Leopards and Heatmats

[emseeKAY]

So for some reason my first thread called leopard print did not work when i posted it, not sure why but anyways i recently purchased a 1.1 pair of Leo's and possibly another female is in the works, but i purchased a Zilla Heat mat for their tub and it seems to be making a strange buzzing noise... not all the time but periodically, i just pressed around the mat with my fingers a bit feeling for any abnormalities, but i didnt feel anything with the wiring but then again i cannot see it. is this normal with some if them? it is still putting out heat, and should i take it back? Thanks!

[marvelfreak]

I never heard a heat pad making a buzzing noise. I think i take it back. Sound like there might be a break in the wire causing the current to jump. Which would be a big fire hazzard. I wouldn't chance it i just take it back and get a different one or different brand. P.S. Where's the pics? I been waiting to see this guys.

[shaunyboy]

im with marvelfreak mate,any buzzing coming of electrical devices is a fire hazzard.id be taking it back for the fact that its brand new,so should be 100% working perfect.since were on the subject i bought a small fire alarm and put it above my tanks.i also bought a fire extinguisher thats filled with stuff that deals with electrical fires.gives me peace of mind at bedtime.
cheers shaun

[infernalis]

I concur, my heat mats are silent.

I use Zoo Med.

[Nafun]

No electrical device without moving parts should make a buzzing sound. That buzzing sound is electricity arcing.

[emseeKAY]

lol sounds about right, ill take it back tomorrow, not worth the risk. anyways heres some pics i just snapped with the gf's camera we bought another today and are planning on getting some eggs soon, all three have been breeding this season but i want to fatten the male up a little. it would make me feel a little better about breeding them if i know they are all well and good to produce.

p.s. any tips would be appreciated, this is our first breeding endeavor after all! :)

[marvelfreak]

Very nice looking. I like your set up. I put a couple branches in. When i use to have mine they love to climb up a sit on the branches and watching everything i did.

[emseeKAY]

i'll throw a few branches in then lol they have quite big personalities! i really enjoy them :) how long ago did you have leo's?

[marvelfreak]

I had 4 i got just given to me. This guy was moving and had to move back home and his mom told he couldn't bring any reptile with him. I say that was 14 years ago. I had them for 2 to 3 years. Had a friend looking to get rid of a jungle carpet ( he wanted to get out of snakes) He had always wanted Leos and me a jungle so we traded even up. Last time i talk to he about 8 years ago still had 3 one died.

[emseeKAY]

not a bad deal lol, these guys are definitely very cool, i figured to try and breed with them just to have some fun and my gf love the little babies lol but one of the guys i talked to about breeding them kept telling me theyre not worth their value anymore, i dont think he understood that we're not in it for the money, just to have fun lol

[marvelfreak]

My wife wants to get a pair some day. Right now we're on hold till next year before any more reptiles. I can't complain i gotten 4 new snakes in the last 10 months. I think they are some of the cools lizards there are and easy to take care of.

[Coffee Black]

No electrical device without moving parts should make a buzzing sound. That buzzing sound is electricity arcing.

This. I experienced a nice little oven fire due to a crappy heat element arcing. Take that baby back pronto.

[infernalis]

Quoted from another forum, links removed.....

Hello Everyone....

The breeding season seemed to have started well, I had 15-20 clutches of Leopard eggs cooking. Then disaster hit. I had turned a room in my basement into my reptile room.

April 5th I was sitting in the living room watching TV with my father when we were both startled by a strange alarm that we had never really heard before. Quickly glancing into the dining room I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, the dining room and hall were completely filled with smoke! Thank god that my mother, father, and myself were all awake at the time and no one else was home. We were all able to get out safely, and also get our Blue and Gold Macaw and Cat out. As we were trying to quickly race into smoke filled rooms and gather all the belongings we could out of them we came to realize that the smoke was actually coming out of the floor vents through the duct work, the fire was actually downstairs. Dad and I raced to the stairway with fire extinguishers to try to put the fire out ourselves, but as soon as we started down the steps reality set in. There was so much smoke downstairs we could not see anything, the fire was way to far out of control for us to be able to do anything about it. The fire fighters came and were able to contain to fire to the basement and no structural damage was done to the house, but the fire had started in my reptile room and had destroyed the whole room and claimed the lives of all of my reptiles. Our furnace was actually located right beside the reptile room, and the blower was on at the time of the fire, so even though there was no fire damage upstairs, it was ruined by the smoke and soot. We ended up living in the local Hampton Inn for 37 days until the upstairs was cleaned enough to be inhabitable again.

The fire investigators had explained to me that the fire had started in the PVC rack that I had been housing my Picta in. This was a rack that I had bought, not one of the ones that I had built myself. The rack was actually suppose to be fire resistant!

I love reptiles and dont want to give my favorite hobby up, but the fact of the matter is that the fire scared me pretty good.

[emseeKAY]

wow... thats a scary story, and very unfortunate. losing all of his collection...poor guy and animals. so i bought another UTH today, pissed me off though, i have been going there forever for basic stuff and even though ive been in there millions of times, they couldnt give me a replacement without a receipt that i threw out, so theres another 30$ gone... i'm sticking to the smaller shop i go to for other bits now because the owner is always much more helpful and whatnot even if it takes a little longer to get there, id rather give her my business then them now. i actually asked her if i had have bought it off of her what she could have done without the receipt and she said she would have taken it and replaced if for me... learned my lesson i guess.

[Lankyrob]

wow... thats a scary story, and very unfortunate. losing all of his collection...poor guy and animals. so i bought another UTH today, pissed me off though, i have been going there forever for basic stuff and even though ive been in there millions of times, they couldnt give me a replacement without a receipt that i threw out, so theres another 30$ gone... i'm sticking to the smaller shop i go to for other bits now because the owner is always much more helpful and whatnot even if it takes a little longer to get there, id rather give her my business then them now. i actually asked her if i had have bought it off of her what she could have done without the receipt and she said she would have taken it and replaced if for me... learned my lesson i guess.


We have bought all our gear bar the newest vivs from the same shop - they know us, know our snakes and you get much better service imo.

[emseeKAY]

yeah? i usually go to this place cause its closer but another 15 minutes is worth it imo as the shop seems to be driving many of their customers away because of all of their policies and rules. apparently they dont guarentee their animals are healthy after they leave the shop, if they are ill, infected, infested, or end up dead, you're S.O.L. same with all electronics, they tell you to use the factory warranty on them. I found some very interesting things out about them shall we say. i know much of it could be hearsay but at the same time, from the amount of respect they showed me today, it was enough to drive me away from them and believe the stories. a couple of extra km in the opposite direction shouldnt hurt too much anyways! lol

[infernalis]

I am lucky to have a good working relationship and a line of credit with my favourite pet shop.

Since she buys animals from me, we get along great.

My feeder mice all have fancy tunnels and fixtures, she get in boxes of incomplete doodads and lets me have things sometimes as low as 25 cents.

She has also given me worm meds for free, etc.. so I am quite happy with her and her store.

I get my substrate and hides online, I found a great vendor with $10 shipping even on huge heavy boxes, so that works out great.

$4 for a 3 pack of eco earth bricks is dirt cheap, bark for $4 a bag (8 quart size) and aspen for just as much, I can get a lot of substrate for a $35 order.

I even got a bunch of screen tops once for $5 each.

[emseeKAY]

HAH! looks like you're hustlin' deals left, right and center :D