What should I use?

[Tbrock91]

I am working on building 2 cages for my veileds. My question is I would like to use wood but I know a lot of wood they use chemicals to water proof and some have pesticides. So is wood the best building material or can you suggest a different type of material. And I do not want to use PVC pipe it is to flimsy

 

[camimom]

I use just regular untreated wood, 1x2s, and then i stained and polyurethaned them.

as long as you let them fully dry and air out for several days, you will be fine.

 

[Carlton]

I am working on building 2 cages for my veileds. My question is I would like to use wood but I know a lot of wood they use chemicals to water proof and some have pesticides. So is wood the best building material or can you suggest a different type of material. And I do not want to use PVC pipe it is to flimsy

Choose non-pressure treated wood. There are different pressure treatment chemicals out there and some are a lot less toxic, but you don't really need to use them and they can still leach over time. Your cage would be indoors right? Don't use cedar though it does resist rot well, because the resins can irritate the respiratory tract. Kiln dried fir, spruce, pine, or a hardwood with a water-based paint or sealer will work.

There are different grades of PVC pipe out there, some a lot more rigid, but those are larger in diameter. I've used it for fairly large cages in the past, but the main issue I had with PVC was designing a nice looking frame and attaching the mesh to it and ending up with something decent looking. Wood always seemed to look better.

 

[Chaka]

I used pine furring strips coated with No-VOC Latex paint. There is very little off-gassing since it is water based but epoxy or polyurethane is an option as well. For a 2x2x4 cage I used one quart that was marked down for 7 bucks, using 3-4 coats. The materials ended up costing me roughly 60 bucks. Unless you're making a very large or custom enclosure, paying the extra 30-40 might be worth it but that's entirely up to you. There's a lot of very cool 'furniture' like enclosure guides on this site if you do some digging.

Post pics of your progress!