Going bioactive first time old keeper

Pandora08 · 08-30-18, 04:54 AM

Hi there, hoping someone has some solid advice!!

I've had my darling Pandora for 10 years now, nic boa 4 1/2 to 5 ft long in a 4L×18D×21H aquarium. Very clean. Very protective momma brooding over her constantly.

What I'm interested in is what the heck am i supposed to use for adhesive to glue styrofoam! I have been researching for years but have been too chicken to do it, but finally have the time and money to do it. One video was saying the loctite quick grab worked for gluing Styrofoam together. So I got that. Makes sense.

But sealants! The aquarium sealants I figure are safest. If they can keep fish alive and happy then a boa with humidity and heat should be fine... But I have such a problem believing it. also kinda pricey doing 3 walls of an enclosure... One guy says that the GE 100% silicone 1 is great, another says only use aquarium glue, another says acrylic water based sealant, another says polyurethane, then one guy says flex seal aquarium liquid coating is safe and non toxic..... Oh and another says gorilla glue is great! What!! I can't figure out the correct way to seal this thing..

What I want to do:

Styrofoam model of Angkor Wat with trees and moss and beautiful things among a fallen empire and a water realm with waterfall for her to bathe/drink in the utmost glory she deserves! Mainly, Styrofoam snake-safe Styrofoam creations, towering over puny human-sized buildings to sleep in like the beautiful goddess that she is. Moss dripping down over the sides of buildings, crawling up the walls, beautiful clematis flowering up the walls of her enclosure, maybe some crawling ivy, and some baby tears covering the ground. Baby tears might be fragile for her heavy butt, but hey, its baby tears. Why wouldnt it work. Some pothos on the side, the ability to climb up to higher branches of trees and some ledges to sit on since she really likes climbing higher for some reason.....

Bottom line of what I'm asking- I know it was a lot but its my first post from months and YEARS of frustration - WHAT should I use HANDS DOWN to seal the sculpted styrofoam, coated in 3-4 layers of grout, THEN painted with acrylic paint and finally sealed with.......??????????

Also is loctite quick grab ok to bind styrofoam chunks together if aired out long enough? If so, how long should I let it air out!

Basically, I'm worried that if I make this beautiful, earth-like enclosure for her, finally, after years of debate and stress, that shes gonna die. From some stupid chemicals or something that I did wrong. And I don't want that obviously. She is the best ambassador snake, turned quite a few haters to lovers over the years with her. I would rather keep her in a simple sterile tank to keep her alive than introduce something based off mainly my taste that will shorten her life.

Any and all advice is so greatly appreciated, I am just so cautious of her because she is my first and only reptile and worry about causing her harm. As any pet owner should be, I think

toddnbecka · 08-30-18, 05:37 PM

I used GE 1 100% silicone to seal my plywood enclosures. No worries about that being safe, just allow a couple days for the fumes to clear out. Any small, fragile plants will be ruined by a boa moving around. Best to stick with Sansevieria and pothos for live plants, and plastic or silk flowers for decor.

You can use Minwax polycrylic to seal anything that will be placed inside the enclosure.

Pandora08 · 08-31-18, 01:51 AM

Man you just helped so much, thank you. I've been so tired of watching endless videos and reading millions of blogs. Gets confusing after a while. How long has your stuff held up? Any touchups or repairs?

Thanks again!

toddnbecka · 08-31-18, 02:40 PM

My plywood boxes have held up quite well for about 5 years now. Only issue was with the wooden sliding glass tracks I made with a table saw. They tended to warp a bit from moisture, making the glass very difficult to move. After I switched to plastic tracks (found some on Amazon, fairly inexpensive) that solved the problem.

Pandora08 · 08-31-18, 04:23 PM

Awesome thanks so much!!

daisymaisy · 09-02-18, 03:04 PM

most of the dart frog people use Dry Lok to seal styrofoam creations. Frogs are very vulnerable to toxins and this is considered safe.

Sounds like a great project! I hope you post pics, sounds really nice.

Pandora08 · 09-12-18, 01:18 AM

Sweet, thank you!!!! I haven't seen anything regarding drylok at all. Might help a lot. I hope I can remember to take pics during the process. Though it might change a bit from my original idea since I quickly found out how much space her water area will take up along with allI the plants I just bought, I still hope to do some cool stuff! Nonetheless, way better than what she has now! Her tank looks so sad and boring