DIY Enclosure

[Nighttouch]

So, I got a new Tokay Gecko and I'm going to make a 2ft square by 4 ft tall plywood enclosure with a screen lid top, viewing windows, vents and a lower door for cleaning.

Anyhow, I was thinking I'd wanna waterproof the inside to keep mold from growing. Does anyone know of a spray or brush on product that would be safe once dry that would seal the wood and not leach out anything dangerous to my lil guy?

 

[Toby_H]

Drylok! I can't say enough good things about this prodect...

I've used it on many projects, for both animal related and professional/industrail uses.

It does stick to wood well. Just put the first coat on very thin and make sucessive coats thicker. It may also be a good idea to use a latex based primer. Drylok is thick by as it is, so preventing the wood from soaking up the thiiner liquids will help it hold tight to the wood.

You can add Latex paint pigments to it and create any color under the sun. Have them add and mix the pigments at the store just like they would regular paint. Do note that it willt ake about 50% more pigment to acheive the same color (example, if you would add 2 ounces of black pigment to white paint to make the gray you want, you will want to add 3 ounces of pigment to white Drylok to acheive the same color).

I have two DIY wooden enclosures that are sealed with Drylok and both are 100% water tight. The smaller 4x2x2 is at least three years old and is moved around constantly (it is my tegu's outdoor hide box now). The other is an 8' enclosure in the living room. To moisten the mulch I simply pour a few gallons of water directly onto the mulch. It's not uncommon to have 1" of standing water in the bottom of the enclosure for a day or two.

I also use it to coat Styrofoam in my Vivariums and snakes enclosures. The stuff basically turns any hard thing into a rock.

 

[Nighttouch]

Thanks for the info. I'll look into it and see if I can order locally. I was able to find some info on Minwax Polycrilic that sounded nice, but if you can color the Drylok, I'll likely go with that.

 

[Toby_H]

Any Hareware store should have it... Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, Aco, etc, etc...