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Thread: Tegu housing questions

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Maryland
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    915

    Exclamation Tegu housing questions

    I'm building Zilla a nice 8'x4' cage using merely 2x4's and ply wood. I'm on a budget. My question is What do I seal the wood with? Do I seal it at all? I imagine i would but I don't know how. Oh, and any other helpful tips? And pls hurry I'm buying all the stuff on Tuesday. Thanks in advance
    1.0.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
    0.0.2 African Pyxie Frog
    1.0.0 Blood Python
    1.0.0 Albino Burmese Python
    1.0.0 Blue Tongue Skink
    1.0.0 Basilisk
    0.0.1 Cane Toad
    1.0.0 Albino Western Hognose


    Roaches (Dubia & Lateralis)

  2. #2
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    Finger Lakes, NY
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    i see a lot of people use Kilz water based sealer/primer (4 coats then 2 coats water based paint) also use a paintable caulk to seal all seam BEFORE you paint

    I use Cabot Water Bourne Stain/Poly (all in one) i do 2-3 coats
    Then you use a Clear caulk AFTER you stain

    But you just have to get nice looking plywood tho
    1.2.0 Argen Black & White
    1.1.0 Red Tegu
    0.0.1 Blue Tegu
    1.0.0 All American Tegu
    0.1.0 Hypo Red Tail Boa
    1.0.0 Lazik Tiger BP
    1.0.0 Normal Paradox BP
    1.0.0 Cuban Tree Frog
    2.3.0 America Toads
    1.0.0 Masked Ferret
    1.1.0 Children
    Rats & Roaches (Dubia)

    RIP-
    0.0.1 RedxB/W Tegu (Stevie Wonder)
    1.0.0 Croc Gecko (Waylan Jones I)

    & More to come

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
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    I have used Kilz quite a bit in a variety of applications. It is a great product for it's intended use, but it's intended use is not to act as a moisture sealer/barrier in high humidity conditions.

    I recently used it to "seal" the inside of a wooden canopy for an aquarium and within a week the very high humidity penetrated the Kilz and warped the wood, causing cracks in the Kilz and allowing the wood to soak up a lot of moisture.


    I have also used DryLock quite a bit in a variety of applications. This product has highly impressed me. It's intended use is to be be a complete moisture/water barrier. Although it is designed to seal concrete, it adheres to and wood just as any latx paint would/does.

    I used this to seal a 4' x 2' x 2' enclosure and after 2.5 years the cage is still 100% water tight, meaning I can fill the enclosure up with water until it pours out the door (about 6" deep) and no water at all leaks.

    Cured/Dried Drylock has a concrete like finish which stands up to the claws of a Tegu FAR better than the paint like finish of Kilz.


    This is not to criticize Kilz as a product, it is just to illustrate that Kilz is not the right product for sealing an enclosure. The exterrior of my DryLock sealed enclosure is painted with Kilz to resist mold/mildew (which is the intended purpose of Kilz).
    Total Fish~head with a Tegu thing on the side

  4. #4
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    Thats some nice info, I've never use Kilz but a lot of people talk about it.

    I have always wanted to try Drylock but uncertain, but now when i build my 3 new cages this fall i'm gonna use Drylock
    1.2.0 Argen Black & White
    1.1.0 Red Tegu
    0.0.1 Blue Tegu
    1.0.0 All American Tegu
    0.1.0 Hypo Red Tail Boa
    1.0.0 Lazik Tiger BP
    1.0.0 Normal Paradox BP
    1.0.0 Cuban Tree Frog
    2.3.0 America Toads
    1.0.0 Masked Ferret
    1.1.0 Children
    Rats & Roaches (Dubia)

    RIP-
    0.0.1 RedxB/W Tegu (Stevie Wonder)
    1.0.0 Croc Gecko (Waylan Jones I)

    & More to come

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Thank you, Toby_H for sharing your valuable experience.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
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    Well Drylock sounds like the way to go. Any body know about the price?
    I've heard it was kinda expensive...I'll probably end up using it any way. Oh and when I go to seal it do I seal ALL on the inside and outside or just the whole inside?
    1.0.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
    0.0.2 African Pyxie Frog
    1.0.0 Blood Python
    1.0.0 Albino Burmese Python
    1.0.0 Blue Tongue Skink
    1.0.0 Basilisk
    0.0.1 Cane Toad
    1.0.0 Albino Western Hognose


    Roaches (Dubia & Lateralis)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Finger Lakes, NY
    Posts
    1,362

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    you'd drylock the inside and paint the outside if you'd want. i think it's like $20+/- a gallon
    1.2.0 Argen Black & White
    1.1.0 Red Tegu
    0.0.1 Blue Tegu
    1.0.0 All American Tegu
    0.1.0 Hypo Red Tail Boa
    1.0.0 Lazik Tiger BP
    1.0.0 Normal Paradox BP
    1.0.0 Cuban Tree Frog
    2.3.0 America Toads
    1.0.0 Masked Ferret
    1.1.0 Children
    Rats & Roaches (Dubia)

    RIP-
    0.0.1 RedxB/W Tegu (Stevie Wonder)
    1.0.0 Croc Gecko (Waylan Jones I)

    & More to come

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    26

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    DryLock is around $20 per gallon...

    It comes in a couple of colors but they are very pale. I use Grey plus two ounces of black pigment (the pigments used to color standard latex house paint). The guy at the counter may discourage you from adding pigment, but from personal experience it works fine. Adding pigment will void the manufacturer's warranty, but using it on wood is not warrantied. I've used much more pigment than that when painting styrofoam for a vivarium. I've seen no signs of penetration even at the higher amounts of pigment.

    On my 4 x 2 x 2, I used Kilz to paint the outside, and DryLock to seal the inside...

    On my 8 x 3 x 3 currently under construction, I am DryLocking the inside and stain/polyurethaning the outside...

    As mentioned previously, the cured/dried finish of DryLock is rough like concrete so it would not make a nice appearance for the outside of the cage. Unless you like the look of concrete...

    To give you an idea of my confidence in it's ability to give a water tight seal... I am building a large plywood water dish for my new enclosure and am sealing it with DryLock and I fully expect it to hold water without leaking at all.
    Last edited by Toby_H; 05-24-2010 at 03:38 AM. Reason: Corrected Spelling Error
    Total Fish~head with a Tegu thing on the side

  9. #9

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    I am going to be using an old dresser for my tegus cage (also extending the back) but I want to paint a mural on the inside of the cage, can I use water based paints on top of the dryloc? Will it be safe for the tegu or will I have to seal it also?

    Thanks in advance.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
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    Drylock comes in oil based and latex (water based) variety...

    I've only used the latex (water based)...

    I'm not a painting expert but the general rule is you can put latex (water based) over oil base... but you cannot put oil base over latex...

    If I have that correct then you could put your water based (latex) mural paints over either version of paint/DryLock... but I would encourage you to use latex (water based) anyway...

    You will have to consult the manufacturer of the mural paints to know if they are non toxic or not...

    Simply because the environment would be hot and humid I would suggest using a clear coat over top of the mural. Any paint store or large hardware store will have a variety of non toxic latex clear coats. Just be sure to get one meant for overlaying paint and not one for overlaying raw wood.
    Last edited by Toby_H; 05-29-2010 at 02:52 AM. Reason: corrected spelling error
    Total Fish~head with a Tegu thing on the side

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