Reptile safe adhesive ?

[Mike3377]

Hello all.

We are the proud parents of a 2 month old female normal. The cage lid we have, the screen is coming off, and in my moment of brilliance, i "fixed" it with an eight inch strip of duct tape. We woke up this morning to poor Bella stuck in it. She had wrapped and tangled herself up so bad. The worst was it was stuck under her jaw. I got as much of it off as carefully as I could, but in the end, we took her into the vet. SHe is all fine now( Thank God!!!). Needless to say, the duct tape is gone. What Im wondering is, can I repair the screen top with any ind of glue; rubber cement, super glue; without it being a danger to her. It is a unique kind of lid and I am having a heck of a time finding a new one online. I feel like such a bad dad, I should have known better. But it does appear she is going to be fine, having just one small spot that took her skin off. I cant figure out how to post pics of the lid, in the hopes that one of you may be able to help me locate it online. But i do need a fix until it can be ordered. Thanks for any and all help, guys!!

[Rob]

Never ever eeeevvvvver use duct tape where your snake can get to.
Id just go buy a new top.

[Mike3377]

Beleive me, definite lesson learned. The main problem is getting a new top because this one is so unique

[KMG]

We really need to be able to see what needs to be fixed.

Upload your pics to photobucket and then copy the IMG code. You then paste that into your text here and we can see the pic.

[Pythonfriend]

you can use anything that stops being sticky after a set amount of time. (as long as its not toxic). the problem with tape is that it stays sticky forever.

you can use a glue gun, where the stuff is only sticky when its hot, and safe and solid when cooled down. Or you can use the silicone stuff used in bathrooms and to build aquariums, it uses acetic acid (chemically pure vinegar) as a solvent, and when the smell of vinegar is gone its still elastic but no longer sticky. component glues and super glues also get hard and stop being sticky, but here the solvents may be toxic and you need to give it time for the solvents to ventilate away.

they even have silicone stuff that is marketed as reptile-safe, but then, the regular silicone stuff uses the same non-toxic solvent, acetic acid. (my mom occasionally uses pure 20% acetic acid for cooking) .I would recommend either that, or a glue gun that uses heat. with these, you can glue large, heavy stuff to the ceiling if you want, that should get the job done. Especially the stuff used to build aquariums can withstand enormous forces for decades, crucial for large aquariums, and is obviously immune to moisture.

Its just that tape or other stuff that stays sticky is the ultimate kryptonite for snakes. Tape sticks to snakes as it sticks to clean glass, a surprisingly strong bond.

[MrLang]

As stated above, a lot of people use hot glue guns. You can also use an aquarium safe silicone (one that doesn't have anti-fungal agents).

[Don]

For anyone reviewing this thread, vegetable oil is a good thing to have on hand if you do get a snake stuck on some tape. To the OP, glad everything worked out OK. I'm not sure what type of screen top you have, but if it on an aquarium, they make clips to hold those on. If it is not and it is a screen similar to a screen door, then you can re-spline the screen with a spline tool and some spline (and some new screen). Good luck!

[Mike3377]

ok , here we go







ANd thank you for all of the advice and tips, I truly do appreciate them. The vegetable oil works, thats how we got the two parts of her belly free, but the one under her jaw was REALLY stuck, most likely due to her thrashing about trying to get it off.

[Don]

Yes, that top can be re-splined. I have one of those (but for an Eastern Indigo, not a ball python). You can also order new slide in tops for I think around $35 each plus shipping. I bought two extra. Let me look around and see if I can find where I bought mine.

[Don]

found it:

Here is the replacement top @ $40:

http://www.aquariumpart.com/Zilla_30...p/res60511.htm