Tape

[David802]

alright... so don't ask how because I can not figure out how it happened. I use tape to hold the probe down for my thermostat, I get my snake out this morning and she has the peice of tape that holds the probe down stuck to her side completely... I don't dare just peal it off for fear of messing up her scales. I thought about soaking her in water or maybe trying some alcohol but I Was wondering, I Cant be the first person to have had this problem. Any tips or ideas?

[snakesRkewl]

You broke two laws

1. No tape inside cages.
2. No t-stat probes inside cages.

To alleviate the first problem the t-stat probe goes under the cage directly against the belly heat.
You place a probe from a "thermometer" on the hot spot inside the cage to read the temperature that the t-stat is set at.
Your trying for 90-92 for a hot spot.
Adjust the thermostat till the thermometer reads the temperature your trying to attain.
You've now also alleviated your 2nd problem, NO t-stat probes inside cages

I've never tried to remove tape, sorry, can't help with that

[Kaorte]

Soak her to try and loosen the adhesive and then just slowly peel it off.

I also learned the hard way and had to peel about 4 inches of duct tape of my snake. No fun at all.

[dr del]

Hi,

I made a post with a lod of links showing the dangers of tape once - here is the list as those threads should have advice on getting it off again with the least damage to your snake;

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

Example 5

Example 6

Example 7

Example 8

Example 9

Example 10

Example 11

Example 12

Example 13

Example 14

Example 15

Example 16

Example 17


Hopefully some of those help your snake.


dr del

[BPelizabeth]

take a qtip and some olive oil.....dip the qtip in the olive oil and work it on the tape and the snake.

Next time you can always hot glue the probes down.....that was a little neato trick I learned from Kaorte.

[David802]

WOW I totally messed up explaining that.... I messed up the probe on the Accu-rite weather station so the sticky adhesive probe doesn't stay stuck so I taped it on.... I had no clue that you weren't supposed to put tape in the cage, the thought never even crossed my mind.

@ snakesRkewl = Yeah I got the thermostat set up right. Thanks for trying though.

@ Kaorte & BPelizabeth = I'll be trying both of those thanks for the tips!

I actually ended up shaving my left arm and taping a bunch of tape to my arm, then making my sister try different ideas on how to get the tape off with out it hurting me.... I look stupid but I have about half a dozen ideas that I think will work with out any damage to her.

@ dr del = Thanks so much for those! Hopefully there are explanations for what other people tried that didn't work. I'll be looking through them before I Try this.

[muddoc]

As is probably seen in some of Derek's posts, and mimicing what Michelle said, Olive oil or some other vegetable oil works great. Your idea about shaving your arm and pilot testing different solutions was a very novel idea, and one I bet that will benefit your cause greatly. I would also like to pass on one more story.

I had a baby garter snake many years ago that managed to get about a 2 inch piece of duct tape stuck to its head and neck (this was about 25 years ago, sorry I didn't know better then). I called my best friend and spoke to his dad, an active Vet. He recommended that I try mineral oil. While I must say that this was probably not the best solution, and I probably would only try it again as a last resort, it worked very well, and the snake did live through the entire ordeal, and eventually was given to a buddy of mine about 2 years later. Ensure that any method you use is done very slowly. The best method is to use a small amount of the "adhesive breaker" (whatever your poison ends up being) and apply it to a Q-tip as Michelle recommended, and very slowly wipe it on the adhesive. Take your time, and you should be fine. A few missing scales is highly likely, and shouldn't hurt a thing.

Hope that helps,