Although the popularity of keeping various reptiles as pets has been sky rocketing at an exponential rate over the last couple of years, over the last couple of months, the number of people looking to customise their vivariums has also sky rocketed.
We think that this is due to a number of beautiful looking vivarium setups going viral on social media recently spiking the interest in coming up with your own custom vivarium backgrounds and setups.
Of course, then then results in a spike in the number of people reaching out and asking for advice on silicone that is safe for reptiles as well as the best vivarium safe silicone on the market.
It can be a total pain to find certified safe silicone products for vivariums right now with many people just choosing to go with Aquarium safe silicone but if you know where to look, you can find products like American Sealants Vivarium Silicone that work very well.
As we see a number of specific questions about reptile safe silicone each month, we have decided to bundle them all together and answer them in this article.
Our hope is that we will be able to help our readers better understand the various advantages of going with a reptile safe silicone for any custom work or repairs in their vivariums
We have our table of contents below that should make it as easy as possible to navigate the article and skip to specific sections that you may want to read about too.
Is Silicone Safe For Reptiles?
Although the chances of regular silicone causing problems with most reptiles is relatively low, there is still a chance that it can present a choking hazard or present a toxic substance in their vivarium.
The majority of the reptile owning community tend to use aquarium safe silicone in their vivariums but more recently, a number of silicone products have been specifically designed for use with vivariums have been released onto the market.
Please note that even aquarium safe or vivarium safe silicone products still need to be left to fully cure before they are considered to be safe for use with pets.
This is a very common mistake that we see people making and different silicone formulas can have different curing times too so always read the label of the specific product that you are using in your vivarium.
Many reptile owners do use a normal silicone product without issue too but it can still present a potential threat to your reptiles in their vivarium.
With speciallist products now being available that are cheap such as American Sealants Vivarium Silicone there is no real reason to use a normal silicone product in your vivarium and put your reptiles at risk.
The Best Vivarium Safe Silicone!
There are a number of vivarium safe silicone products on the market these days but we have to say that American Sealants Vivarium Silicone is the best product available.
Not only does it offer excellent performance but it is also cheap and has a great reputation amongst the reptile and wider pet owning community.
The problem is that the current formula for the American Sealants Vivarium Silicone is white so this can draw the eye if it is used in a visible location of your vivarium.
You can often over come this by using a black aquarium safe silicone but these have not been thoroughly tested by their manufacturer with use in vivariums and with heat lamps but they are commonly used amongst reptile owners.
This is the best option for anyone wanting to use a black silicone product in their vivarium that will not draw the eye and spoil the overall design.
If you are going to be using silicone for the forward facing surfaces of your vivarium and are unable to hide it with branches, vines or plants then this is probably the only option.
Is Regular Silicone Safe For Reptiles?
Regular silicone is not marked as safe for use with reptiles and has not been tested under the various heat lamp conditions that vivariums have.
Although many people do use a regular silicone product with their pet reptiles, we usually advise against it and recommend that you do go with a vivarium safe silicone product if possible.
The modern pet safe silicone products and specifically the vivarium and reptile safe silicone products like American Sealants Vivarium Silicone are currently at a very similar price point to the regular silicone on the market.
Although they can be a little harder to find in your local pet or DIY stores, they are readily available online.
This should mean that the majority of our readers are able to quickly, easily, and cheaply get themselves a suitable silicone safe product that they are able to use in their vivarium.
These specialist silicone products also tend to use the same containers as regular silicone to keep their application process as beginner friendly as possible to make sure that no matter your level of experience of using silicone, you should still be able to easily apply it as required.
How Long Until Silicone Is Safe For Reptiles?
Different silicone products have a different curing time due to using different ingredients. All silicone products that are marked as reptile or vivarium safe will need to fully cure before they are considered safe.
Always check the label of the specific silicone product that you are using in your vivarium for its recommended curing time to reduce any potential risk to your reptiles.
We are specifically talking about silicone products that have been marked as safe for use with reptiles here too.
Regular silicone or even aquarium silicone may still present a potential risk to your reptiles once fully cured due to the heat lamp in the vivarium being able to slightly tweak the performance of the silicone when cured.
Even the silicone products that are marked as being safe for use in a vivarium may still present a small risk to your reptiles too.
This is why we usually recommend that our readers use their silicone on rear facing surfaces if possible when designing their custom vivarium setups to prevent their pets from having easy access to where you have used silicone.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over reptile and vivarium safe silicone products to an end. We hope that we have been able to help you better understand that there are various silicone products on the market that have excellent reputations amongst the reptile owning community that you are able to use in your vivariums. Just note that there will always be a very small risk no matter the product that you choose to use if you use your silicone on forward facing surfaces that our reptile has access to but for the most part, your pet should be fine.
