enclosure question

[scalerustler]

I am in a quandry over how to protect and decorate the walls of my newly constructed enclosure. What types of sealers or paints should be avaided if any? I was considering using those stick on floor tiles that look like rock to protect the wood, make cleaning easier and for the look of a cave, is there any issue with the glue used on these? has anyone else used them in this way and if so how are you doing?

Thanks in advance for any help

[LORI]

Re: enclosure question

HMM..I dunno on what not to use really ..BUT I know of 2 people who have used the stick on tiles in cages and the tile came loose and their snake[s] wound up "stuck" to the glue. Not a good thing to have happen ya know. One of them was just yesterday in fact. If ya use them..make sure they are securely fastened to the cage so that the snake can not get on the glue at all.

[scalerustler]

Re: enclosure question

yeah, I was worried about that but the ones I put on my floor wont come up if I want them to, I would never use any kind of tape or contact paper.

[kahaj]

Re: enclosure question

Another thing to consider is that the humidity in your snake's house is likely to be substantially higher than that in YOUR house. I don't know if that would mess with the tile staying down properly or not. It may even be able to reactivate the glue enough to make it smell fresh again. I don't know if either of these things would be a potential problem or not; just something to ponder...

[Diegocat]

Re: enclosure question

I have no idea about the paints and stuff but I have a suggestion. If you need to do something with the floor try foam bricks. You can lay them out and they are easily removed for washing. If you want it to look like stone, try using 3 or 4 different colours of paint and "blotting" the look using a feather duster (made of REAL feathers) Not only will it give it a look of real ground, foam bricks are easily replaced for less than .50 a piece! I hope that helped a little

[Doug]

Re: enclosure question

HI,
 Wood is a problem because you want to maintain humidity,
What may work is to pour some poly-fast drying on the floor of the cage after painting several coats all over the inside of the cage. Poly is a plastic and will dry afer a few days' .I usallly crank up the heat in the cage to speed the process.
 After the poly is dry I seal all corners and seams with silicon fish tank glue run a bead like you do when caulking bathrooms, or like fish tanks. Some hardware stores sell large tubes of the the plain silicon glue much cheaper than pet stores it should be clear..
  this should prevent the moisture from causing the wood to swell and warp..
  good luck..
  The local zoo uses a type of special fiber glass material thats nontoxic after curing. It looks like wood and rocks and can take water spraying for cleaning.
   If the cage stinks like its wet I would'nt put the animal in the cage. The fish tank sealer stinks cause its using a acid to cure..similar to vinegar or acetic acid. and should cure in 24 hours.
 good luck woods a pain but it holds heat and moisture if you can get a seal.
  The best cage I ve seen to date used a type of bathroom tile
with the grouting, it weighed a lot but could stand that cleaning and stayed nice and warm..
      Jeeze why not just turn a bathroom into a cage.. The big snake could use that tube for a water dish. Many have heat lamps in the ceilings and you could use a ceramic floor heater that has a thermostat built in to raise the heat, you could put that heater on the wall soo mr snake can't get to it. and if you need humidity just turn on the shower for a few mins.. And have a special drinking dish (toilet) flush daily for water changes, hummm .   hehehe better reinforce that bathroom door if its a burm.. Hey honey can I use the guest bathroom as a cage
 
   doug ;D