styrofoam or polystyrene for background?

[Diamond_newbie]

Hi
I'm going to start building my first enclosure background and I'm after some help. I'm an art teacher so I'm not concerned about making it look right, I'm just concerned now about making it safe.

1) so, am I using styrofoam or polystyrene to create the background? I know one is just a brand name, but I wanted to check it doesn't matter which I use.

2) Also, aren't these materials highly flammable? Is it at all a risk of over heating on the basking spots and catching in fire? Or does the layers of cement/grout/render/sealant protect against this?

3) is a shelf/basking spot made this way strong enough to hold the weight of a full grown python or should I add something to reinforce?

Thanks anyone who can help?
jojo x

 

[Misnomer]

The melting temp of Polystyrene is 240 degrees C, ignition is a lot higher. Covered liberally in grout etc....shouldn't be a problem.

If building ledges to act as basking spots I'd use a lightweight frame as a base structure. But I tend toward both overkill and complicating things when creating. My lazy way is to use logs as basking spots.

happy building

 

[RedFox]

When I build mine I just use polystyrene broccoli boxes, but any polystyrene will do. If it is going to be a high traffic area, ie, basking spot you could always put a couple more coats of render on.

For a basking shelf I would create a wooden shelf then put the polystyrene around that. As it is for a carpet you basking spot should only be around 32 degrees so nothing should catch fire.

 

[Diamond_newbie]

Awesome. Thanks guys. Yeh I thought temp would be ok, but I just wanted to check. Everyone on here is so helpful! X