i used a water based gloss varathane to finish my cage off, all the people i talked to said the water base stuff would be fine. My leo has been in there for just over a month now with no problems, i have seen him lick the wood and nothing has happened ... here is a pic of the cage so you can see what it looks like once it is varathaned
I just used normal stain to get it that colour and then put 4 coats of varathane on it, sanding a little in between eat coat.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
Nick