# Cork board safe?



## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

So, many many eons again (about 12) when I had dozens of vivs, I bought a case of these Hobby Cork Tiles. They are 12 x 12 inch sheets of dark cork coard. After seeing several beautiful vivs walls done in a similar product in the book Jewels of the Rainforest by Jerry G Walls, I decided to try it myself. Then I got some dire warnings from others not to use it, that "some" brands use glue to bond the cork together that can leach being harmful to the animals. Well, I still have the cork and I'd like to use it, but not if its going to hurt my animals. Here is the brand and model Dark Cork Tiles 4 PK From what I understand, some cork is bonded using super high temp steam that uses the woods own cellulose to bond the cork. But I don't know which this is. Calls to the manufacturer have not been overly helpful as of yet. Any idea's anyone?


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

I would avoid the thin sheets, they will last a while, but tend to fall apart. I use a product that is 1"thick and seems to hold up pretty well.


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## Brotherly Monkey (Jul 20, 2010)

Mantellaprince20 said:


> I would avoid the thin sheets, they will last a while, but tend to fall apart. I use a product that is 1"thick and seems to hold up pretty well.


I used to use something similar in one of my larger monitor cages, but it would last a year, if I was lucky, between the claws and humidity. Out of curiosity, how much use are you getting out of them in the frog vivs, and have you had any issue with them molding up, or plants rooting on them?


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## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

Here we have a similar product known as 'schwarzkork', you can buy it as thin as those tiles or slightly thicker. I have used the thinner ones in Phelsuma tanks with no issue as well as frog tanks. I have also used the thicker tiles in frog tanks without issue as well. The thinner ones can swell a bit more in humid environments so you may have to stuff in some sphagnum moss here and there over time if you are not generous enough when gluing them down, but otherwise it should not be an issue.

I have also purchased cork rolls where the cork is really ultra thin for use in the back of show boxes. These I got from a hardware store and not a specialty reptile shop and have had also no issue to date. 

A general rule of thumb I have when it comes to "dried" products not made by reptile specialists is if it smells funky it probably has some nasty chemicals in it that are unsafe for my animals and if it smells sweet like a forest it is probably safe.


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

this product would definitely not hold up to a moniter, it is a very soft material and does not have an industrial glue. It is indeed just heated, which causes the natural cork resins to glue the chunks together. That is why I like this product, I really cut down my nasty chemical use on the viv (ie much less silicone to adhere these as background over gluing coco to foam). 

I have had the thin sheets hold up for about 5 years, however when I go to trim plants back (oak leaf fig), i tend to rip large chunks out due to roots. The thicker stuff seems to be much more stable, I am using it for orchid and plant mounts, backgrounds, etc etc. I am estimating that the thicker will last or hold up much longer, but we will see. The othe rproblem is drying, if you let the viv completely dry out, say if it were not in use for a few months and you aren't misting it, the thinner sheets tend to just crumple. When rehydrated, they sometimes come back, but for the most part it just falls apart from there.

As far as plants rooting, they love this. It is light, has plenty of gaps, so plants root to it very well. This is only bad when you want to remove plants from it . Great product, I would go with the thicker sheets, but regardless, it is a much better alternative for those that are planning on having their plants cover most of their background anywya. I will never use GS and coco again as a background......

here are links to a few of my builds using this product:
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/79653-65-gallon-blue-jeans.html
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/78286-40-breeder-verts.html


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## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to go ahead and set up severla 10 gallon verts using the cork board. After seeing MantellaPrinces setups....that sealed the deal. ITs a go!


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