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subtrate question

kshannon

kshannon

New member
I have homemade Viv's. Currently I have aspen for a subtrate, I love the look but it gets into the tracks to the doors and they don't close properly (bad thing). I was thinking about getting that rubber type see through shelf paper and then placing newspaper on top until I can do something about the tracks.

My question is I have heat tape would the heat make the rubber shelf paper give off bad chemicals?

I also would like to use the rubber stuff to help in the cleaning of the cage since it is a wooden floor. I will probably put a little subtrate over the heat tape side to protect the snake, or I will turn the temp down.

If you have any other suggestions that would be great also.
 
I don't know the answer to any of that, but I have a hand-held Dyson that is excellent for getting millet (uro substrate) out of the tracks.
 
yeah I need to build glue some protectors in front of the tracks and that would solve a lot of problems. If anything I will still use the rubber stuff but just don't put it over the heat tape. One of my snakes loves pooping in the corner on the heat tape and it is a pain to clean!
 
First of all, you shouldn't have heat tape inside the viv. Water, mopisture...even defecations can ruin it, causing an electrical short with potential fire hazard. I use wooden and plastic vivs, as well for a few critters. Those are heated entirely with lamps of one variety or another.

The next thing...I've tried the shelving contact paper to make cleanup easier. It doesn't work. The adhesive canot withstand the amount of fine particulate that gets underneath it, and it comes up...quickly. It can be a real PITA.

I haven't tried non-adhesive rubber mats. I don't see a huge issue, other than the potential for a smaller snake getting "interwoven" if the mesh is large enough. Seems like my snakes would have it all pushed around to where it wouldn't be of much use, without some sort of adhesion...

My next effort is going to be self-adhesive linoleum. I haven't tried it yet, frankly because it's going to be another giant PITA cleaning, sanding, and applying it inside the vivs. But if it works...it will be well worth it. Of course, you could always try that first and report back to me how it's working...;)
 
yikes, I don't put water over the heat tape. I don't have any other means of providing heat other than the tape, I guess I can go to under the tank heaters, but I still have the same problem they will be ontop of the wooden bottom.

let me know how the tiles work :) even though that is a good idea and may beat you to installing them. All the snakes in this wooden Viv's are my big guys so I don't think they can get under the rubber stuff, I thought of that also. I lost a snake over the weekend and don't want to go through that again.
 
Be careful with that heat tape inside. If it were me, and I realize it is not, I would find a way to use lights as heat. If they are wooden vivs, cut a section of the top out to fit a small screen. Small, framed screens are cheap and would let you use lights instead of risking shock or fire. Especially if, as you say, one guy seems to enjkoy popping on the heat tape.

Just my opinion. Something to maybe consider...
 
tyflier said:
First of all, you shouldn't have heat tape inside the viv. Water, mopisture...even defecations can ruin it, causing an electrical short with potential fire hazard. I use wooden and plastic vivs, as well for a few critters. Those are heated entirely with lamps of one variety or another.
Click to expand...

I've used heat tape in vivs with great success. So long as you take precautions, its nothing to worry about. To prevent the failures that you mention, I make sure all connections are sealed with silicone. I then lay down a piece of acrylic/plexiglass/etc over it and then seal that up along the edges with silicone.

Basically I completely "insulate" and waterproof the heat tape so that in the event of a water spill or something, no harm comes.

But you're right that if you just have exposed heat tape without taking proper precautions its a recipe for disaster!
 
I think you will be ok with the heat tape inside if you very carefully cover it completely with aluminum foil tape. It adheres very well to both the heat tape and the wood and will keep the heat tape in place and protect it from abrasion.

I might try linoleum on the cage bottom. I think if it were carefully cut so it fit well around the edges it would stay in place. If it tends to curl you might try some double face tape to hold it in place. I think you will want to be able to remove it and clean under it periodically because you know urates will get under it.

For the glass track, have Home Depot cut you a piece of pine about ¾ x 2 1/2 x the length of the cage. Paint it to seal it and then glue in into the cage with hot melt glue. This will keep the substrate out of the track.
 
Blue Apple Herps said:
I've used heat tape in vivs with great success. So long as you take precautions, its nothing to worry about. To prevent the failures that you mention, I make sure all connections are sealed with silicone. I then lay down a piece of acrylic/plexiglass/etc over it and then seal that up along the edges with silicone.

Basically I completely "insulate" and waterproof the heat tape so that in the event of a water spill or something, no harm comes.

But you're right that if you just have exposed heat tape without taking proper precautions its a recipe for disaster!
Click to expand...

That's a GREAT idea!
 
Those are all excellent ideas! I have had this setup for about 3 years now, If I only knew what I know now I would of done it different!
 
The large cages I have now that I have built work pretty good. The first 20 or 30 that I built had various flaws. I'm learning.
 
When I bought my house the people left a home made entartainment center that had good bones to it so we thought it would be cool to make into a Viv that we can have homes for several different snakes. It looks great it takes up one of my walls that I had wired for just this purpose. I love it, it just has several things that I wish I did differently. I can get all of my snakes into their own homes, and I have where I can make room for 2 more snakes. I would love to re-do it but I have no place to temporarly house the snakes, so I am modifiing it.
 
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