what do you do for added protection in your snake room?

using flexwatt, heat tape and other methods for adding a hotspot for your snakes comes with a fire risk. I listed what I have done already as my snake room is located inside my home.

first my connections to my flexwatt is solder on. a lose connection = resistance, resistance causes heat which is a fire risk.
I have 2 new herpstat 4 and a few herpstats nd's. I like the new ones as they also took in the risk of fires when they redesigned these.
my herstats are ran thru a monster power surge protector as stated in the instructions that came with the herpstat 4.
I also have a G.E. surge pro whole house surge protector on my circuit breaker box.
the circuit breaker for my snake room is a combination arc fault circuit interrupter. (AFCI) which reduces a risk of an electrical fire greatly
I also have smoke detectors in my home.

with so many fires we read about with this hobby from the larger breeders and I'm sure there's even more we don't hear about from the smaller breeders/ keepers. I like to hear what everyone else has done to insure the safety of their snakes and more important their families.

thanks don

no one uses protection with their balls? :D

All of my cages are made from flame retardant material, so even if my heat tape were to malfunction there isn't anything that could hold a flame. My cages could melt and my reptiles could die but my house won't burn down. I use herpstat 4's 1 channel per heat source. No exceptions. In my opinion this is the biggest risk that people in this hobby take.

So between the safety features in my herpstat and the fact that my cages won't hold a flame I sleep well at night, but you can never be too careful.

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Originally Posted by don15681

no one uses protection with their balls? :D

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lol I couldn't help but giggle at this.

In all seriousness, I'd never thought of that before. More things to add to my list of things to keep in mind once I get a bigger collection.

I'd be really curious to hear more responses, as I'm currently designing a snake room(s). I'm going to piggyback on your question, Don - what about insulation? Has anyone further insulated snake rooms - both interior & exterior walls. What R factor?

In addition to what has been said (pvcs is one of the perfect materials to work with...) I run failsafes on every set up reguardless if it is a new herpstat or not everything can fail the added safety is worth the cost. I clean thourly and regularly as a part (and by necessity how do you clean a rack with out removing the heat tape :confusd:) all heating and lighting products are carefully inspected. Anything other than perfect is repaired/ replaced.

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Originally Posted by swansonbb

I'd be really curious to hear more responses, as I'm currently designing a snake room(s). I'm going to piggyback on your question, Don - what about insulation? Has anyone further insulated snake rooms - both interior & exterior walls. What R factor?

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you're going to get different answers on how to insulate your room. my snake room is a room built in my basement. it's in the part of my basement that's underground. but I still insulated all my walls and the ceiling. the outside walls I blown the insulation in. outside wall is block covered with drywall. the inside walls are studs with drywall on both sides and r-12. my basement usually gets in the low 50's in the winter. the ceiling is also insulated with r-12 and is a drop ceiling. if you use drywall I recommend the purple board and a very good kitchen/ bathroom paint that resist mold. good luck I hope this helps some don

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

In addition to what has been said (pvcs is one of the perfect materials to work with...) I run failsafes on every set up reguardless if it is a new herpstat or not everything can fail the added safety is worth the cost. I clean thourly and regularly as a part (and by necessity how do you clean a rack with out removing the heat tape :confusd:) all heating and lighting products are carefully inspected. Anything other than perfect is repaired/ replaced.

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i think i read one of your posts before that you run a proportional thermostat thru an off/on thermostat in case the first one faults the second one will limit it from topping out at a dangerous level. I know the post had a drawing of it and it explained the wiring well. that exact setup is also in my plans.

http://images57.fotki.com/v505/photo...drawing-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

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Originally Posted by don15681

you're going to get different answers on how to insulate your room. my snake room is a room built in my basement. it's in the part of my basement that's underground. but I still insulated all my walls and the ceiling. the outside walls I blown the insulation in. outside wall is block covered with drywall. the inside walls are studs with drywall on both sides and r-12. my basement usually gets in the low 50's in the winter. the ceiling is also insulated with r-12 and is a drop ceiling. if you use drywall I recommend the purple board and a very good kitchen/ bathroom paint that resist mold. good luck I hope this helps some don

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I appreciate it! The house I'm looking at has a 1500 sq. ft. unfinished basement. It's been professionally waterproofed, and the bottom 5 feet or so is underground. I was considering putting foam board insulation along the exterior walls (R10, I think), then building the stud walls in front of that. Haven't decided on the interior walls yet. I'll probably insulate the ceilings using this: http://www.lowes.com/pd_386579-1278-...7C1&facetInfo=

So much talk of fire safely, and no one here mentions if they have a FIRE EXTINGUISHER or not. . . .:colbert:

I have one, ABC.

i have a fire extinguisher, ABC, i really believed it to be one that uses CO2-powder that just disappears after a few seconds.

Then one day when i came home there was a burning scooter standing next to our house, one of the new ones that are mostly plastic. With the fire exntinguisher, it was surprisingly easy to put out, i just approached it with the direction of the wind and blasted it, the fire went out within 2 or 3 seconds. Very effective, even the smaller ones. Firefighters arrived 2 minutes later, and told me i did it correctly :)

But it was NOT a CO2-extinguisher as it turned out. I left a large area of the ground and the scooter covered in some white greenish fine powder. indoors, this would be a terrible mess. Anyway, after my experience i say everyone should have one. I was really positively surprised how fast it extinguished that burning heap of plastic. The owners of the scooter didnt have a fire extinguisher and had no chance to put it out, as i arrived they tried to get water somewhere and were ringing doors randomly and already tried half a bottle of soda and tried throwing sand at it, of course they also already called the firefighters.

If a rack starts burning from the backside, with buckets of water you can do practically nothing. But if you blast the whole thing with a fire extinguisher, chances are it will go into all the deep hollow areas and around corners and behind the rack, into the space between rack and wall. And chances are it wont harm the snakes, even if its that nasty white powder, because these things must be safe to use on a person that caught fire, or for a person using it against the wind.

so i think two things are really good: A fire extinguisher on hand, they always come with a way to attach them to the wall, just put one on the wall next to a door. And smoke detectors for the ceiling. Smoke detectors are more important, because they allow you to notice a fire earlier, even if you cannot respond and have to escape, it lowers your risk of smoke injury. That should be the basic package, the stuff costs maybe 30-40 dollars in total, with a decent fire extinguisher and some smoke detectors, maybe even less, i got my fire extinguisher for 15 euros.

For insulation in a snake room I reccomend sprayed cellulose. Make sure the cellulose being installed has a fire retardent in it. I've been insulating homes for 8 years, and have seen cellulose perform VERY well around fires. One house got struck by lightning on the roof. The entire roof burned off, but the fire did not get past the cellulose in the attic. I can also take a handful of it, place a penny on top, and melt it to liquid with a torch in my hand.