Fire Prevention

[2kdime]

My best advice would be to not cheap out on thermostats

Use double thermostats and use the good ones like Ranco or Johnson Controls on room heaters. Use Proportional on Flexwatt, whether they be the Spyder Robotics or the Helix.

Limit use of extension cords and power strips

Watch placement of oil filled heaters

Also, just keep everything up to date if possible

[PitOnTheProwl]

5) Never allow your tubs to rub on exposed heat strips. Always cover them completely with aluminum tape. Otherwise the protective plastic covering can rub off over time.
6) Use the plastic coverings over the heat strip clips. This prevents anything that conducts electricity from being exposed.
7) Secure your probes VERY well. I tape mine down with a ton of aluminum tape where they will not move, period. This tape is very heat resistant so it doesn't lose adhesiveness.

When making my racks, I tape in a wooden shim (Lowes or HomeDepot sell them for leveling doors and windows)This serves as a backstop for my tubs. They wont come in contact with the connector clips or push on the temp probes either. I also lay 3 layers of aluminum tape in the front and sides of my flex-a-watt so I have a "wear" surface.

They also commented something along the lines of how not to put heat tape on a wooden rack and that metal doesn't burn. So it made me start thinking about whether going with a metal rack (eg ARS/Freedom Breeder) over plastic (eg RBI/Animal Plastics) would be a good idea from a fire prevention standpoint.

The tubs are still plastic and can burn and melt



I have been thinking for the past couple days on a sprinkler system for a snake/reptile room.
My worry with a sprinkler system is the potential to drown some of the collection. But if you have a "mini" roof over the racks then you could now be protecting the fire
Maybe design a rack with a built in system with nozzles directed away from the tubs. Then what would the costs be for such a system and how many people would install them due to cost??

[kitedemon]

Hydrofarm is a thermostat that is designed for seedling mats made by hydrofarm. It is a simple on off thermostat. it runs a relay system similar to ranco and johnson. There probe accuracy is very poor but they are contestant. It is not my first choice for a primary thermostat but it makes a good failsafe or back up thermostat. It is quite inexpensive (I feed more money in rats every week) so it is not cost prohibitive to have just being a back up.



Hosted on Fotki

I agree that a good t-stat is worth its weight in gold. I personally feel that purpose made ones are best as they are designed to do what you expect them to. That is not really part of this debate. A failsafe thermostat additional protection cannot be under rated. The issues that make a cheap thermostat poor are not so critical as a back up if it isn't as accurate as it could be and if it tends to swing temps isn't very critical as a failsafe it will do until the primary can be replaced. I'd suspect an breeder of size has a spare T-stat or two sitting on a shelf waiting to be needed.

[kitedemon]

I have been thinking for the past couple days on a sprinkler system for a snake/reptile room.
My worry with a sprinkler system is the potential to drown some of the collection. But if you have a "mini" roof over the racks then you could now be protecting the fire
Maybe design a rack with a built in system with nozzles directed away from the tubs. Then what would the costs be for such a system and how many people would install them due to cost??

Just a thought in a rack it would get the full flow of a sprinkler so a few lower holes in every tub might be enough to clear much of the water out. I know sprinklers toss a monster amount of water but a covered rack would stop a fair bit. It might be enough to keep them from completely filling up.

[MoonlightBoas]

This is an excellent thread topic. I agree that a using high quality proportional thermostats in conjunction with surge protected power strips is an invaluable part of fire prevention. Periodic inspections and preventative maintenance of all equipment is also essential. Anyone with a large breeding facility should consider a fire detection system and sprinklers. For most people who have converted a spare bedroom into a snake room, installing a smoke detector and having a readily available fire extinguisher should be adequate. Hopefully this recent tragedy at Pro Exotics can serve as a wake-up call that we all need to be vigilant.

[Chris633]

Thanks for the response on metal vs PVC. Another question I have is this. When I was first researching probe placement on this and other forums, I read differing advice on using packing tape vs aluminum tape to secure the probe to the flexwatt. Aluminum tape seemed to make the most sense to me going in, but I read that having it on the flexwatt could cause problems. Proper placement of probes is so critical (especially having them not fall off), I just wonder which is the best/safest way to secure it on flexwatt heat tape?

Here is one of the threads that talked about this:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...=1#post1554536

[PitOnTheProwl]

having a readily available fire extinguisher should be adequate.

Dont know IF you have ever had to use one before??
In a small room like most of our reptile rooms are, they will remove almost all of the oxygen out of the room. Also I dont know how safe the dry chemicals would be, I know they will irritate my skin (sadly I dont have any allergies either)

I know its a hard idea with me saying bad idea BUT you could save all of your hardware but might kill everything living.

[AtlasStrike]

Fire extinguishers do remove much of the oxygen, but reptiles have much lower metabolic rates than humans or other mammals. Snakes at least are capable of surviving with very little oxygen for quite a while, then they bounce back just fine. I can't vouch for the chemicals, but O2 content shouldn't be an issue, especially considering how much oxygen a FIRE removes from the air. I would think that an extinguisher would cause much more harm to a feeder colony of mice or rats than the the snakes themselves, though I could be completely off base. I like to have them around, especially near the snakes and the kitchen.

[C&H Exotic Morphs]

Dont know IF you have ever had to use one before??
In a small room like most of our reptile rooms are, they will remove almost all of the oxygen out of the room. Also I dont know how safe the dry chemicals would be, I know they will irritate my skin (sadly I dont have any allergies either)

I know its a hard idea with me saying bad idea BUT you could save all of your hardware but might kill everything living.

I have to disagree with you on this one. Anything you can do to prevent a fire to begin with or knock one down in the early stages of it is a good idea.
Dry chemical extinguishers are typically filled with sodium bicarbionate or monoammonium phosphate which are both non-toxic but may cause some skin and lung irritation. Yes they may displace some of the oxygen in a small room, but a fire is going to consume that same oxygen much more quickly and destroy everything.

[C&H Exotic Morphs]

Just a thought in a rack it would get the full flow of a sprinkler so a few lower holes in every tub might be enough to clear much of the water out. I know sprinklers toss a monster amount of water but a covered rack would stop a fair bit. It might be enough to keep them from completely filling up.

Actually sprinkler systems use a rather small amount of water usually 10-20 gpm's per sprinkler head, compared to 250 gpm's once the fire department arrives. But I do agree that adding a few holes lower in the tubs to prevent them from completely filling up definitely wouldn't hurt.