# Safe ways to seal wood?



## Othello (Mar 21, 2018)

I've recently made wood trays into shelves for my critter nation and I'm wondering what would be safe to seal the wood. I've put one in and left the wood exposed but covered it with a fleece liner for the time being. If pictures are needed I'll happily post them for you guys c; Thank you for your help.


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## Steffy (Oct 6, 2017)

We used water based acrylic wall paint for the base of our wooden cage. It's waterproof once cured but would not withstand intense scrubbing. For that, I'd use some oil based paint but it would require much longer to cure and the smell to dissipate.

Some of the wooden shelves in the cage I covered with lino. I just cut it to size and stapled it on with a staple gun (which of course creates little holes for any liquid to leak through, this hasn't been a problem for me yet, tough). Most of them I left bare and little specs of pee I just scrub off with water and a cloth/brush, sometimes soap or F10. Doesn't even take that long to dry.


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## Othello (Mar 21, 2018)

Ah! Thank you so much Steffy <3 Would oil paint be okay if it was chewed though?


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

Personally, I'd be a bit nervous about using any paint or sealant in their cage if they'd be able to chew on it. Maybe just cover the trays with vinyl tiles and understand that they may need to be replaced when the wood gets gross.


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## Othello (Mar 21, 2018)

Yeah, that's where my concern was too. Maybe I'll go with the vinyl tiles :3. I do know that there is pet safe paint that guinea pig owners use on toys- But I'm not really sure if rat owners are okay with using pet safe paint. It would be nice to paint the outside of the trays to go with my fleece patterns and stuff.


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

Othello said:


> I do know that there is pet safe paint that guinea pig owners use on toys


I'd be interested in knowing more about this! I've read about making paint for toys from kitchen food items but this definitely wouldn't seal wood.


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## Steffy (Oct 6, 2017)

My rats have actually never chewed anything wooden inside their cage - painted or not. 

Oil based paint, once cured properly, will be pretty much as safe/unsafe as any plastic item.


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## Othello (Mar 21, 2018)

Okay, from doing some research from guinea pig owners soy based paint was the #1 choice for pet safe paint. Unfortunately I can't find any soy based paints and from what I've found all brands have discontinued it. Why? I don't know. Another pet safe solution is using milk based paint. From what I've found it's dog safe, which leads me to believe that it'd be safe for rats too as dogs do chew on things they aren't supposed too. 

Not sure it would "seal" the wood but it would definitely protect it at least a little bit from pee and poops.


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## Asiposea (Dec 16, 2016)

I would look at good old shellac. It's non-toxic and is even approved for human use for wooden serving dishes. The solvent is stinky but the actual shellac is not...it's literally the bug shells/excretions. You can tint it, but otherwise it will be a clear sealed finish. It's not good with water stain and I have no idea what ammonia pee pee would do to it...I'm guessing severe staining.


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## Steffy (Oct 6, 2017)

Shellac is a good idea! You just need ethanol to dissolve it, here it's sold as methylated spirits at the hardware store (laced with methanol so people don't drink it) and it evaporates fast. You may need several coats though.


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