Safe materials?

[abruptus]

Hi all

I'm new here so please forgive me if this has been tried/done/asked before, but is there a list of materials safe for reptiles kicking about anywhere?

I'm not talking about a list saying "glass, wood, metal" etc, I'm more thinking of specific brands of specific items that are known to be non-toxic and not harmful. I can see that in this board there is a recent post enquiring about powder paint.

I propose a sticky/index of materials that are safe, for people that like to do a bit of DIY.

My motivation is that I like to sculpt, and in the past created some cast resin severed hands out of an epoxy resin that was aquatics safe. They were fine in fishtanks, but I couldn't paint them as I didn't know what I could use. I even emailed most major aquarium ornament brands and a few paint manufacturers to either find out if they could tell me what they use, or point me in the direction of a safe material. No joy.

So, I will try to start this thread off, and please either let me know if it's been before, or your thoughts, or even any materials you think should be added to the list. I have a few ideas for some hides I'd like to do, but am unsure how to treat the material (it's wood, but I don't want it to rot, and I don't want it to be toxic!)

[abruptus]

Please note
The materials listed below are presumed to be safe, but use of the materials are entirely the responsibility of the user. This list serves only as a list of what others have found works, and appears to be safe, and the thread creator and contributors accept no responsibility for illness or fatalities resulting from the use of any materials listed below.


Glues
Aquarium silicon sealant

Paints

Varnishes and sealants

Sculpting material (clay, resin, putty etc)
Alumilite 2-part epoxy resin
Safe for aquatic life if properly measured by weight and mixed correctly. Neutral off white colour. Very runny and so needs to be cast, but sets into a hard, heat proof non toxic material very quickly.

Milliput 2-part epoxy putty
Also safe for use in aquariums, it is even used in marine fish tanks and sets under water, so I presume it should be safe? Essentially a clay that is mixed together in equal parts, and sets rock solid. Useful for either creating fake rock work, or permanently bonding things such as vines and rocks together.



If you know of any materials not listed above which are suitable for use in a vivarium or aquarium, please let us know and I will update the thread accordingly. Similarly if you feel a listed material is not safe, let us know and the material will either be removed or suitable warnings added.

[Rencey]

ok i am building a fake rock enclosure for my water dragon and have been doing alot of e-mailing about epoxy resins for sealing the whole thing and making it water and weather proof.

this was my reply from abl stevens.

The best coating resin we supply is the Clear Lay-up Epoxy system.
This resin has added UV stabilisers to maximise resistance from weathering.
It sets totally clear with a super high gloss and hardness if used and cured properly.
It has a Tg of around 75*C if post cured. Typical post curing schedule is gel at room temperature then 8 hours at 60*C.
The resin should be quite inert when fully cured so should not pose any problems with drinking water.

[abruptus]

Cheers for that.

I didn't realise this forum limits the time in which you can edit a post! I had intended on editing the first two as things were added, but I think now I will have to sort out a webpage that is linked to this thread which I will update!

[Rencey]

i have been e-mailing resin companies etc by the hundreds because of the intricate "mountain" with running river etc i have have been building for my water dragom lol .

i will keep posting here as i find out about other materials for peoples future projects

[littleimp]

The best & cheapest varnish/sealant is polyurethane varnish. This is what aquarium ornaments are coated in once painted. Sets rock solid too.

The spray dekor material is also polyurethane based hence why it's used in aquarium/reptile background production.

[abruptus]

Thanks guys.

I've put together the startings of the list. I had a little bit of a trawl through the forum looking for sealants people use. Let me know what you think of the following page:

www.zpyder.co.uk/repmat

Hopefully at various intervals as the list grows we'll be able to get a moderator to update the initial post and keep a copy of the list within the forum!

[littleimp]

The 2 x varnishes mentioned are polyurethane. Don't know if matt or glossy though.

[abruptus]

Aye, thanks for pointing that out. One of the things I want to do is create a list of brands as well as kinds of materials. I'm pretty fussy when it comes to anything that could potentially harm tank inhabitants, and so will always go with brands/materials that have been used before, rather than those that "should" be safe. I'm guessing other people are the same. What I'll do is rearrange the list a bit so things are sub-grouped, so for example all polyurethane varnishes are together. Then people can see that polyurethane varnishes are fine, and if they want to know more, they can see that people have used brand xxx and brand yyy etc!

The other thing I'm after is feedback and comments on each material. Obviously there are going to be lots of varnishes that can and have been used, but some might smell less than others, some might be less clear than others, some might take longer to set etc. So if I can provide any details alongside the items (like the alumilite and milliput) I will. Hopefully the list will grow and get to the point where it's certainly not comprehensive, but is large and detailed enough to provide anyone looking into making something with a list containing some of each type of material he or she might want to use.

Does anyone have any suggestions on the layout and the overall aims of this list? I'd like to hear them. I'm very new to keeping reptiles, I only have a gargoyle gecko, but know from the aquatics side of things that sourcing materials that you're happy to put in a tank can be pretty time consuming and nerve wracking!

[leogeck3]

PVA Glue is a good sealer and Varnish..... Safe for little kids that may decide to drink or eat so surely must be safe for animals?!