Wood For Native Enclosure

[reptile_maniac]

Hi Guys

I am about to get a native enclosure built but was just wanting your guys opinions on whether i should buy un-treated wood or treated wood. I have heard that it is toxic to gecko's but i have heard of people using treated wood with no ill effect on the gecko's.

thanks

[repto]

would not risk using treated timber for a gecko enclosure.Toxins like that work on a body weight per exsposure to said chemicals......light weight animal = more toxicity(sp?)

[Insect Direct]

i would of thought treated would be the way to go, painting it should make it safe??

i cant imagine they're going to chew it like some birds/rabbits etc

or would painting untreated timber be enough to make it last?

hmm

[reptile_maniac]

Would you have to buy non toxic paint?? hmmmm i am stuck in the middle.....

[livingart]

i have used douglas fir, it lasted 8 years

also used dressed, well dried, tanalised, still in one piece after 12 years

[repto]

standard acrylic paint should be fine?let it dry out as long as you can before putting any animals in there.

[livingart]

i used a good quality water based stain on our ones

[reptile_maniac]

i have used douglas fir, it lasted 8 years

also used dressed, well dried, tanalised, still in one piece after 12 years

not to sound dumb or anything but wats "douglas fir"??

[livingart]

a type of timber, hard to work with, splits easily

i predrilled holes and used screws

tanalised i was tol was all right so long as it has been dried out completely

wet tanalised can still leach out bad salts

[reptile_maniac]

Ohk thanks for all the help

il post some pics of the enclosure once its done!

[livingart]

what do DOC recommend nowadays?

[reptile_maniac]

I printed of a sheet about enclosures from the NZHS site and it said that they have used treated wood without any probs but im still not sure.....but i haven't heard what doc recommends

[livingart]

had this on the computer for a while

Warwick brown wrote it but i don't know where it came from

Cagey Concept.

I have often been asked about ideas on the building of cages and so have put a few thoughts together on out-door caging. They may not suit all but do provide some simple options as follows:

The basic cage has a number of features:

Floor: The elevated floor of the cage is at thigh height to save your back during those endless hours of gecko study. Say 700mm from the ground. Made from marine ply or fibre-cement panels, be sure to include cross brace supports for the those heavy pot plants which can be dropped through large holes cut in the floor. This provides the depth of soil the plants will need.

Roof: The roof needs to be low enough to allow you to pluck the geckos from the ceiling. Say 1800mm from ground level. Allow natural sun light to penetrate unhindered by glass or plastic for 30% of the area.

Depth: he depth of the cage depends on the length of your arms so you can reach the rear wall; say 600-700mm.

Width: The width of each compartment is usually 500-700mm depending on your shoulder width. [some corners can be hard to get to.]

Support Legs: Usually the maximum span you can have between the supporting corner legs is

1800mm to avoid centre sag and difficulty with doors jamming.

Material: I have used tanalized and weathered 40mm square pine without ill effect on the geckos or skinks and without wood decay, so far.

Plants: In general, natives are best, but if I was to pick only two, it would have to be a potted Golden Coprosma and for the babies, a roof hanging Spanish Moss ‘air ‘ plant. The base of some pots allow for trays to be clipped on to contain water. These are ideas for watering the plants from below without letting the flies-moths escape.

Wall covering: All walls need to be covered internally with a fine whitebait netting in aluminium or stainless steel, painted black. Painting this black makes it easier to see through. External walls need an additional layer to keep out cats. Packed out by 20mm, a layer of small hole chicken mesh is most effective but again, paint a dark colour to enable vision through it.

Weather proofing: Roof & end walls: Partially cover with Clearlight to allow ventilation and 30% direct sun light through the remaining netting.

Glass: Limit yourself to only one sheet of glass as a viewing panel. Glue it to wood and hinge the wood to the cage frame. Having mesh below and above allows for good air circulation.

Feeding doors: The feeding door (s) should be small so when emptying your moth/fly net into the cage, the entire door opening is covered by the net. Put the feeding door on the shaded side of the cage away from the sunlight at the time of day when you intend to add food. The flies will generally fly toward the light to escape so you will need a dark back ground to prevent the flies escaping during feeding. On my cages, I have a pair of feeding doors above the one glass viewing panel. When geckos are basking on the ledge of one door, I can often use the other.

Water containers: I use two, one a wall mounted budgie feeder and the other, an upturned Agee preserving jar with a plastic bird feeder lid. I’ve placed whitebait netting over the water outlet cavity and filled the remaining bath with road gravel. The stones are always wet and prevent the skinks from burrowing in and drowning in the water column.

Basking branches: Large branches, some 40mm in diameter, are a must for the geckos to spread out to soak up the sun.

The DoC brochure “A GUIDE TO THE KEEPING OF LIZARDS IN CAPTIVITY” is worth reading to

gain a greater insight into the animals’ needs.

Warwick Brown

[Insect Direct]

“A GUIDE TO THE KEEPING OF LIZARDS IN CAPTIVITY”

Not sure if this is the same DOC doc but closest thing ive found

http://www.reptiles.org.nz/uploads/PDF/ ... izards.pdf

Nothing about sort of timber that i can see. Wouldn't hurt to ask someone at your local DOC office given they're the ones who issue permits.

Someone from NZHS has recommended to use treated timber. Painted with water based (acrylic?) paint.

[herperjosh]

Not sure if this is the same DOC doc but closest thing ive found

http://www.reptiles.org.nz/uploads/PDF/ ... izards.pdf

Nothing about sort of timber that i can see. Wouldn't hurt to ask someone at your local DOC office given they're the ones who issue permits.

Someone from NZHS has recommended to use treated timber. Painted with water based (acrylic?) paint.

That is a d.o.c care guide for our natives on the nzhs they say you can use treated would but just paint it with a non toxic paint. they also do that ini the states to. Douglas fir i would say as the best bet but it must be anoying to work with.

[reptile_maniac]

I've all ready read through those before but thanks for the help I will also give doc a ring and ask