What if you don’t seal plywood enclosure?

Hi I was planning on building a custom enclosure for my bearded dragon over the weekend and originally planned on using melamine but have decided to use plywood instead (maple hardwood plywood). Every discussion I see recommends different sealants that could be used but I was wondering what would happen if I didn’t apply any coats of sealant to the wood? My sister has custom enclosure she built with my dad for her tortoise a while back and they kinda just did it without looking much into it and used a cheaper plywood and didn’t seal it at all. The wood hasn’t shown any damage whatsoever and I can’t really see the temps in my enclosure doing anything to the wood at all either and there won’t be any standing water directly on it so I don’t see any potential water damage. Is the sealant to avoid the heated wood giving off an odor? Sorry if this is a big newb question but I was just wondering.
Thanks!

There is a couple reasons to sealing it.

1. Protect the wood
2. In theory, your sealing in any toxins that could come out of the plywood glue from being in a heated environment.
3. Pine is toxic to dragons so it makes sense to seal it.
4. Easier to clean a non porous material.

You're using maple veneered pine plywood so there shouldn't be any pine exposed unless you have end cuts showing.

You dont have to use a wood sealer. You could paint it or use other types of sealers if you wanted. Its not much extra work or cost so I always seal.

-Brandon

Oh alright makes sense. I’ll probably throw on a couple coats of some non toxic sealant then since you’re right, it isn’t too much extra work. Thanks a lot for the super quick response!

RaijinLobo":1dghgs5t said:

Oh alright makes sense. I’ll probably throw on a couple coats of some non toxic sealant then since you’re right, it isn’t too much extra work. Thanks a lot for the super quick response!

Click to expand...

Plywood and composite boards have tons of toxins like formaldehyde

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Top-Choice-NAF-3-4-in-HPVA-Maple-Plywood-Application-as-4-X-8/1000096506
This is the wood, supposed to be formaldehyde free and uses some kind of soy-based glue I guess. Just wondering for the peace of mind in case the sealant isn’t good enough or for others in case they decide not to add a sealant. If it’s in fact free of formaldehyde and for arguments sake I didn’t care about damage to the wood and just whether or not any toxic fumes would be released upon heating the wood, would a bearded dragon be fine inside of an enclosure made from this without a coat of sealant?

Probably but pine is still toxic to dragons. Although I've seen some breeders housing in what appears to be unsealed ply.

-Brandon

RaijinLobo":2ysrwkqs said:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Top-Choice-NAF-3-4-in-HPVA-Maple-Plywood-Application-as-4-X-8/1000096506
This is the wood, supposed to be formaldehyde free and uses some kind of soy-based glue I guess. Just wondering for the peace of mind in case the sealant isn’t good enough or for others in case they decide not to add a sealant. If it’s in fact free of formaldehyde and for arguments sake I didn’t care about damage to the wood and just whether or not any toxic fumes would be released upon heating the wood, would a bearded dragon be fine inside of an enclosure made from this without a coat of sealant?

Click to expand...

https://www.columbiaforestproducts.com/product/purebond-classic-core/ these guys have ones that are not pine. I wouldn't get pine. I almost bought from these guys but the cost would be been sky high

Cor":1kl54ryt said:

RaijinLobo":1kl54ryt said:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Top-Choice-NAF-3-4-in-HPVA-Maple-Plywood-Application-as-4-X-8/1000096506
This is the wood, supposed to be formaldehyde free and uses some kind of soy-based glue I guess. Just wondering for the peace of mind in case the sealant isn’t good enough or for others in case they decide not to add a sealant. If it’s in fact free of formaldehyde and for arguments sake I didn’t care about damage to the wood and just whether or not any toxic fumes would be released upon heating the wood, would a bearded dragon be fine inside of an enclosure made from this without a coat of sealant?

Click to expand...

https://www.columbiaforestproducts.com/product/purebond-classic-core/ these guys have ones that are not pine. I wouldn't get pine. I almost bought from these guys but the cost would be been sky high

Click to expand...

At the risk of sounding like a *****, are pine and maple the same thing? Because the wood I sent in the link has “Maple” under species so I thought it it wasn’t pine.

RaijinLobo":2ovyibvx said:

Cor":2ovyibvx said:

RaijinLobo":2ovyibvx said:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Top-Choice-NAF-3-4-in-HPVA-Maple-Plywood-Application-as-4-X-8/1000096506
This is the wood, supposed to be formaldehyde free and uses some kind of soy-based glue I guess. Just wondering for the peace of mind in case the sealant isn’t good enough or for others in case they decide not to add a sealant. If it’s in fact free of formaldehyde and for arguments sake I didn’t care about damage to the wood and just whether or not any toxic fumes would be released upon heating the wood, would a bearded dragon be fine inside of an enclosure made from this without a coat of sealant?

Click to expand...

https://www.columbiaforestproducts.com/product/purebond-classic-core/ these guys have ones that are not pine. I wouldn't get pine. I almost bought from these guys but the cost would be been sky high

Click to expand...

At the risk of sounding like a *****, are pine and maple the same thing? Because the wood I sent in the link has “Maple” under species so I thought it it wasn’t pine.

Click to expand...

Indeed your link is to Maple. Our links are similar, and both still pretty dang expensive. The Columbia forest products has like ten types of wood. Some are like 80 a board l o l. Honestly the whole thing is pretty confusing. Honestly where I have mine now is on melanine the slightly laminate mdf composite board. I really hope it's ok, seems to be a popular choice. I reporposed a computer desk

Now you have me rethinking my whole setup ROFL. I wonder if I should just seal it in non toxic waterproof sealer. I love my dragon very much would hate to think I'm hurting him.

Those are still pine plywoods. they just have a hardwood veneer for the top and bottom layer. In this case maple.

Think of it as a pine sandwich and the bread is two thin sheets of maple. Trust me, it would be a lot more than 80 bucks a sheet if it was pure maple.

You can verify this yourself by looking at it in person or using it yourself. It's what I'm using in my double stacked 4x2x2 build. It's just a maple veneer with a pine base.

Either way like I said earlier in this thread I believe, as long as none of the pine was exposed through joints or cuts (basically of your dragon cant see the pine) it's most likely fine.

-Brandon

-Brandon

Ohhh on yeah that makes sense, no wonder lol. Alright then thanks everyone! One last thing, any good sealant suggestions? I’d see water-based polyurethane brought up a lot?

Polycrylic can be used but I'd just go with polyurethane and let it set well. That's likely to be more durable.