BP unplugged his RHP

[Luvyna]

My BP likes to explore every inch of his enclosure at night. He discovered the RHP wire at the top of his enclosure (shown below) and has started climbing on it:



The enclosure is 4' x 2' x 18" but there is a horizontal perch about 1 from the floor so my BP climbs onto that and then is able to climb through that small space between the RHP wire and the top of his enclosure. The weight combined with his movement pulls out the plug and I woke up at 4am to the low temperature alarm from the Herpstat going off.

This has happened twice already and I know my BP remembers places where he can climb and will seek them out again so I'm wondering what would be the best way to block him from climbing the wire.

There's no way he can get electrocuted or anything from it because the plug is like a computer charger and he wouldn't freeze from the temps being briefly lower than 75F, but it's a pain to keep being woken up at night and it's also hard to plug in the RHP because it's at the top of the enclosure at the very back.

[Bogertophis]

Oh yeah, snakes will always gravitate to a wire to climb on- or anything else that offers something they can grip with their body. Imagine if you had no hands- you'd do the same thing, as would I. They seek traction- you need to find a way to hide & protect the wire- you're correct that snakes remember this stuff. I used to have a rat snake that liked to thread herself thru the belt loops on my jeans- happily my jeans stayed up much better than your RHP cord did.

[Luvyna]

Oh yeah, snakes will always gravitate to a wire to climb on- or anything else that offers something they can grip with their body. Imagine if you had no hands- you'd do the same thing, as would I. They seek traction- you need to find a way to hide & protect the wire- you're correct that snakes remember this stuff. I used to have a rat snake that liked to thread herself thru the belt loops on my jeans- happily my jeans stayed up much better than your RHP cord did.

Yep he loves wires even when I take him out of his enclosure if he sees wires he heads straight for them!

I'm thinking of maybe using some clay or something to block the gap between the wire and the top of the enclosure.

My BP does same thing your rat snake did - he also likes to thread himself through belt loops and he strangely seems to have no concept of how wide his body is because he will keep going through a belt loop until he gets stuck. I've already had to cut a belt loop because of this and now I know to watch him like a hawk and keep any closed loops including mug handles away from him.

[Bogertophis]

Yep he loves wires even when I take him out of his enclosure if he sees wires he heads straight for them!

I'm thinking of maybe using some clay or something to block the gap between the wire and the top of the enclosure.

My BP does same thing your rat snake did - he also likes to thread himself through belt loops and he strangely seems to have no concept of how wide his body is because he will keep going through a belt loop until he gets stuck. I've already had to cut a belt loop because of this and now I know to watch him like a hawk and keep any closed loops including mug handles away from him.

That's mighty rough on belt loops! At least my rat snake could actually FIT thru them, lol. They sure remember where things are located.

Personally, I'd find something to enclose the wire that can then be glued or screwed to the top of the enclosure*, so there's nothing "loose" that's available for him to grab- & meanwhile, maybe add something he CAN use safely, like a bird ladder or something- it might help to take his mind off it if he has something else, but I'd never trust him to leave it alone now, 'cause he just won't. s will be s! Know what's even worse than belt loops? Never sit in a rope hammock with a snake! WAY too much temptation for them...

*There's any number of ways to do this actually- a trip to a good hardware store is in order.

[KMG]

I would add a cable strap, or two, on the wire to prevent the snake from being able to crawl through the current opening.

[4theSNAKElady]

my jeans stayed up much better than your RHP cord did.

[bcr229]

This will keep the cable in place. Figure on putting in enough so he can't fit between them.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gardner-Ben...taples/3127835

[Bogertophis]

This will keep the cable in place. Figure on putting in enough so he can't fit between them.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gardner-Ben...taples/3127835

Those are nail-in type- maybe some risk of splitting the plastic (on a pricey enclosure)? Personally, I'd use those with screws*- plastic/acrylic is very easy to drill into- a safer option. (*or look for similar types that come with screws- https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gardner-Ben...-Cable/3438848)

Also, when using those overhead to hold a cable, eventually gravity could allow them to loosen just a bit & fail, whereas using screws would seem to be a better option for the long run. Screws tend to hold more firmly.

[KMG]

I use screws with my cable straps. With that I have never had one come loose and my BRB regularly crawls through his lights wire.

[WhompingWillow]

It's a wise idea to try to secure your cables. We had a scary and potentially dangerous situation happen a couple of weeks back with one of our RHPs. We have two older style Reptile Basics panels where the plug can come out of the panel itself, two of the newer style Reptile Basics where the wire cannot come out of the panel, and 1 from ProProducts where the wire cannot come out of the panel. All are run on Herpstats. I was checking snakes and turning lights on one morning when I noticed our BCL had disconnected the wire from her heat panel, as happens every so often when she explores her enclosure. Except she had only *partially* loosened the plug from the panel and it was actively smoking at the connection point and had melted a little bit. I am SO glad I went downstairs when I did and was able to unplug everything. I hate to think about what could have happened if I hadn't. Needless to say this freaked me out really bad and I ordered replacement panels from ProProducts for the two older style RBI ones. We're keeping the newer style RBI panels for now but will eventually upgrade those to ProProducts as well.