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  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran Oxylepy's Avatar
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    I need an affordable, waterproof, safe, scratch resistant material.

    Alright, so I have 2 monitors which are currently housed in polyethylene tubs. This is all well and good up to 2', but after that I need a solid enclosure for each of them.

    So, I look over to aquaria for ideas, and while I was learning of the wonders of sumps for water filtration, I found the beauty of the Plywood aquarium. It's a wooden box, with pond liner on the inside to protect from water and turn the box into am aquarium.

    Buuuut, I doubt pond liner can handle an inch long claw run against it, unlike glass, or even polyethylene or acrylic.

    Now, Acrylic is expensive, and I don't need that thick of a layer of it (maybe 1/16th or 1/8th). Or I could go looking for some polyethylene sheet or some polypropylene (not nearly as good as the other options to be honest) sheet or some pvc sheet.

    Now, does anyone know of another option? Something light, affordable, durable, safe and water proof. I need it to be able to withstand claws, keeping the wood safe. But l don't need it to be clear.

    And no, it's not like I can't afford to throw the money at a bunch of 1/16" acrylic. But if I can find equal quality, or superior, for less, I'd much rather do that. So long as it meets the necessary criteria of being durable, water proof, and pet safe
    Ball Pythons 1.1 Lesser, Pastel
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  2. #2
    Venom Life Neal's Avatar
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    I can talk to a few people and see if somebody knows anything, I don't off hand. One thing I wanted to mention is Acrylic with heat and humidity will warp if it's not thick, one way to prevent this is to encase it in something else, though I'm sure it still may warp slightly, it's controlled.
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    coming at some point in the future
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    Oxylepy (03-24-2017)

  4. #3
    BPnet Senior Member GoingPostal's Avatar
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    I thought they used some kind of epoxy or resin on plywood tanks? Acrylic scratches super easy, I don't know that it would withstand a lot of clawing.

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  6. #4
    BPnet Veteran Oxylepy's Avatar
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    Acrylic will scratch, but it's much harder to gouge through than most of the thin linings I have seen. I'm not certain, though. There may be a really solid epoxy out there that the lizards won't rip through, or something that will work deep into the wood to make the wood waterproof.

    I'm not too worried about warping with things like acrylic because I'd be bonding it to the wood. But the real issue is I'd not want the lizard's claws making contact with the wood and that causing the wood to decay from the humidity. Essentially I need something where over the next 10-20 years, I wouldn't need to do tremendous repairs. And since I need to do this for 2 monitor enclosures, keeping my prices moderately low would be a plus.

    Now if some epoxy were to be solid enough to withstand scratching from lizard claws, that would be ideal.
    Ball Pythons 1.1 Lesser, Pastel
    1.0 Lesser Pastel, 0.0.7 mixed babies

  7. #5
    BPnet Veteran Oxylepy's Avatar
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    I figured it out. I can get fiber reinforced polymer sheets for a relatively low cost. I got onto the idea of using fiberglass and was trying to price acrylic, boom, low cost, water resistant, rot resistant. And it should be thick and slick enough to protect the wood
    Ball Pythons 1.1 Lesser, Pastel
    1.0 Lesser Pastel, 0.0.7 mixed babies

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