I would just use the original. You can pick it up at Wal-Mart or Home Depot. Wal-Mart is usually cheaper. As far as glue you should be ok as long as you let it completely dry and give your project a few days for the smells to completely go away. The last one I built dried for a few days, then I introduced heat and humidity. After monitoring that for about a week I put my snake in. Some might say its a bit extreme, I say cautious!!