Need help on building an enclosure.

I want to build a enclosure for my new bearded dragon. I found a site that gave instructions. It said to use melamine for the enclosure but I can not find it at lowes. I was wondering what other wood would be fine to use in replace of the melamine. How tall should and enclosure be? I have been told that a 40 breeder was fine others say a 55 at least etc. What dimentions would you suggest for one bearded dragon? Any other info you think would be helpful would be great.
Thanks

Home Depot carries it, i buy it every few months. I have 2 racks built from melamine and a dual enclosure for boa's built of melamine. Home Depot sells a 49"x97" sheet of melamine for 19.97 or somewhere around that price. $20 dollars for sure. You will want to pre drill any screw holes you want especially near the edge's cause it will crack! I guarantee that.

Melamine my be good but, It is too heavy I make mine out of 1/4" Birch Plywood and 1x4 Pine board, Its lighter

I'm currently building new ones will post pics when I'm done.

Thanks, now I just need to decide how big I want to build it thanks for all of the help.

If I decided not to use melamine and instead go with birch plywood what would you use inside and out for a protective coat on the wood? I think melamine has a lamanite on it. And by the way Bill you did a nice job on your enclosure. I like the way you have it built.

you can use thompson water sealer to protect the wood that is what i use and seems to work there are others out there but i cant say about them ,good luck in your building

Originally Posted by Brenda777

If I decided not to use melamine and instead go with birch plywood what would you use inside and out for a protective coat on the wood? I think melamine has a lamanite on it. And by the way Bill you did a nice job on your enclosure. I like the way you have it built.

If you can't find melamine you can always use melamine shelving. It's a bit more expensive but the melamine coating is considerably thicker than the full sheets you'll be at Home Depot and other similar stores. And the shelving often comes already with edge banding already applied which comes in handy.

But melamine is heavy so plywood is a decent alternative.

I do not recommend any sort of deck sealer or any exterior product for that matter. They are designed to be more flexible and to absorb UV rays which causes them to be less durable when used in an indoor application. And they are often solvent based which means that can take months to cure completely.

I built my bearded dragon cage from birch laminted plywood. Initially I just sealed the cage with Minwax Polycrylic (a waterborne polyurethane) but that proved to not be durable enough for the floor. So I took a scrap piece of vinyl flooring and adhered that to the floor and the cage held up fine for years after that.

Varthane also makes a nice WB polyurethane that is easy to find. Again, don't use the exterior (spar) product, use the floor or regular urethane instead. I think the WB line is called Diamond.

I just prefer melamine because it doesnt need to be painted. Which can turn into a messy adventure, and i dont have a garage to paint in so it would have to be done in the house. The plywood would be a LOT lighter thats for sure. Melamine is hated for one major reason, its so DARN heavy. It is sturdy if built properly, and it lasts for a LONG time as long as you make sure to caulk all meeting surfaces with a low odor silicone caulk. I use silicone II, low odor, long lasting, easy to use and sold at home depot and even wal mart. I dont know about Lowe's cause we dont have one nearby so i dont shop there.

Brenda please post pictures of your building process and finished product!!

OH OH OH i forgot, You can also go to home depot, and purchase a 4x8 sheet of plain, smooth, white tileboard. It's about 1/8" thick and has a very smooth, non-porous surface that is easily whiped down and sanitized. It can be put into any cage being cut to the inside dimensions of the floor, sides, back and ceiling and then use Liquid Nails to adhere it to the surface. Makes for a very nice look on the interior and you can use WHATEVER you want for the outside and paint the enclosure whatever color you want.

The sheets of tile board are 9.95 at Home Depot and are in the area where the peg board is i think. If anyone else knows if im wrong or right, please post and say so.

Thanks for everyones advice. When I finish my enclosure I will post pictures.
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Brenda