Painting/sealing wood terrarium?

[The used 51]

Okay so I want to built a tank for my ball and I have a few ideas first could I use dry erase paint? Or some other sealer like an epoxy 2 part paint or just use melamine board I know to use the aquarium caulk stuff but what should I use on the wood?

[kitedemon]

Two part epoxy or a two part liner polyurethane are about the toughest possible both sadly are very costly and difficult to work with it you are un familiar with them. Regular polyurethane is also good (I like colors in plastic) all coatings need to sit for a gas out time usually a week or so. I would not suggest melamine, melamine is inert but it is glued to a substrate usually particle board and it can be bonded with formaladahydes or phenols I can't see either as being healthy for a snake they certainly are not for you.

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/eve...d-outgassing#b
http://moreliaviridis.yuku.com/topic/7517#.UNEaTqXwxYU

[The used 51]

so no particle board.. what about hardwood plywood? like birch? same concept in between the layers with the formaldehyde? or is it something else they use. sorry for all the questions. i just want to make a safe enclosure. could an adhesive vinyl roll be use to glue on wood or would chemicals from the glue be just as bad? figured it might be good or should i just get some wood and put minwax or something on it?

[TheSnakeGuy]

Plywood works and it easily coated/sealed with a latex paint to hold humidity well.

[kitedemon]

I'd avoid vinyl flooring myself. Plywood is great my fav is what is called baltic birch. It is a finish grade solid birch ply that have unbelievable stability due to thin veneer layers. Minwax makes a huge range of products. As a general rule of thumb avoid ones that are made for bathrooms and decks they often have insecticides and anti fungal chemicals added. Also 'spar' varnishes are made for places that need a lot of flexibility and they never truly harden also something you don't want.

Two part coatings are the hardest wearing and most water poof of all coatings (epoxy and LP paint) Oil paints would be next for tough and water exclusion and then modified latex (enamels) last regular latex.

I don't think I would suggest oil finishes. Food safe paste wax ones might work but I can't quite imagine them.

I might suggest a second thing too not so much about coatings but materials and practical thoughts. Wood is a great insulator. It holds heat really well for a given thickness. This is a very useful trait when placing an enclosure in a room at or below normal room temps (68ºF) There is one HUGE issue, it is hard to impossible to heat through.

The simple solution is to change the material for the bottom/floor of the enclosure. My personal preference is to use PVC (not expanded just plain old PVC) it is a poor insulator (good to heat through) tough heard wearing and waterproof. It works like wood so good woodworking tools are fine (lower speeds) Although it doesn't sand well... It can be screwed and mechanically fastened easily, gluing can be a challenge however. It is basically a perfect bottom and this eliminates the need for complex heating solutions a simple UTH is just fine. ABS can be used as well or styrene. I use PVC because it is easily available where I am.