Painting My Cage

[lizardlover15]

recently went to the home depot and got the wood and screening to start my cage. just wondering if i could paint the wood after it is built or could that somehow harm the cham?

 

[Syn]

If you decide to paint, use NO VOC LATEX PAINT. No fumes, and it's waterproof.

 

[lizardlover15]

thank you very much will keep that in mind, and be sure to go with that paint if i decide to paint at all

 

[VerteX]

First build the cage. You have 2 options:

• Stain it with waterbased stain, then coat it with waterbased protective finish (or just use protective finish w/o staining)
• Use waterbased latex paint (use the kitchen and bathroom type).

Here's a the cage i built for my veileds. I stained with minwax waterbased stain and used minwax semigloss clear coat several times for waterproofing.

 

[jojackson]

Love the pretty snowflakes Vertex, Very sexy! LOL

 

[VerteX]

Love the pretty snowflakes Vertex, Very sexy! LOL

<offTopic>LOL, I'll forward your comment to my wife. She's the one who put those up there </offTopic>

By the way, never leave your the wood of the cage bare. Sooner or later it will mold due to all the water you are spraying.

 

[Dinky]

i work with paints and stains as i refurnish hotel tubs with paints and i stain everything from cabins to garage floors but for looks and protection i would choose a stain over a paint better looks and more durable for moisture try sherwin and williams decks stain meant for high moisture and direct water exposure and you paint this on before or after set up two coats would do more than whats needed...just my 2 cents worth

 

[reptilemancan]

i work with paints and stains as i refurnish hotel tubs with paints and i stain everything from cabins to garage floors but for looks and protection i would choose a stain over a paint better looks and more durable for moisture try sherwin and williams decks stain meant for high moisture and direct water exposure and you paint this on before or after set up two coats would do more than whats needed...just my 2 cents worth

looks very nice great paint work!

 

[bbqandtinyb]

We've built two cages using wood and screen. From those two experiences, I would definitely recommend staining/painting the wood before attaching the screen. After you have built the cage, it is impossible to get into all of the little nooks where you have attached the screen to the wood. Doing so would also increase the life of the enclosure and decrease your chances of MOLD as Vertex mentioned.

 

[camille]

Make sure you use a primer. If you don't, the paint can eventually flake off and possibly harm your chameleon.

 

[reptilemancan]

Make sure you use a primer. If you don't, the paint can eventually flake off and possibly harm your chameleon.

ye that hapend to mine luckly it was my spare cage and not the one my cham was in!

 

[Vince]

OK so it has been mentioned to use a NO VOC paint on a chams cage. So why are people using stain and primer? To my knowledge they do not sell a NO VOC primer or stain yet. Therefore, it would be pointless to use the NO VOC paint over top of the primer because the VOC's can seep through the paint. Paint is porous material.

Just another thought, how many people on here have used paint with VOC's and have had no problems with it. (chameleons health) I kind of think if we used paint or sealer with VOC's and let them air dry for a few days before introducing a cham to it, it would be fine... Just a thought.

 

[Siders]

I used a low VOC stain, gave it 2 coats, then 3 coats of yacht varnish with low VOC's and let it air for roughly 1 week to be doubly sure and gave it a clean with some cage cleaner, absolutely magic.

 

[Dinky]

well thats i why i suggested stains because latex paint is shit and flakes all the time and voc will only hurt the chameleon after being fully aired out if they ingest the wood so for the stain voc to hurt them they would have to eat ur cage and i havent heard of that

 

[sandrachameleon]

I recommend you paint all the wood with at least one coat before putting it all together. Seal all joins with a nontoxic caulk or silicone. I use zero VOC latex acrylic paint, it has never flaked off or caused me any issues. I do scrub my cages on a regular basis, so I repaint every few years. Which allows me to be creative in the colours - this year I'm going jungle or army camo theme.

 

[nick barta]

I recommend you paint all the wood with at least one coat before putting it all together. Seal all joins with a nontoxic caulk or silicone. I use zero VOC latex acrylic paint, it has never flaked off or caused me any issues. I do scrub my cages on a regular basis, so I repaint every few years. Which allows me to be creative in the colours - this year I'm going jungle or army camo theme.

Sandra,

I just pictured your Chams in Chamo gear!

Nick