resin. Plywood will only suck up/absorb moisture, and will quickly rot and warp, deeming your cage a heap of trash.

There are many other alternatives as well, such as using FRP paneling(shower stall paneling) or even tileboard. Both of these products are waterproof/water resistant once they edges and corners are sealed.

Plywood alone is a poor building material.

[kap10cavy]

I disagree Bob, I use 3/4 inch plywood for all my cages. I do put 3 coats of polyurathane.
I don't keep any that need real high humidities, just savs, albigs and argus.

Scott

[crocdoc]

Originally posted by treevaranus
Plywood sucks as a cage material, unless you seal it with a waterproof epoxy or resin. Plywood will only suck up/absorb moisture, and will quickly rot and warp, deeming your cage a heap of trash.

There are many other alternatives as well, such as using FRP paneling(shower stall paneling) or even tileboard. Both of these products are waterproof/water resistant once they edges and corners are sealed.

Plywood alone is a poor building material.

No one has recommended unsealed plywood. Pretty much every reptile enclosure I've ever built has been constructed of sealed plywood and I've never had a problem with it. I used to get 'marine' plywood, as they used waterproof glue, but I'm not sure they even sell that any more as most plywood these days has waterproof glue. Melamine, on the other hand, turns to mush if water gets past the seals (which it does, invariably).

FRP isn't commonly available in some areas (such as here, for example).

[treevaranus]

I did not mean that enclosures cannot be made with plywood.. Plywood works fine. What I meant was using unsealed/unfinished plywood, as so many people do. Nowhere in Spidersweb's post did he mention sealing the plywood, so I thought i'd bring it up.

Sorry if I made it seem as though I thought plywood was unacceptable as a building material, I simply meant bare plywood.

Cheers Folks,

bob

[spidersweb]

no i know anout the sealing it and stuff