please help i used some chemical water proofer

[ktizzle188]

so i made a cage today and was water proofing it and forgot to read label and its got chemicals its ethylene clycol i only covered two sides and and stopped is it ok if i let it air out for a few days this would suck if a cant use it thanks also it got frozen and thawed alot so i dont know if the chemicals are still that bad because it says if frozen it will not work properly

 

[RioReptiles]

What kind of water proofer? Like a wood "water sealer" or something? Is it on the outside or the inside? Put it this way, would you eat off of it when its dry? A lot of water proofers are petroleum based and soak into the wood and gradually leach out over long periods of time. I wouldn't use something like this inside a beardie enclosure at all. Read the can.

For normal paints and coatings the rule of thumb is to let it dry for 2 weeks. Most coatings have harsh solvents that are made to dry out of the finished product. Most paints and clear coat coverings are pretty much a type of plastic once they are dry. These coatings may contain bad stuff to keep them fluid, but it goes away in the end.

 

[wizbee]

Normal latex house paint has to air for two weeks? I thought if you couldn't smell it, it was ok? Let me know I was going to touch up Bogas cage today and let it air all day.

 

[ktizzle188]

ok its on two sides inside they the tank the stuff as little to no smell when i opened the can. is says its acrylic late. i applied a really really thin coat also they can says not to freeze because it wont work correctly and its been frozen and thawed at least 25 time because is been out side so i don't know if that does anything to the chemicals. and my beardies not going in it my boa is but im assuming if its harmful to beardies it is to snakes
and it was a wood waterproofer

 

[RioReptiles]

Normal latex house paint has to air for two weeks? I thought if you couldn't smell it, it was ok? Let me know I was going to touch up Bogas cage today and let it air all day.

I'm sorry, I was referring more to non water based coatings. I think you can eat latex after 3 days and it won't hurt you.

ok its on two sides inside they the tank the stuff as little to no smell when i opened the can. is says its acrylic late. i applied a really really thin coat also they can says not to freeze because it wont work correctly and its been frozen and thawed at least 25 time because is been out side so i don't know if that does anything to the chemicals. and my beardies not going in it my boa is but im assuming if its harmful to beardies it is to snakes
and it was a wood waterproofer

It's probably no good after freezing but that doesn't mean the chemicals are gone. If it were me, I would go to the manufacturers website and look up the MSDS to find out what is in it that is potentially harmful. From there I would decide if it has something really bad. Like I said before. Most of the bad stuff is what dries up and goes away. I would let it dry for at least a week, maybe longer and then sand it well and go over it with something else. The reason you wait with everything is to make sure the chemicals are dried out of it thoroughly. Trust your instinct. If ethylene glycol is the worst thing, thats just an alchohol and it will dry up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol

 

[ktizzle188]

that is the worst thing thanks alot for the help i should of tried to look that up my self. i was to p.o'd that i wouldnt be able to use. once again thanks

 

[RioReptiles]

I like it when it turns out with a happy ending too!