# sealing the vivarium?



## lifesagame (Feb 2, 2010)

I've seen on some posts people seal the vivs before they put anything in it. As I'm getting a bearded dragon was wondering if this would still be necessary/a good idea  

I'm gonna get an aquarium background (hopefully doing a fake rock build over the summer for one corner if I have time though) and sand with sandstone on for the substrate. Just thought it was a good idea to ask before I put the sand in! :lol2:

Wasn't sure if this was the right section but I seem to be asking a lot of questions in the lizards bit and don't wanna annoy people :blush:


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

good idea to seal the bottom if you're using sand just incase it tries to fall out.


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## lifesagame (Feb 2, 2010)

all the joins are sealed with silicone... i think it's silicone, was ready built, but they're sealed  some people have said things about yacht varnish (I can never spell it, looked on google and that looks wrong... boats ) but not sure how you'd do it/if it was important

sand seems to escape no matter what I do with it in other things so might end up with a beach on my floor anyway  haha!


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## Kaarn (Feb 3, 2010)

If the viv is sealed on the joints, then when you clean the viv, liquid doesn't pour out the bottom through the joints, hence the silicone on the joints. 

sealing the rock structures/background is so they are wipe cleanable and don't soak in the cleaning fluid. 

Normal melanine board (i think that is what they call it) is wipable anyway, so you only have to seal the joints to make it easy to clean. This also stops liquid soaking into the ends of the board and making it swell up.


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## waynenoonan1234 (Sep 11, 2009)

you only have to yacht varnish is the rep your puttin in is high humidity as a BD isn't i wouldn't bother spendin the money. the fake rock build you could just seal with watered down PVA glue.


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## thetong6969 (Apr 20, 2009)

ive put in the bottom of my vivs the strips you get for bathrooms round the bath they come with sealant on but i have used non toxic sealant glue to put extra grip on and they have stuck brilliantly
when my boas are big enough to go in they'll love it


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## lee young (Oct 14, 2009)

Normal melamine board that most vivs are made of is fine as is for desert setups. Yacht varnish sealing of the whole viv is only really need for really humid setups for water dragons etc.


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## waynenoonan1234 (Sep 11, 2009)

waynenoonan1234 said:


> you only have to yacht varnish is the rep your puttin in is high humidity as a BD isn't i wouldn't bother spendin the money. the fake rock build you could just seal with watered down PVA glue.


i have already said that mate


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## lifesagame (Feb 2, 2010)

thanks guys  

thought I'd double check as I have no idea about these things 

Didn't realise you could use PVA to seal a fake rock build, was gonna use epoxy resin, PVA sounds easier though, lol!


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## stephent (Feb 4, 2010)

PVA is one of the best things to seal fake rock with due to its non-toxic nature. Varnish/ resin is good, but needs to be aired for quite some time to ensure that all the vapor has evaporated.

I found PVA to be the cheapest option too. I did use something stupid like 7 layers in parts (through my own choice), and it cost less than £6! I used a PVA sand mix, and layered sand on the last few layers and it is incredibly strong/ tough.


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## dannyuk8385 (Aug 8, 2012)

Just sealed mine with pva for a water dragon as stephent said its cheaper than yacht varnish as well. Yacht varnish will need days to dry as pva half a day just to be sure!!! And its non toxic.


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