Wood protectant

[PiL71]

Hello - I've been off and on planning a final enclosure for my Russian, Herb. I've had some run ins with people on here before, so I'd really appreciate only help, no harm (unless the harm is for the safety of the tort)

As everyone here knows, tortoises can eventually scratch thru wood sealant, and I'm running into this issue now. I water resisted (not proofed because you cant waterproof in this situation) the walls and bottom for humidity, but my real question is this. Could I use aquarium (well I guess animal safe) expanding foam for the walls and ceiling to give a textured backplate, and to protect the wood from water vapor? Also, could I put a sheet of heavy duty plastic on the bottom first, and have the foam stick to that and the wall to secure it? I'm trying for a more naturalistic vivarium look for this one, the last two have been slowly getting better and better as time goes on. Improve, improve, improve, amirite?

Anyways I'm thinking, for the foam to make it like bumpy and rough to give a textured wall look, then the standard aquarium procedure to make it safe for me tort. (Coating it with 100% non toxic aquarium safe silicone, and adding coco coir to that mess to give color and all)

That is, if my idea will even work. Anyone have any experience with this? My current enclosure is 4x2x2 (x2), pictures should be on my profile. I'm planning on going 6x2x2 (x3) for this one to give him more room, and heck, I have the space so why not? And yes, he does use each floor if y'all wonder. He uses both all the time. Tbh, not sure why more people DON'T do this lol. Anyways, thanks for reading. Let me know if expanding foam would work. I know it isn't normally used with wood, but thought I'd run it by yall before I did anything.

 

[Walnut's_pet]

I like the idea for a vivarium for any other type of critter, and I've done it for several, but I dont think it would hold up to an RT. They would dig into that foam with relative ease. Aside from ruining your hard work, the bigger concern would be if he/she decides to eat any of it. One thought on the plastic barrier....Never tried it myself, but I would be concerned about moisture building between the plastic and the wood. Not that its as pleasant to look at as a formed background, but I've used household vinyl tile (come in all sorts of colors and patterns now). Typically cheap and easy to work with. Provides adequate protection from moisture and digging. Can even go extra safe and seal the wood, as you did before and put the self adhesive tiles on top of that.

 

[S2G]

I've done a bunch of vivariums similar. That pond foam is used as a filler not as a protectant. If you had a more humid animal I would go more drastic, but a Russian is not bad at all.

What I'm doing for my hermanni after I realized a table is a bad way to go is make a full enclosure with big enough vents to maintain 50-70%rh. I have normal wood that I'm siliconing & sealing with paint. In the bottom I'm going to use either pvc panels, flex seal type, or just lined up to the top of where I want dirt. Then from there up I'm using compressed cork board (you could do foam on this). Foam is expensive & extremely messy then you have to carve, coat with silicone then add texture with coco fiber, etc. The cork board is dark, but vines will root into eventually covering the background. I used to use foam in dart frog vivariums, but I switched to the cork just for ease of use. Heres what the sheets look like then you just silicone to the back. Lasts as long or longer than foam.

 

[Tom]

I know of two things that will stand up to constant moisture.

Non-toxic boat paint and primer, or Pond Shield. I've used both.

Boat pain is more expensive, but easier to work with.

I've used Pond Shield in 3 humid outdoor night boxes now. Its great, but you MUST follow the directions to the letter. Call and Toal to them for specific help and questions. There is a learning curve, and it can be tough, but that stuff is totally non-toxic, water proof, and lasts for ever when done correctly.

Alternatively, the best option is to make the enclosure out of 1/2 inch expanded PVC sheets instead of wood. This is what I do now.

 

[Byron Todd]

Ill add fiberglass resin to what Tom said. It is also used in the boating industry as a marine protectant. Just cheap bondo seems to work fine if you dont want to go with a marine grade epoxy.