Cable Management

I am looking for a way to safely manage my temperature probe cable in my enclosure. I bought some 3M Commander cable management clips that I am planning on using. They're the type that can be removed from your wall or anything else without doing damage. Is the adhesive that they use safe to be used inside the enclosure?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

Adhesive is never a good thing inside a snake cage. I suggest using hot glue if possible

Like this:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...e.jpg~original

Thank you for your quick reply. From what I can tell, these strips are more like a gummy thick tape than an actual liquid chemical adhesive. That's the only reason I even thought of going that route. I only need to manage the run down the inside of the glass so there's no tangling issues. Out of curiosity, what do you use for a substrate? I see you have your probe glued to the glass. I use aspen and don't think that would work well for me. I have my probe just beneath the surface to get a more accurate reading of the actual spot where my baby basks.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

I would expect the adhesive the dry out pretty quick in a snake enclosure also.

You want an accurate reading of the hottest part the snake will be exposed to, if he/she decides to go digging.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by faulkan

Thank you for your quick reply. From what I can tell, these strips are more like a gummy thick tape than an actual liquid chemical adhesive. That's the only reason I even thought of going that route. I only need to manage the run down the inside of the glass so there's no tangling issues. Out of curiosity, what do you use for a substrate? I see you have your probe glued to the glass. I use aspen and don't think that would work well for me. I have my probe just beneath the surface to get a more accurate reading of the actual spot where my baby basks.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

---

This is where I recommend probes no matter what substrate. I use paper towels, eco-earth, and aspen in my cages.

For this to work you have to keep the substrate layer thin, ½" thick or less. (which is what it needs to be anyway of you are using a under tank heater)

Wow. I learned something today. Thank you. I've been keeping mine right at 1". I wouldn't have guessed 1/2" would be enough coverage to be as easy to clean as everyone claims. So since you're putting it under the aspen, do you run a little hotter than 90 on your thermostat and just check the surface with a temp gun for the 90 degree basking temperature?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by faulkan

Wow. I learned something today. Thank you. I've been keeping mine right at 1". I wouldn't have guessed 1/2" would be enough coverage to be as easy to clean as everyone claims. So since you're putting it under the aspen, do you run a little hotter than 90 on your thermostat and just check the surface with a temp gun for the 90 degree basking temperature?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

---

Yes. Just make sure that the floor of the cage doesn't get above 95 F

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Yes. Just make sure that the floor of the cage doesn't get above 95 F

---

I just built myself two A419 setups to get away from the cheapy pet store ones. Forgive my ignorance here but considering the accuracy of the ones I just built, should I just set at 95, use 1/2" of aspen and forget about it?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

My probe/sensor would be under the warm side hide.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by faulkan

My probe/sensor would be under the warm side hide.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

---

Correction. Is* under the warm side hide. The biggest difference is that I've kept my probes just at or below the surface of my 1" aspen covering and with the UTH, I'm consistently at 89-91 under the hide.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by faulkan

I just built myself two A419 setups to get away from the cheapy pet store ones. Forgive my ignorance here but considering the accuracy of the ones I just built, should I just set at 95, use 1/2" of aspen and forget about it?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

---

No matter how accurate your thermostat (and those aren't as accurate as some) its never a good idea to do that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

No matter how accurate your thermostat (and those aren't as accurate as some) its never a good idea to do that.

---

That's understandable. Then we have another issue with a temp gun. Since the heat pad is directly under the hide, the second you remove the hide to check surface temperature, won't you get an inaccurate reading due to the drop in temperature from removing hide which would have been trapping some of the heat?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by faulkan

That's understandable. Then we have another issue with a temp gun. Since the heat pad is directly under the hide, the second you remove the hide to check surface temperature, won't you get an inaccurate reading due to the drop in temperature from removing hide which would have been trapping some of the heat?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

---

The difference will be negligible at best. Certainly nothing measurable by the thermometers/temp guns used in the hobby that have at least a +/- 2 F error

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

The difference will be negligible at best. Certainly nothing measurable by the thermometers/temp guns used in the hobby that have at least a +/- 2 F error

---

Thanks again for you patience. I've been stressing lately over getting everything exactly right for my babies. I work on F-16 avionics so I tend to be a bit an@l retentive at times.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by faulkan

Thanks again for you patience. I've been stressing lately over getting everything exactly right for my babies. I work on F-16 avionics so I tend to be a bit an@l retentive at times.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

---

I'm an electrical engineer for a US defense contractor so I know what you mean. Plus I'm pretty OCD anyway.

Anyway, it's no problem at all!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

I'm an electrical engineer for a US defense contractor so I know what you mean. Plus I'm pretty OCD anyway.

Anyway, it's no problem at all!

---

I think we digressed a bit. You used hot glue to attach the probes to the glass above the UTH. Did you also use hot glue to attach the cables up the side of the tank? That was the part I was considering using the 3M Commander clips on. Both my BCI and my BP keep getting into it and popping the suction cups that I'm using now off the glass.

Yes you can hot glue the cables to the side of the tank. The nice thing about hot glue is that you can remove it with a scraper like you do stickers on glass. So if you don't get it right, you can do it again. Glue sticks are cheap and easy to work with.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by romeosidvicious

Yes you can hot glue the cables to the side of the tank. The nice thing about hot glue is that you can remove it with a scraper like you do stickers on glass. So if you don't get it right, you can do it again. Glue sticks are cheap and easy to work with.

---

Awesome. I'll take these things back and get a hot glue gun instead. To give you an idea of how an@l I've gotten, I was having trouble with humidity and temperature gradient due to screen tops. I moved both tanks into their own room with a place heater set to 80 and a vaporizer (not a humidifier) on a timer set 2 hours on/2 hours off cycling all day/every day. Now my ambient temps are running between 81 and 84 depending on the time of day and my humidity runs between 55 and 65%. My fiancee must have thought I was nuts because I kept obsessing over every little detail until I got it closer to where I wanted everything. Once I get my "real" enclosures, I should have far fewer issues.