What kind of Wood to use for building??

[marilynharley]

Hey Everyone,
I'm wondering what the best and worst type of wood to use to build a huge condo .I love my Beared Dragons and I want to be the best mommy I can be for them and make them happy and thrive.
Thank you
P.S thank you everyone who is a bearded dragon owner that takes great care and provides a lot of love. Your AMAZING

 

[doe222]

i used solid oak for my viv. wonderfull looking and very very solid. BUT its definitely not cheap, its actually very expensive wood. but IMO when it comes to building somthing you want to look like a real piece of furniture and not just a wood box, oaks the way to go. obviously unless you know wood working you do not want to go with oak because of its cost and you dont exactly want to have to redo it. its all personal preference. goto your local department store and look around. look more at the grains than the color of the wood because you can stain it. cherry and walnut are some of my favs when stained dark. stay away from things like OSB and other composite. alot of time the glue that holds composite lumber together is extremely toxic to animals. if your going to use some sort of paneling stick with a solid wood panel and not a composite.

 

[FookaneseDragon]

Thank you so much. You are very informative.

 

[marilynharley]

That sounds wonderful thank you for taking the time to reply to my post.

 

[Seven65]

My viv is also solid oak, then a layer of insulation then a layer of 5/8 plywood with arborite on it. With the glass and tiles I wouldn't be surprised if it weighs 300lbs. I just moved, it was pretty fun.

Solid wood is really expensive and is probably overboard for most people though, most anything can be properly sealed to be safe if you're on a budget. I think it's pretty common for people to use plywood or MDF (the higher quality particle board).

 

[marilynharley]

Our current cage was constructed with G1S plywood.... would this be considered toxic for our beardies? Or shall we apply a a layer of recommended liner or scrape it and build a new one?

Please advise.

 

[marilynharley]

BUMP

 

[jamiedennis]

I just built mine out of particle board and sealed it with two layers of latex primer paint. That way any kind of liquid 'mess' wont seep into the wood and ruin it.

I also used SOLID linoleum (not the paper backed stuff) for the bottom lining and have slate tiles on the basking spot to protect the linoleum and help file my guys nails down a bit.

So far he seems to enjoy the extra space - spent over an hour wandering around and licking everything.

I will recommend though that when you build yours, to set up the furniture similar to how it was in their old home so its not a total shock to their system. My guy went to his new home and hasnt shown any stress marks, or odd behavior since going in.

Hope that helps...

 

[marilynharley]

I just built mine out of particle board and sealed it with two layers of latex primer paint. That way any kind of liquid 'mess' wont seep into the wood and ruin it.

I also used SOLID linoleum (not the paper backed stuff) for the bottom lining and have slate tiles on the basking spot to protect the linoleum and help file my guys nails down a bit.

So far he seems to enjoy the extra space - spent over an hour wandering around and licking everything.

I will recommend though that when you build yours, to set up the furniture similar to how it was in their old home so its not a total shock to their system. My guy went to his new home and hasnt shown any stress marks, or odd behavior since going in.

Hope that helps...

Helps out a bunch thanks for the advice

 

[jamiedennis]

No probs - happy to pass along info

 

[Goodtruant]

I work for a cabinet shop (engineer).

Personally, I would stay away from plywood, because it could warp, and the glues used for the layers. Normal plywoods and particle boards let off 'gasses' for about a year. Alot of projects we do have to avoid this, under LEED codes.

Particle Board and MDF will stay much flatter, and is much cheaper. And they do make low VOC, zero formaldehyde, environmentally safe sheets. They are also made of recycled wood, or even wheat straw. The downside is weight, PB and MDF are heavy! A melamine with this core would be ideal, along with a hardwood face frame and trim. Our shop gets the PB in for about $25-30 a sheet, so I would expect it would be around $45-50 'outside'.

http://roseburg.com/products/Roseburg%20SkyBlend%20Particleboard_AR.pdf

Currently I'm designing a new beardie enclosure made of bamboo (engineered board). Luckily, I can use some 'scrap' material we have at the shop, because it's expensive! http://www.plyboo.com/