What kind of calking or silicone to use??

Salty

New Member
I have most of my cage completed. Just need to know if I can use any kind of calking as long as it is good and dry before the chameleon is introduced into the cage.
 
You should NOT!!

Many caulks have anti-mold components which are not good for your animals. In particular AVOID any "bathroom" and "kitchen" variant as these almost always contain such chemicals.


GE "Windows and Doors" I is a known safe brand for amphibian setups. I personally use GE Windows and Door II (2) for open-air setups with no problems. This is for seams and the like though, not to seal the entire wood if that is what you mean...


for sealing wood, there are 2 products to use:

1- for plyboard/large wood areas that are in contact with 100% humidity or permanent waterflow use EPOXY (US Composites 635 epoxy is the one I have personally used, the cheapest I can find at $100/gallon)

2- for "mist" contact of wood posts/etc (I'm picturing a basic cham cage with 4 posts and screen wrapped around kind of thing) then you can seal using any good wood sealant.

Alternatively, you can use DRY-LOK which is a latex based waterproofer, but when it dries it has a bit of a hard, fake finish to it (but it holds water up to 10psi so its much stronger than basic wood sealants).
 
I used plywood and covered it with FRP. FRP is a plastic fiberglass type board that is used for shower walls. I also used PVC trim to frame and trim the cage. So what I need to do is seal around the FRP board and PVC so that water can not get through to the wood. What do you think I should use to do this?
 
Agreed ^^^^^
Also a safe bet is to use 100% silicone
But the mentioned epoxy is great! I've used it on custom reef tanks and it's ver very safe! And you'll never have a problem with it as long as you give it a couple thick coats!
 
I used plywood and covered it with FRP. FRP is a plastic fiberglass type board that is used for shower walls. I also used PVC trim to frame and trim the cage. So what I need to do is seal around the FRP board and PVC so that water can not get through to the wood. What do you think I should use to do this?
You could probably use Liquid Nails. Generally it's used to hold stuff together like attaching all the boards together for your cage, but it could probably be used to seal up all the creases as well, but I'm not a hundred percent sure.
 
I would prefer something white for esthetic reasons
Understandable...the best advice I would have is if you haven't sealed all the boards together use the Liguid Nails to do that and hope that no moisture seeps through, but if you have already constructed the cage and just need something to seal up the creases maybe Aquarium Silicone would work (not sure if that's the actual name but I'm talking about the sealant thats around all the creases of glass aquariums).
 
I was origionaly going to use aquarium grade silicone. But I am not sure if it can withstand thourough cleanings. Also not sure if it will bond well to plastic and PVC as it is designed to seal and bond glass.....
 
I was origionaly going to use aquarium grade silicone. But I am not sure if it can withstand thourough cleanings. Also not sure if it will bond well to plastic and PVC as it is designed to seal and bond glass.....
Well I don't have any ideas other than those lol...sorry. You could check a bottle of aquarium grade silicone to see if says if it does seal to other textures other than glass.
 
If your just sealing the seams I would use what Evil Lost said.....The GE window & Door silicone II... it comes in white & other colors too I think;)
 
@Salty: based on your description, you should use GE WINDOWS AND DOORS I (if you can find it) but WINDOWS AND DOORS II should also be ok (easily found at HD and comes in multiple colors including white and light grey). [to be clear, these are both SILICONE]

I have heard of other users using the DAP equivalent, but I do not know which model of DAP is equivalent to the above mentioned GE brands. I have personally used at least 20-30 tubes of the GE brand in vivarium setups with no ill effects.
 
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