Best Wood Option

Melamine and MDF put off eye-watering formaldehyde gasses when cut
but I don’t feel they are toxic in use or that even cutting them
is health-threatening… as long as you take the precautions
you should when producing any kind of fine dust.

There’s been a fair amount of research on the toxicity of
wood materials and while it’s clear that some of them are
unpleasant to work with it seems that fears of out-gassing
are basically alarmist. The smell is obnoxious but not
proven to be toxic in long-term studies of factory workers
who cut this stuff every day.

I’d go with the melamine if I were you – especially if making
money is your goal.

-- http://amherstcabinets.com - also a marketing consultant with expertise in direct response marketing for woodworking and online businesses - http://COPYMATCH.COM

I just built a 4’x2’x2’ repitle cage for my bearded dragon. I used oak plywood for the bottom, back and sides. One side I jig-sawed out a window, rabbitted it and put a piece of glass in it. The cage sits in a corner so only the one side and front are glass. I then built an oak frame for the front, rabbitted it, put a piece of glass in it and attached it with a piano hinge on the bottom. I also put a 2” piece of plywood along the front bottom edge to act as a lip to keep the sand from spilling out.

To deal with the moisture I coated the bottom 6” of the cage with epoxy-resin. This is the stuff used in fiberglassing. This creates a solid barrier that the urine and poop will not penetrate. The epoxy-resin method is used all the time for building plywood fish tanks so it is a safe and proven method. There are also epoxy paints out there that also create the moisture barrier. If you are going for 70% humidity I would suggest you coat the entire inside surface, or go with the melamine, you will still want to coat the exposed particle board edges to keep moisture from creeping into the material.

The breeder we got our BD from uses melamine for her tanks and she keeps a lot of dragons, around 30 adults. So it is fine and safe.

Not sure what kind of reptiles you are going for, but depending on your substrate it will absorb most of the moisture anyway.

For heat I used a 160W Megaray Mercury Vapor UVB lamp and two 100W halogen 3 1/2” bulb fixtures that I got at HD for $10 each. I wired the two halogens to a dimmer switch so I could dial in how much heat they produced.

-- Rich, WNY, www.nyrockingchairs.com

NY Rocking Chairs,
The epoxy resin that you use did it have fiberglassing cloth in it. I saw some pictures of people making the plywood fish tanks and they used the fiberglass cloth. I am currently thinking about doing a melamine bottom with plywood sides and top. I saw a person who used vinyl floor tiles on the walls which looked really good. I was actually off on the humidity it will actually be in the 50-60% range but the cages may be used for something else as well so the stronger the better.

I will be keeping several different things in the cages. The main critters are Red Tail Boas. I currently have 1 of my 4 boas in a 4×2x2 glass cage and the other 3 are in a 20 long glass cage, the 3 are still small, which is why i want to build these before they start growing. They will probably be getting the 6×2x2 cages. I also have 2 BDs and 1 Nigerian Uromastyx that will be getting 4×2x2. The i will be building two more 6×2x2 for 7 leopard geckos. Just because i started listing i might as well finish. I also have 1 Carpet Chameleon, 1 Red Ear Slider, and my favorite a Green Tree Python.

Wow… I learn so much here it’s not even funny….

-- Chris

For the reptile enclosure I did not use the fabric. The fabric is the “fiberglass” and is what gives it its strength. Since you are only looking for moisture proofing you do not need to worry about using the cloth. If you want to use it strengthen the corners then you can get 3” wide fiberglass tape, it is called tape, but there is nothing sticky about it, it is just a roll of FG precut to 3” width. But much cheaper than buying it in 60” wide pieces. If you were to build a 4×2x2 fish tank you would have to worry about 700 lbs of water and rocks creating pressure on your material, so that is why you need the fabric.

Also using the tape in the corners will help ensure you seal the corners, just running epoxy to the corner from either side would not guarentee a 100% seal, but that is up to you to determine how much sealing you need there.

When I do mine I use the constrution adhesive and then 1 5/8” coated decking screws, putting a screw in every 4 to 6 inches. Have at least 2 people when you do it, 3 is better. I was able to do it myself but I have some 90 degree clamps that I can use to hold the thing together while I put in the screws.

Only use Silicone Type 1 in aquariums, we know it is safe, Type 2 and Indoor/Outdoor have other components that do not make them aquarium safe, chemicals that leach into the water, etc.

For the side panel I just siliconed the glass in place, on the front since we are talking about a 46” x 22” piece of glass on a working door, I took the frame to the glass shop and they stapled the glass into the frame free of charge, then I ran silicon around the frame to fill the voids and cover the staples so the lizard could not get hooked and hurt herself, also to keep the glass from rattling around.

-- Rich, WNY, www.nyrockingchairs.com