melamine or plywood for custom cages?

[preston897]

what do you prefer to use? i am going to build a cage very soon and im trying to decide if i want plywood or melamine. what one would be more sturdy and durable? what would be easier to build a cage with?

 

[Adam87]

plywood is cheaper and would be easier to work with just make sure ur paint it and treat it, and the melmine is really expessive and much harder to work with and if any moisture gets into the actual wood its not good so i would go with plywood for sure and if u want you can put lammit on top of the plywood if u want a good surface

 

[chelvis]

I loved working with plywood, easier to cut, easier to put togeather, lighter (not by much) and cheaper. I used a massionary sealer on my plywood cage and it lasted for two year until i sold it. Even when water does get on plywood it doesnt go mushy like melamine.

 

[First Time Tegu]

I would have to agree, plywood is a lot cheaper and much easier to work with. Melamine looks nicer but you can put several coats of latex paint on the plywood to get rid of the grains if you wanted.

 

[Adam87]

my surrent cage is made of vynial frence and it works great and im going to be putting another enclosure on top of that one and i'll be using plywood for sure

 

[preston897]

i agree plywood is much cheaper. how did you guys go about screwing it together so it did not crack once the screws hit the plys? maybe use L brackets on the inside the hook it together? followed by silicon caulk on the seams? and for a sealer i dont know what massionary seal is? what if i just layered the whole inside with linolium? what other ways are there to seal the inside that can withstand humidity?

 

[First Time Tegu]

There are a lot of various ways to do it but I personally used 2x4's and I cut triangles out to hold the 2x4's to the plywood.

To seal it I just used silicone(I think), a primer, and latex paint.

 

[preston897]

what do you mean you cut triangles out?

 

[First Time Tegu]

take a 2x4 and cut out a small triangle, then put a screw in the top of the triangle connecting it to a 2x4 and put another screw in the bottom part of the triangle to connecting it to the plywood.

its kind of hard to explain i guess...i'll take a pic when i wake up and post it if you want.

 

[isdrake]

I think that melamine works good for some smaller species, it looks good and you don't have to seal it. But if you are building for a Tegu he/she will probably hurt the coating with it claws anyway. So I would go with plywood.

 

[preston897]

i understand what you are saying about the triangle piece. and to be honest i didnt think about the claws hurting the melamine coating. i have decided that im just going to use regular plywood and use a latex paint on the inside of it to seal it along with silicon caulk. and to put the pieces of wood together im just going to use "L" brackets.

 

[chelvis]

I used 2x4s to frame the cage and then skined it with plywood. went really well. Masionary sealer and paint is what people often use in basements when the foundation brick starts to allow water to seep through, it really worked well and with three coats down i was able to hose it out and scrub the inside of the cage with no flacking or cracking. Before painting i did fill the edges with silicon and painted over that. The paint i used i think is called Drylock, i don't remember its been a few years now.

 

[preston897]

yea ive realized that im going to need to frame it. im just going to use 1x2s to frame it though. it will keep the weight of it down some. and im just going to use OSB board to make it. and i will probably line the inside with vinyl so i dont have to worry about splinters.

 

[HorseCaak]

Hey Preston, build your cage but I suggest using a smaller tank for her to begin with. I've been reading around and people have made some good points. They say it is harder to bond with their Tegu and get the Tegu out of the cage because when they see your hand, they have LOTS of room to run away. It will also cause unnecessary stress on them. You should start with a 40-60 Gallon tank. Mine is 60gallon 4ft long and she is 10 months old and it is still plenty of space. I actually started my girl out in 2 big tubs connected by a tube-tunnel. She would run to the other tub when she saw my hand. They are often skittish when they are new. Also small, fast, and hard to grab! Just a suggestion to help you out.

Cheers,
-BLAIR

 

[Adam87]

i wouldnt go with 1x2s yea it would be lighter but ur also weakining the over all structure 2x4s are a way better choice

 

[preston897]

i understand about the large enclosure. what i plan on doing is putting it in the large enclosure but sectioning it off into a smaller one to begin with. making it like 3x3. then when she gets bigger i will take the divider out so she has big cage. and you are probably right. i think i will wind up using 2x4s