Tegu enclosure

[sr3052]

Looking to build enclosure for my soon to be tegu looking for some advice on build.not sure to make it out of plywood or melamine concerned about mildew I figured melamine might stand up better to mildew than plywood.but plywood definitely is stronger then what kind of sealer do I use with plywood and with the heat bulbs will it throw off fumes from paint or sealer your feedback is much appreciated.

 

[TxReptileGuy]

When I build my custom enclosure I am going build it with the size of 6x3x3 and I am probably going build a frame using 2x4s than put compressed plywood on the outside of the frame and than use silicon to seal the cracks and use dry lock to protect the wood and than paint water proof paint over it as for the the silicon you can use aquarium silicon and use non toxic water proof paint so there shouldn't be any toxic fumes coming from it when the lights are on

 

[aceoflizards]

Melamine starts to bow after a while without some sort of support. Bad. Using hardwood ply or marine grade ply with a 2x4 skeleton makes a great cage if sealed properly. Polyurethanes, epoxies, and drylok in it's various forms are some of the different sealants you can try. Many different folks have had success with all three of these. I used regular drylok for the cage my boy is currently in now but will probably be going with some sort of epoxy or urethane for the bigger cage I will be building him soon. When let cure long enough you will not have a problem with fumes.

 

[sr3052]

Thank you everyone for all your expert advice wish me luck.

 

[loweryrr]

I used plywood with water base polyurethane. Apply several coats and you wont have a problem. If you use a low odor or a no odor polyurethane then it wont need to air out very long. I used valspar low odor and after a few days there was no odor. It was in the mid 90s here with about a 50 % humidity. Theres a couple of no odor options but they are more expensive. I have not had any mold or mildew using this combination

 

[sr3052]

Is your enclosure outdoors or inside my biggest worries was the heat bulbs because I will have mine indoors and was just concerned about vapors coming off the wood from which ever application I use.

 

[loweryrr]

I kept mine outdoors until the fumes dissipated then I brought it inside and set up the heat lamps to test for fumes. Valspar makes a no odor that they claim has no odor after 24 hours but it is supposed to have a little odor until it dries. The one I used (valspar low odor) had a little odor but not much. I could have kept it in another room for a couple days. Your safest bet is coating it outside though. My advice is set everything up before you put your tegu in and see how it reacts with the heat lamps. After everything dries it will still need a couple days to set up or it may become tacky when exposed to heat. I had no problems with fumes after it set up for 72 hours even with the heat lamps.

 

[sr3052]

I've decided to go with enclosure from beeger boxes it's made out of PVC very well built cost me a pretty pennie but in a long run its worth it never have to worry about expansion or mold.my chicaon black&white will be very happy $950 later.