Questions on safety of this DIY build

[Crgatorolsen]

My son's beardie is outgrowing his 40 gal tank quicker than I expected so I've been planning a DIY enclosure.
I found an entertainment center to convert.
Interior dimensions will be 47" long, 16 " deep, and 27 " tall.

I am planning to sand and paint the interior and exterior then seal the entire structure.
From threads I have been reading my plan is to use acrylic paint for color then seal with water based polyurethane.
I am assuming that since the wood type is unknown as long as I seal it and cure it correctly our beardie won't be harmed.

A friend found some plexiglass at a local reuse store that is the height and length I need. Our plan is to frame out a couple of doors to support the plexiglass as I believe it is 1/8" thick.

Adjustable vents (from reuse store) placed high on basking side and low on cooler side.

34" T5 Reptisun 10.0 installed inside from center brace

basking lamp with guard installed inside tank as well (currently have zoomed dome fixture but was going to install ceramic fixture to put basking bulb in)

we live in FL so nighttime temps not an issue (beardie and I agree that must be at least 72F at night lol)

so questions

1) acrylic paint with water based polyurethane safe to use in this set up?

2) Is plexiglass thick enough?

3) T5 placement should be 14" from basking areas or can I place this up to 18" away? ( I was thinking of attaching screw hooks to center brace to allow me to raise or lower T5 depending on structure below it).

Thank you for taking to time to read through this and all suggestions are welcome.

- Keri

 

[Skybug]

Is the diy enclosure made out of particle board? The only problem with that is like you said you don’t know what kind of wood is in it (if the previous people who had it smoked, etc.) there’s several woods that are bad for beardies but it’s the sap and and bark thats bad , id need to see ur paints before to give my opinion on those, if you do go through with sealing it, wet down the wood to get any and all sawdust off of it, when u put on ur final coating, let it dry in the hot sun for atleast 3 days to a week , you dont want it to smell whatsoever, if it smells even slightly, wait another week, its very very important to let it air out, i cant stress this enough. Another forum member didn’t wait and he ended up hurting his beardie (even after i told him to wait 3days-week) he didn’t listen.
the plexiglass should be find beardies don’t really try to escape as a snake or other type of lizard would (they give up quite easily).
And the t5 would be okay at 15-20inches, you really want it in between those numbers, but its okay if its not Exactly, my bulb says 18-36, but I would not have more than 20” personally.

 

[Skybug]

My uvb is at 11 inches at its closest and 15 at its furthest point.

 

[Crgatorolsen]

Thank you for your response. Yes that thread was one of the ones I had read in my research.
Luckily our beardie seems pretty happy in his current enclosure so there is no rush in finishing this enclosure.

I have not bought any paints or sealants yet.
I think the paint and sealant is the most stressful part of this project for me bc I'm having trouble finding exactly what I should look for. Just general comments.

I'm an exact brand kind of girl lol tell me what I should get and I'll track it down lol


Are there any you would steer me towards or away from?

 

[Skybug]

Thank you for your response. Yes that thread was one of the ones I had read in my research.
Luckily our beardie seems pretty happy in his current enclosure so there is no rush in finishing this enclosure.

I have not bought any paints or sealants yet.
I think the paint and sealant is the most stressful part of this project for me bc I'm having trouble finding exactly what I should look for. Just general comments.

I'm an exact brand kind of girl lol tell me what I should get and I'll track it down lol


Are there any you would steer me towards or away from?

Ill be honest I don’t know of any product thats 100% safe, theres chemicals in everything as you know, i guess youd want one that drys the quickest , id go in the direction of something thats safe for aquariums (if fish can swim around in it then thats a good barometer for safety) ive never used a clear coat before so i cant particularly recommended one for you, you’re coloring paint shouldn’t be an issue as that’ll get sealed, I know this stuff is safe , but its not clear , a youtuber named “serpa design” uses it in his Terrariums , it drys hard like a concrete paint, it might not be what ur looking for but its all i know of sorry :/

 

[Crgatorolsen]

I'm so excited on how the new cage has turned out. The paint has dried but I'm going to let it cure for a few weeks then I'll seal everything. It will have to cure for a couple of weeks in a back room instead of outside but I plan to install the lights to help it cure.

 

[Sadie]

My son's beardie is outgrowing his 40 gal tank quicker than I expected so I've been planning a DIY enclosure.
I found an entertainment center to convert.
Interior dimensions will be 47" long, 16 " deep, and 27 " tall.

I am planning to sand and paint the interior and exterior then seal the entire structure.
From threads I have been reading my plan is to use acrylic paint for color then seal with water based polyurethane.
I am assuming that since the wood type is unknown as long as I seal it and cure it correctly our beardie won't be harmed.

A friend found some plexiglass at a local reuse store that is the height and length I need. Our plan is to frame out a couple of doors to support the plexiglass as I believe it is 1/8" thick.

Adjustable vents (from reuse store) placed high on basking side and low on cooler side.

34" T5 Reptisun 10.0 installed inside from center brace

basking lamp with guard installed inside tank as well (currently have zoomed dome fixture but was going to install ceramic fixture to put basking bulb in)

we live in FL so nighttime temps not an issue (beardie and I agree that must be at least 72F at night lol)

so questions

1) acrylic paint with water based polyurethane safe to use in this set up?

2) Is plexiglass thick enough?

3) T5 placement should be 14" from basking areas or can I place this up to 18" away? ( I was thinking of attaching screw hooks to center brace to allow me to raise or lower T5 depending on structure below it).

Thank you for taking to time to read through this and all suggestions are welcome.

- Keri

The only thing I can answer to your questions is the UVB for distance is 12-15 inches - for the T 5- I recommend you use a Arcadia 14% desert bulb--- distance for that is 17-18 inches - it's a stronger bulb and better for higher heights- good luck on your other questions-