Please see my DIY boa enclosure

Makavelli · 02-01-14, 01:15 PM

I am building a huge enclosure for an adult female Colombian boa. I would love your input!!!

I posted some questions in the General Enclosure Discussion forum. It is called Bedding, probes, grout sealant ????? I will post some photos for you guys here though, so you know what it looks like.

.
.
.
.

it currently isn't letting me post even a Photobucket link. Maybe I still need 5 posts?

Makavelli · 02-01-14, 01:20 PM

Makavelli · 02-01-14, 01:28 PM

To show scale

yes a kitchen sink! Only getting filled during shed or for fun

She will have a standard water bowl to get fresh water changed easier and cleaning too.

formica · 02-01-14, 02:57 PM

what a lucky boa

nice to see a big enclosure being built!

regarding sealing, first you need to seal all the wood, Yacht varnish is great for that and will do for the level of humidity a boa requires, give it a few more coats than recommended on the tin, and you cannot be to much of a perfectionist when doing it. once its varnished and fully dried, you can seal all the joints/edges/etc with silicone sealant (HA6, aquarium safe stuff)...again you cant over do the sealant

as long as you are careful about sealing it, the enclosure will last for years...but just the tiniest bit missed out, and it will rot and become unsafe

look forward to seeing the finished enclosure!

Makavelli · 02-01-14, 04:10 PM

Thank you, formica. I have sealed the wood with Drylock already, and am still caulking some of it. There has been a bit of progress since those photos. What I want is a resin, or epoxy for covering my styrafoam/poly + grout that I will be adding.

This is my plan:

Styrofoam/poly + stucco patch + 3-4 coats drylock ?

I only see folks using grout. I don't feel like applying 9-10 coats though! especially since the wood is the structure...in my case the poly is just for decor and won't be supporting hardly anything. Do I need the strengthening of 9-10 watery coats of grout?

edit* I should put it this way, the main 4' x 3' area has been caulked and has 2 coats of drylock. The other areas have been partially caulked and need the remaining caulking and two coats of drylock.

formica · 02-02-14, 07:39 AM

you cant really over do the waterproofing, but grout is very different to varnish so you should only need whatever is recommended by the manufacturer - just be sure that no moisture/humidity can come in contact with any untreated wood and u'll be fine

for a resin, checkout the 3M stuff...do a search of the forum and u'll find the name of it, I havent used it myself, but several people use it in their monitor enclosures with much higher humidity and moisture than a boa requires, and it holds up very well

Brently · 02-02-14, 09:01 AM

My two cents is that it is maybe a bit more vertical space than is necessary but that's up to you. Mine is 8ft long and around 3 high. But overall I think it will be great.

Makavelli · 02-12-14, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by formica

for a resin, checkout the 3M stuff...do a search of the forum and u'll find the name of it, I havent used it myself, but several people use it in their monitor enclosures with much higher humidity and moisture than a boa requires, and it holds up very well

I found it. Thank you! I've started cutting the Styrofoam...it's beginning to take shape!

Makavelli · 02-12-14, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brently

My two cents is that it is maybe a bit more vertical space than is necessary but that's up to you. Mine is 8ft long and around 3 high. But overall I think it will be great.

Thanks Brently. It's more arboreal than most. But it is 5ft wide at the bottom, so that is at least sufficient. Whereas I understand that the height is beyond-sufficient. Simply put this takes up less floor space and I believe my boa will still use every inch provided it is heated properly.