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Crack in tank

Dreamsnake

Dreamsnake

New member
I just cleaned out my snake's tank and found a crack from one side of the Critter cage to the other right over the heating pad. I switched the heat to the other side and left out his rock hide. He can live with cardboard until we get it fixed. What kind of epoxy is safe for him? And should we put it inside the tank or outside? And is there anything I can do to keep this from happening to the other side of the tank?
 
This usually happens when the heatmat isn't controlled by a thermostat - it overheats and cracks the glass. To prevent further damage, buy and install a thermostat. If it's hot enough to crack glass, then it's probably way too hot for your Corn.

If you already have a thermostat, then my guess is it's not working properly.
 
Epoxy should be fine on the outside of the tank, and good ol' duct tape would work as well. Just make sure the crack is extensively covered with newspaper so he doesn't get down to it.

I'm assuming by "critter cage" you're referring to the plastic kind. I'd move to glass since it's way more tolerant of heat. And if it is glass, get/check thermostat as Bitsy said.
 
My husband has informed me that he "set" the rock hide back down harder than usual and that may have cracked the glass. Yes, we have him set up in a herp "Critter Keeper" ensemble from Petco. We had two snakes together in a recycled aquarium with a lid, but that lasted a half hour after reading some threads. We live in New Mexico so all summer long I never bothered turning on the heaters. I kept a close eye on their behavior and thermometers. I also keep the tanks on a staggered cleaning routine for my own sanity. Three cats, two boys, and two snakes make one busy mama. Now if I patch the crack on the outside is that a no uth zone?
 
I highly doubt a heat pad would ever get hot enough to crack the glass. I'm thinking that rock hide your hubby set down is the culprit. I'd be concerned that with a crack on the bottom of the viv, there is the possibility of a sharp edge exposed. Easiest fix is to get a 12" X 12" linoleum floor tile and place it over the crack. Heat from the heat pad will still go through the floor tile.
 
Or another easy solution is to get clear bath and kitchen silicon or aquarium silicone to seal the crack with. I have a 10 gallon that I did the same thing to but with the side of the tank not the bottom and to make sure the snake did not injure itself I simply put a thin layer of the silicone over it and let it dry for 24 hrs until no smell. So lone as you are not going to feed you snake during that time it will be fine in a plastic tub with bit of substrate a secure lid and some air holes.

Also by using the silicone on both sides of the glass along the crack, you help to reinforce the crack and give it more stability so that the weight of the items in it do not cause it to crack further or in a new place because the glass is weakened and has not been reinforced at the weak spot.
 
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I agree with Asbit, Silicone is amazing stuff. I use aquarium silicone, but only because i've got lots laying around...i use it in my fish tanks (go figure...lol).
As long as its non toxic, and you give it lots of time to dry...its a great solution. I'd be QUITE nervous about leaving the crack exposed (even under newspaper). I have an exo terra viv i got for dirt cheap because there was a crack in one of the door panels. even though there is no reason for the snake to really have much contact with the doors, i still ran a bead of silicone on the outside and the inside...for reasons mensioned above (safety and strength of glass).
I ran both of my UTH's with no thermostat for a week (empty vivs, i just wanted to see what they would do for a MAX heat) and had no glass crack issues...and i've got temps recorded of almost 120* right off the glass.
while your at it, if your thermometer isn't fixed to the glass above your UTH you may want to take the opportunity to do that...it helps it stay in place and be accurate. if your already putting your snake in a 'reptile motel' for a 24 hour peroid, you may as well do as much as you can. :)
 
My husband has informed me that he "set" the rock hide back down harder than usual and that may have cracked the glass
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LOL! Yep - that seems to be the mystery solved!

I highly doubt a heat pad would ever get hot enough to crack the glass
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O/T now, but I've seen repeated reports of this over the years. Unregulated heatpads can get over 120 degrees, and if you put a glass tank directly down on the surface of the mat, leave for a few days/weeks and then get water spilled inside onto the heated glass floor... Crunch.
 
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