# Background Waterproof Sealant Brand?



## scaphiopus (Feb 9, 2017)

Hello, I'm working on a background for my Western Hognose (yes, a snake) and I'm searching for the final product, a non-toxic sealant to make it waterproof.

Anyone got any brand recommendations? Thanks!


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## cam1941 (Jan 16, 2014)

Drylok... Plane old drylok (latex based), not extreme or clear as they both have mold inhibitors. 

You can tint it with concrete colors or even acrylic paints so that you can create really nice textured looks.


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

Drylok _can be_ a good solution. What you want depends on how waterproof you need. Also perhaps on how rigid is the background material you will be waterproofing. E.g., if it's rigid polystyrene foam, the blue stuff is the firmest, then the pink, and finally, the wimpy white. Expanding foams are a little better than the wimpy white ("styrofoam"), but...they aren't all that stout. I like the pink (Home Depot) or better yet the blue (Lowe's) stuff myself.

Hoggies of course aren't fond of the damp, but you may find yourself needing to do a little vigorous cleaning now and then. Which is why I mention "how waterproof?" and also "how firm?"

If you needed to firm up the foam you could always coat it with some epoxy paste (e.g., Polygem's #307 lite is tried and true, I can attest that it is great stuff; a newer option is VivariumWorks' Exhibit Cast, which I do not know personally - see their website, it's very interesting). These can be tinted with dry masonry colorants, or painted with acrylic paints, or just left "natural". If you've put extreme care into your foam (I assume?) sculpting, it would be hard to retain the texture with epoxy paste. OTOH you can impart some great textures to the epoxy with sculpting tools, junky stiffened paint brushes, or even stuff like balls of tin foil (whose surface texture resembles some rock types). This epoxy stuff is the bomb for toughness - you could scrub at it for days with a rag or sponge or nylon brush, and it would be just fine. Epoxy putties are sticky (and how) and require some getting used to, to work them well. Not a big deal.

Drylok should always be used in several coats for sealing herp cages. The fish forums (search "plywood aquarium") have some tales of Drylok fails. Not cool. That's fish, of course, but even snake cages can rot, fast, if they get wet. The "normal" latex Drylok (cam1941 is right, listen to him) comes with silica grit to help make it waterproof - it's rough as hell. Like 35-grit sandpaper or so. A few coats of acrylic paint over the top help mellow it out a bit. You can get after "crud" with an old toothbrush, for cleaning. Just don't go too long. One super-nice aspect of Drylok is that it won't "blur" your work if you're a real hand at sculpting foam. Your texture will remain quite true. OTOH it's just paint so if the foam or whatever is pretty squishy, it'll be easy to punch through the paint and expose the foam. Ugly, and possibly toxic.

An in-between waterproofing & background-stiffening solution could be an epoxy paint. The company formerly known as Aquatic Ecosystems (now Pentaire) sells good stuff. Epoxy Paint Kits. I believe a tinted version would hold up better - epoxy resins require UV protection. This choice for waterproofing would also hold up pretty well to non-industrial cleaning. And it's smooth - no crap-holding grit. Also, many kinds of "crud" just do not want to stick to epoxy - a bonus! Silicone will stick to it well however - which you may want, who knows.

Good luck, have fun. I'm a snake guy myself, not a frogger. I've done quite a few vivs and a few paludaria, and I've made my share of build mistakes. Sometimes it takes a while for a mistake to reveal itself as such...


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## scaphiopus (Feb 9, 2017)

jgragg said:


> Drylok _can be_ a good solution. What you want depends on how waterproof you need. Also perhaps on how rigid is the background material you will be waterproofing. E.g., if it's rigid polystyrene foam, the blue stuff is the firmest, then the pink, and finally, the wimpy white. Expanding foams are a little better than the wimpy white ("styrofoam"), but...they aren't all that stout. I like the pink (Home Depot) or better yet the blue (Lowe's) stuff myself.
> 
> Hoggies of course aren't fond of the damp, but you may find yourself needing to do a little vigorous cleaning now and then. Which is why I mention "how waterproof?" and also "how firm?"
> 
> ...


Wow, thank you! That summed up everything I was looking for, lol. I appreciate it!


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