Contact Paper instead of paint?

[Ollie Ollie]

Hi all! I'm going to be making my first ever DIY cage soon!! (Super excited!) It's going to be 2' by 4', and pet safe paint is expensive. I'm using wood from our kitchen remodel to do it to save money so... would contact paper work? I think I've seen other people use it on here but there wasn't much and I saw a few people saying it might not be good?

Basically- is it safe and does anyone have any experience with it?

[cypher]

I wouldn't recommend it, it's always possible that a ham could chew through it or begin to pull it away from the wood which wouldn't be safe, reusing wood isn't always safe either, you need to consider what kind of wood it is & any glues etc that may have been used in it's production.

[Ollie Ollie]

Ok, thanks. Would Melamine be a better option then? I've seen other people use that, it seems just like an ikea tabletop (or at least similar), but cheaper. Shipping from Ikea to me is insane so I can't actually do that

[cypher]

That should be ok.