sealing, help please

[crocsnhots]

hey,
What's a reptile safe sealer that I could use on my new snake racks to prevent warping?
And how long do I need to let the rack air out before I can use it for my babies?

Please dont list US-only products as well I'm in Canada. Thanks! o>

[Invictus]

What material are the racks made from?

[crocsnhots]

Plywood.

[klein]

i used a water based varathane to seal my wood enclosure and let it sit for about 1.5 weeks and haven't had any problems

Nick

[Invictus]

Good - Melamine paint
Better - Water based varathane or outdoor deck stain
Even better yet - Pond liner, glued to the walls using contact cement
Best - Marine epoxy.

Marine epoxy is extremely expensive, and pond liner isn't cheap either. It depends on how much moisture you expect to be in the cage. Pond liner and marine expoxy can literally hold standing water without ever contacting the plywood. This is overkill for most enclosures. If you just expect to have higher relative humidity, go with the deck stain or melamine paint.

[bear24]

I used a polyeurathane fibre-glass resin. The more hardener you put in the faster it cures. Needs to be hot to cure though. Outside on a hot day would be best. I mixed the resin and hardener up in a paint roller tray then rolled it on like paint cured in two days(that is in a cold saskatchewan basement with little airflow) putting dirt in tomorrow. I picked up the resin and hardener combo at Canadian Tire in the car paint section for $15.98 per 1L canister. I "glassed" the bottom two feet of an 8*4*4 foot enclosure with one litre including the floor. It worked out to 80 square feet of material glassed per litre. It is non toxic once cured but will give you a wicked buzz while working with it.

[crocsnhots]

Thanks everyone. The racks are not stackable cages as some may of thought, they're racks meant to hold sterlite containers for my hatchlings. I suppose I'll go with Water based varathane, but does it really need to sit for 1 1/2 weeks? Is there anything I could use thats faster? I don't want to risk the health of my babies so if I have to wait that long then sobeit, but something that takes less time would be nice.

[Invictus]

If you cure the deck stain at a high temperature, it might only take a few days. Just remember, if you can still smell the stain, it still needs more time to cure.