Anyone have some cloudy finish advice?

[Zelg]

So a while back I built a plywood enclosure for a white lipped python I purchased. First off, the finish took MONTHS to cure to the point of not having any fumes. This unforeseen problem resulted in having to house the poor snake first a glass aquarium where he got a RI, then a tub. Unfortunately the snake died. I take full responsibility for its death and it certainly weighs heavily on me. I had taken it to a vet, got some injections and not too long after finishing the injections I went to feed him and found a dead snake. It definitely hit me hard but I am now past the grief stage and learned a valuable lesson. Have your setups 100% functional before purchase. What you can get away with for a BP will kill another species.

Anyways, back on topic. So, I thought I had my cage all ready to go, put some lighting in it and placed a couple of hides and a ceramic(?) water dish that leaks. Well the next day after decorating, I went to view things so I could add in substrate and low and behold when I moved the water dish I had two milky white cloudy blush marks. So I contacted a friend who, on and off, has done wood finish work for furniture the past 15 or so years. He is, as far as I know (which is nothing), knowledgeable on products and how to fix things. He suggested Mohawk no blush super retarder. Spray that on, let it do its thing and voila, brand new and moisture proof.

Well I did that, the clouds were gone, and I assumed everything was fixed. I redecorated my cage and this time loaded it up with cypress mulch and cage accessories. The next day I wiped away the cypress mulch to check on the floor and sure enough....the WHOLE floor was white and cloudy.

I have since given the floor a few more coats of the blush retarder and days of drying. The white cloud disappeared as expected but now I'm expecting more cloudyness when I re-add the mulch or any moisture to the floor. Call me a pessimist.

So, my questions for those DIY builders out there in snake land are:

Is this a common problem? And are there any OTHER ways to fix said problem? My understanding is that I didnt stir my polyurethane well enough during application and possibly didnt allow each coat to dry long enough. Am I, excuse the 'ol French, "Eff'd?" Do I need to just scrap it and start over on a new cage? I'm hoping to get "reptile" DIY'ers that have experience with this. My wood finishing buddy has no clue about the products effects on animals but assumes they're safe plus hes currently living in So. Cal and im on the central coast, otherwise I'd just have him come over and fix it lol.


I had stained and then used varathane 3x thick polyurethane.

I'll attach a couple of pics. Hope this works.

*edit* no clue why the first two pics are upside down....you get the idea though.

[Sasha2]

Polyurathane only makes it water resistant not water proof. In the past Ive always used either cheap vinyl tile or plastic carpet runner on the bottom of the cage under the substrate. I have siliconed the edges but find it peels up over time, maybe I didnt apply it right.

Im pretty sure the only other option for high moisture area is to buy marine epoxy which is expensive.

The cage Im currently building will also have some sort of plastic/vinyl flooring but Im going to try a different type of caulking to seal the edges.

[Zelg]

Dang it! lol. I didnt realize poly is only resistant to moisture. I bet it says resistant on the can too....Too bad cause it looks wonderful...of course its going to be covered with substrate....oh wells.

[Minkness]

You can get faux wood tile =D

[Zelg]

Originally Posted by Minkness

You can get faux wood tile =D

You people are full of good ideas. Even better!

[Zelg]

Just wanted to bump this again...I ended up buying some "wood" vinyl tiles with adhesive backing. Looked great, easy install etc.... Well it came time to purchase my snake and I double checked my cage to make sure everything was golden and since the cypress mulch inside dried out I was now able to detect a faint odor inside. Upon a little bit of research I found out that vinyl tiles (or maybe just the adhesive ones) put off toxic fumes. UGH. I raged a little bit. When I calmed down I ripped out all of the tile and decided to throw in acrylic plexiglass in. That should be good, so I'll check that out when the silicone dries.

Just wanted to give others a little warning about the adhesive vinyl tiles. Maybe ones without an adhesive backing would be ok but I'm not sure and decided to just go a different route.

[sirtalis]

Originally Posted by Zelg

You people are full of good ideas. Even better!

That's what I did for my peacock monitors cage. So far I have had no trouble keeping the humidity high and preventing mold

[Zelg]

Feeling like an idiot....I think the smell I was smelling was from silicone. Will report back if the smell ever fades lol. Apparently it can take a while to cure if you use a lot and I used a bunch....The waaaaaiting, is the haaardest part.