Glass tank sideways

[rwg]

I've read numerous times that glass tanks with screen or wire tops dont hold heat or humidity very well because it floats right out the top. I'm wondering if anyone has tried using a glass tank/wire top tipped over on it's side? Of course the top would have to be a secure clip on type.

The biggest drawback I can think of is that any loose substrate would fall out through the screen top that is actually the front panel. Thoughts?

rg

[ANACONDASAURUS]

How would you heat the tank? What I do is cover close to 3/4 of the tank with a towel folded a few times on the screen cover. Being that the towel is thick it keeps a lot of the heat in.

[Ed_r]

How would you heat the tank?

Heating pad.

I do this with all my Amazons, But I have the tanks turned up on end. I silicone a pice of plexi to the screen top, thats about 3/4ths of the lenght of the top to hold humidity in.

Also i silicone in a piece of wood as a lip to hold substrate in. Let silicone cure for about 2-3 days till the fumes disapate.

[Big Mike]

Someone on this site uses a lot of sideways tanks. You can get sliding glass track and put in two pieces of glass or plexi. You would have to make holes or something for ventilation. Putting in a small substrate dam would fix the falling out problem.

[ANACONDASAURUS]

Originally posted by Ed_r
Heating pad.

I myself personally don't use those because I've seen pix of them burnt.

[Linds]

The humidity will float right out the side if you turn it on its side. Tanks are crap, whatever way you turn them, for any animal that requires humidity higher than the ambient room humidity. Its impossible to have ANY cross-ventilation.

Originally posted by ANACONDASAURUS
I myself personally don't use those because I've seen pix of them burnt.

Any heat source can and will burn a herp (heat panels excluded). They should never be allowed to reach those temperatures. This is why rheostats or thermostats are so important. Yo can pick up a dimmer for a few dollars at any store, or get a ready-wired one for $20 (CDN). The only time a herp will get burned from a heat source is from irresponsible use.

[BoidKeeper]

All of my tanks are on their sides. Yes humidity is better and so is the floor space. I have a stack of 33g on their sides which I like a lot. Here are some pics of 10g on their side.



Cheers,
Trevor

[Ed_r]

I myself personally don't use those because I've seen pix of them burnt.

I use a human heat pad on no higher than medium. Plus through an inch of cypress mulch and almost always very wet cypress mulch, there is no way to burn the snake. Specially ones that perch all the time. If you do go with human heat pads , be careful not to get the "smart "ones. They shut off on their own. Plus under my tanks I have 1" boards holding the tank above the heat pad, so its not heating the glass, but the air under the glass.

[BoidKeeper]

Both store bought heat pads like zoomeds and exo-terra and flex watt heat tape can be wired to a dimmer switch which will give excellent control of the temps.
Trevor