pine plywood for snake rack?

[Mrgbb]

hey,

its been a long while since ive been here on the forum, sooo hello!

well anyways i am building a new rack and this one is going to be my first plywood rack,
I had a couple sheets of plywood sitting in the garage and i figured i would build a rack out of it.
i already cut everything up and i was just wondering what to do with the plywood.
like should i coat it with a marine varnish or should i paint it with just a regular primer.
do i even have to cover the ply wood because i am pretty sure that i have heard
that pine wood isnt good for the snakes to be in contact with for long periods of time...

well i guess thats really why im hear is to see what you guys think about pine plywood for snake rack material..,

thanks in advance,
Mike H.

[MrLang]

The pine oils are bad for snakes. I have no idea if this applies when they aren't in direct contact, but it seems likely.

Pine plywood is also quite flammable. People use melamine and expanded pvc plastic because it is flame resistant.

I would make sure to get a lot of input before putting this together and strapping heat tape to it.

[Kaorte]

I would think at a minimum it would need some type of water proof coating. The thing about pine that is potentially harmful is the phenols that it releases. This smells pleasant to us, but to smaller animals it can irritate their lungs.

Me personally, I'd just buy a couple sheets of melamine. Its so cheap anyway!

[kitedemon]

Formaldehyde in melamine is likely more of an issue than the remaining phenol in kiln dried heated pine. What is the particles in the substrate of melamine? pine, fir, spruce, aspen, tropical hardwoods? who knows I don't. There is at least as more issues with melamine than pine. Out gassing is increased by higher temps and high humidity ref, Healthy Home and Healthy Office By Richard Kanuka-Fuchs.

DO NOT USE marine varnishes (specifically SPAR varnish) it is not made to harden but stay soft and flexible (spar = mast, booms and yards) that move a lot. It always out gasses as it never hardens fully. Regular exterior varnish will be fine.

there are a lot of coatings available from horribly expensive to in expensive. Predictably the best are expensive and worst cheap. The toughest are two part epoxy or LP paints. They are hard to work with and costly (LP is over 100$ a quart) if you have never used them it might not be the best time to start.

Regular polyurethane is likely the best cost and durability wise. I like colors in plastic by varathane. Just make sure it has a good long curing time (7 days+) Latex paints can be used they are just not as hard wearing products. AFM safe coat makes a product called hard seal that is hard tough and seals the wood product from out gassing. (plywood has some urea formaldehyde as well but a lot less as the glue lines are much smaller) It might be a product to look into as a final coating.