List of safe materials?

Hey everyone,

I'm looking into giving Sobek a better enclosure and I am on a mission to find best options having in consideration quality, price and safety. I'll try to keep it simple since I do have a bunch of questions.

I- THE ENCLOSURE

I want to give him a minimum 120g enclosure

1. He is currently in a 40g, and I have a spare 40g with no lid. Should I make him something out of these? ( maybe provide a corner of the room just for him, have them in an L shape with a nice long plant or surface he can climb onto w/e he wants to lay at the window or come sit on me?)

2. Just purchase a custom made 120g tank

3. Build my own. And if so, what should I use in your opinion?(im cross referencing my research until I find a popular item)


II - THE DECOR

1. should I just use styrofoam for everything?

2. I have a bunch of furniture/left over wood I can use for diy. If I seal it properly after construction woulditbe ok to use?

3. I live in Toronto, Canada. And for the life of me I am unable to find the proper eps???(styrofoam)


III - BIOACTIVE

I would like to make it a bioactive terrarium. Would this be better in a completely enclosed terrarium or if I decide to go for the L shape hecan have his own little garden outside or the glass enclosures?

IV- TEMPERATURE

If I go with the L shape, I am keeping the door on the warm side closed for when he basks. The only thing I could see being an issue would be his UVB intake. He does spend a lot of out of cage time at my window, but im not sure how glass filters uvb. Any ideas on what would be a solution??


Thanks in advance!! Once I've decided what to do I'll share the plans on here in case someone else would like to try it out!!

Cheers

I would probably build my own. Either from scratch using untreated plywood pieces or by repurposing a large piece of furniture if you have something available. The plywood sealed with polyurethane should work nicely. If you are going to use a bioactive substrate then I would make the enclosure tall so you have enough room to provide drainage layers. 4x2x4' would be a good starting point. That should still allow plenty of climbing areas. I'm not a big fan of foam furniture. I prefer using driftwood pieces and wide branches when I can find them. I have a couple of rocks that work well too.

CooperDragon":2tym801p said:

I would probably build my own. Either from scratch using untreated plywood pieces or by repurposing a large piece of furniture if you have something available. The plywood sealed with polyurethane should work nicely. If you are going to use a bioactive substrate then I would make the enclosure tall so you have enough room to provide drainage layers. 4x2x4' would be a good starting point. That should still allow plenty of climbing areas. I'm not a big fan of foam furniture. I prefer using driftwood pieces and wide branches when I can find them. I have a couple of rocks that work well too.

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Alrighty thank you!

I believe my best option would be to repurpose furniture. I have this thing that looks like a credenza that is a decent size (long and wide). Id just have to dismount the doors and drawers so I can cut the rest of the front panel. I was looking up polyurethane as a sealant, would you be able to advise me on a specific brand? I live in Toronto, canada so I'd be looking to purchase at places such as HomeDepot or CanadianTire. Thanks in advance!!

Brand probably doesn't matter much. I would put a light coat on, sand it a bit with fine sandpaper, clean it all off to get the dust out, add another coat and let that dry really well for at least several days before going into use. That should protect the wood for a long time.

CooperDragon":9xuh5ca8 said:

Brand probably doesn't matter much. I would put a light coat on, sand it a bit with fine sandpaper, clean it all off to get the dust out, add another coat and let that dry really well for at least several days before going into use. That should protect the wood for a long time.

Click to expand...

Alrighty! I'll post it on here when I get it done! Thank you very much !