heating plastic

[lordkovacs]

for all my snakes and other reptiles i use either wood or glass, so i'm not too familiar with the best way to heat plastic...here's the info..


it's actually for my little cousin. he's getting a neo corn. and is gonna house him for a while in one of those plastic critter cages. it's the medium sized critter cage. Only thing I'm not sure of is what the best way to heat it is. is a uth too hot? how bout just a regular light bulb an inch from the top creating a basking area? any thoughts???

cheers all...
mike

[C.m.pyrrhus]

Best way around this problem would to heat from ambient temps. Leave the temp 78-84° until you can get a better cage/tank for it. The plastic, I would think, would not tolerate heat from lamps or UTH/heat pad, so in the long run it would have to be changed a.s.a.p.

[lordkovacs]

you mean 78-84 in the room? that's a little high for me (I'm in canada... 78 is a very hot temp indeed! haha... )

I know people heat rubbermaids... don't they heat with uth's sometimes?

[Oliverian]

I have kept young snakes in those before. I just used a lamp over one end. It kept the temps pretty well. I turned it off at night, but my room is usually around 70*. You might have a hard time if you don't keep the room warm, unless you use one of those night bulbs. If the UTH doesn't get hot enough to melt the plastic, it should be fine. I personally havn't tried it, though. Good luck.
-Tammy R

[lordkovacs]

thank you kindly...i thought a regular bulb would be suitable... or one a red heat light. plastic won't melt...it's too thick.
cheers,
MIKE

[C.m.pyrrhus]

I use a 90 quart Sterilite for my boa quarintines. In it is a human heating pad that gets to ~88-90° and never had a problem. Colubrids racks with the same brand, but smaller sized tubs that are heated with heat tape seem to never have problems. I know several breeders that use the same tubs I do that use this method and have been doing so for years. The plastic used in these tubs is far better than the critter keepers and tolerate higher temps. Myself, I use ambient temps for my racks, but then again I am in Arizona.

[vanderkm]

A human heating pad will work fine for under half this type of tub - just make sure you don't get the ones that have an automatic shut off. I have used them for temporary housing of baby corns in this type container.

I have also used an under tank heater attached to the bottom of a 12 inch ceramic tile and then placed these small plastic critter keeper on top of the tile. It gives a good gradient between about room temp of 75 and the hottest of 85 degrees because the ceramic tile reduces and diffuses the heat from the UTH and you don't have to worry about the heater melting the plastic tub. Overhead lights can definately melt the plastic of some of these critter keepers and fumes are pretty toxic.

mary v.

[lordkovacs]

using a ceramic tile is an interesting idea... thanks. i may try that.