Urgent help needed

Okay so I went to my local pet shop today, and they didn't have any Ball's in stock. They are going to order me one in. I bought a 3ft Vivarium, a Heat Mat and some flooring. The Heat mat is placed INSIDE the wooden vivarium, but I was assured this was okay, and the instructions specified that the heat mat must be inside the Vivarium if it is wooden viv as this is an insulator. The heat mat is 22w and Infrared long wave heat. Here are a few pictures about how it is set up:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/153/img0133yz.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/24/img0134xn.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/196/img0135yw.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/805/img0136du.jpg/

My main question would be: Can I still fit a thermostat to the heat mat or is it already too late? Any other comments would be much appreciated.

That freks me out! What do you think will happen when your snake pees on it, or spills water on it? :colbert:

I'd take somehting water proof, such as tempered glass, or a tile and put it on top, the I'd silicone the crap out of it to make sure it's 100% water proof.

As for the probe, I suppose it'll need to go inside and adhear to the heat source in a way that it won't come off, and also wont stick to your snake.

In the uk many people use wooden enclosures for thier snakes, I'd try to find a UK board or even UK members on this board who can help you.

Goodluck!! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

That freks me out! What do you think will happen when your snake pees on it, or spills water on it? :colbert:

I'd take somehting water proof, such as tempered glass, or a tile and put it on top, the I'd silicone the crap out of it to make sure it's 100% water proof.

As for the probe, I suppose it'll need to go inside and adhear to the heat source in a way that it won't come off, and also wont stick to your snake.

In the uk many people use wooden enclosures for thier snakes, I'd try to find a UK board or even UK members on this board who can help you.

Goodluck!! :)

---

Great advice. I second finding a UK forum. I have some friends in the UK who own snakes, but I think they own glass enclosures. Let us know what you find out so in case we get asked again, we'll know what to say!

Glass is also an insulator.

Wood catches fire at around 500 degrees, and it chars at around 220-250 degrees.
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplmisc/rpt1464.pdf is probably worth a read for you. I would assume outside mounting is okay as long as it is under 200F. Remember that inside mounting still exposes the wood to heat, and the heat difference between inside and outside mounting probably isn't too huge.

I have a wooden enclosure.

I cut a hole in the bottom, covered the hole with plexiglass/LEXAN, and placed the heat pad on the underside of the glass outside of the enclosure.

Okay so I don't know if this is a UK thing, but over on the UK forum I have been told to ditch the heat mat, it's too dangerous. They advise me to get a Ceramic Heat Bulb instead. A lot of people have been saying this.