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Q:
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Using UTH with plastic tubs is this dangerous?
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i keep 4 of my snakes in plastic tubs and use a uth as a heat source. some people say its fine to keep them on plastic tubs and some people say its dangerous 1.reason is for fires and 2. reason it could burn your snake even in glass terrariums.some of them been in tubs for months with a uth and havent seen any ridicolous temps or signs of melting or burning at the bottom of the plastic. they say its important to have a barrier between the glass surface and your snake which i constructed. . im thinkin about switching all my tanks to uth they hold humidity much better and seem more pratical and yes i have a rheostat. what do you guys think, is this a good idea or should i be worried about the possiblity of a fire or my snake gettin burnt?
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Author Comment
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9/24/2008 2:31:43 AM
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REPTILEN1NJA
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yea thats what im using now so my worries were valid. have you ever hear of intellitemp heat mats supposily they are good with plastic tubs?
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Author Comment
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9/24/2008 3:31:38 AM
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REPTILEN1NJA
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also i dont have a rack system just set mine up in separate tubs how would i go about giving them all flexxwatt? would i need mulitipe thermostats and plugs?
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Member Comment
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9/24/2008 9:30:08 AM
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tmth
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Well... I'm in the same boat as you, kind of.
I've got one of mine in a big plastic sterilite container with a UTH. I inspect the plastic often for melting or warping and haven't found any. I also keep about 1-2 inches of bedding in the tub.. so the snake isn't ever touching the plastic. So I personally don't see anything wrong with it. XD I was told that if you don't remove the sticky tape on the back and use that as a barrier, its fine.
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Member Comment
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9/24/2008 11:36:00 AM
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falcon
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well I use small heat pad on my plastic tubs and everything is fine. just need to have a look once in a will.
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Accepted Answer
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9/24/2008 1:07:37 PM
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Sonja K. Reptiles
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I would say it's only a matter of time before you have a fire or one of your animals gets injured. We were using an UTH with a glass cage and had aspen as the substrate. Last winter when we put our 2 BPs together for breeding, they both ended up with burns on their tails. Snakes, of course move substrate around. When I noticed blackened area on their tails, I investigated, and found it extremely hot in part of the area where it was just the glass between. May have just been a malfunction of the UTH, but it happens - I'm just glad this tank is the one that sits right next to my computer that I see multiple times throughout the day. I know another important direction with UTH is to use those little plastic-like dots that come with them and to put those on the corner of the cage so some air is able to circulate under it.
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Member Comment
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9/24/2008 2:47:20 PM
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gfx
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Oooh, a couple of you are playing with fire IMO. A friend of mine started a fire in his house with that kind of setup. It killed most of his herps and his dog died in its cage from smoke inhalation. Spend a couple of dollars to upgrade your setup to something safer. You can pick up a thermostat for around $25-$30 and you can pick up strips of flexiwatt pre-wired for pretty cheap as well. I've got several rubbermaid tubs with flexitwatt taped to the back using aluminum tape and run off of a thermostat. Spend the $50 to get your setups upgraded. You really dont want a house fire and you're just sitting there asking for one with that setup.
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Member Comment
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9/24/2008 4:15:59 PM
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dalvers63
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ANY undertank heater needs a thermostat to control the temperature. This is true with flexwatt (requires regulation) and also any mat that supposedly has a "set temperature". They all get too hot no matter what the manufactuer says. I've seen more snakes with ventral burns because of unregulated UTHs than anything else.
Spend the money and get a good one and you won't have any worries. You can pick up a Johnson Controls or Ranco thermostat for around $75. A Herpstat or Helix will run $100-130. It will be the best money you've ever spent. Don't use the cheap ones you can get in pet stores. While they will work for awhile, when they fail (and they will) they tend to fail ON and you again have a fire and injury hazard.
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Assisted Answer
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9/24/2008 8:29:04 PM
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ChrisMontgomery
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i hesitate to even put my opinion in here. i read all of your responses. i am interested in this topic and i respect all of you and always listen intently when you discuss snakes. the following is my opinion and i do not want you to practice unsafe methods.
all that being said, i might be the only person here who has used about 15 UTH pads without thermostats and never had a problem.
i'm not insisting that this is safe. i just think that the only completely safe heat source is the one left unplugged. i don't mean that as a slap to the face of manufacturers of good cage heaters, but if we are to say, "this device is going to break and when it does..." shouldn't we include the fact that thermostats break too? i have heard of times where thermostats break and cause housefires.
i really don't mean to sound inflammatory, i do not deny the experience you all have with good animals and good equipment.
it must be said that i use surge protectors on all my heat pads.
it also must be said that i do not use large heat pads. i find that the small ones are hot enough. to be specific, the one i use is the "zoo-med 10-20" size.
and finally, i will not use UTH on glass aquariums because glass gets burn-worthy almost as soon as the pad gets warm.
note to all - i do not endorse the methods i am posting. these have worked for me and might be trajic in the wrong scenario.
the best way to heat snakes are heat panels made by Pro-Products. they must be the right size and must be plugged into a thermostat. i just can't afford them.
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Author Comment
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9/25/2008 12:12:59 AM
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REPTILEN1NJA
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ive heard enuff to make me worry im a paranoid guy from the start. im going to switch my snakes that are in tubs into glass aqauriums for 1 month or so, while i get the money to build a rack and get heat tape attacthed to helix and think this mite be the safest way to go,a rack is more economic and and utilizes alot more space. so for now i have everything set up for my dumeril and blood to make sure before i put them into their glass aqauriums which is going to be 10 gallons that temps are all correct for 48 hours thanks for all your help and opinions you mite have possible saved a life in this insistence.
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Member Comment
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9/25/2008 12:28:54 AM
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Playballp
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I'm with Dalvers63 on this one. Whether its a UTH or Heat tape or heat cable, they all need to be regulated by a thermostat. When I first started on this addiction I kept my first snake on a plastic tub with a uth and a rheo-stat, the temps never when above the desired limit or the plastic tub ever melted. As long as the temps are regulated by a t-stat or rheo-stat they cannot get hot enough to melt the plastic. Now I still have a small collection (8 snakes, one more coming soon :D) but i housed them in racks controlled by Herpstasts from Spider Robotics and they keep temps perfectly. I truly love this t-stats, if they ever fail to lower/moderate temps...the built-in alarm goes off.
I have heard of Intellitemp uths and i heard great things about it, no t-stats needed but I havent seen them in the market too much so I cant say that I know for sure
One t-stat can be used for multiple heat tapes or uth considering they are all the same wattage and make, and you want them all to have the same temps. Or you can spend a couple hundred and get yourself one that controls multiple units with individual temps for each (each has its own probe).
Just keep in mind that no matter how good a t-stat is, keep checking temps often don't just rely on their great reviews/rep
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Author Comment
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9/25/2008 1:28:11 PM
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REPTILEN1NJA
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i just ordered a helix and next step is to begin building my rack and gettin some heat tape
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Member Comment
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9/26/2008 3:57:14 AM
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GarbrechtRE
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If you're using a helix dont plug it into a power strip, plug it directly into the wall socket or it too will malfunction, I have a bunch and it took me a little while to figure out why my temps were never right.
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Author Comment
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9/26/2008 1:34:03 PM
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Member Comment
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9/27/2008 8:33:57 AM
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MegF
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I've used uth's with plastic tubs for years without any incidences whatsoever. Even if there wasn't a thermostat, the plastic got hot but didn't melt or crack. I always use a thermostat with mne and have no troubles at all. All new animals are quarantined in plastic tubs with uth's for heat and all the babies are housed in them. Most of the babies are in a rack with heat tape, but some of them are on a uth. As long as you regulate the temperature, it will be fine. Any heat source has the potential to cause a fire. I've heard of more fires from heat lamps and floor space heaters in a snake room than from any UTH.
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Member Comment
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9/28/2008 2:47:18 PM
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ap1fun
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I've heard of flexwatt and herpstats still causing a fire. Like Chris said, the only say heater is unplugged. If you have a big collection to go into a rack read up on how the heat differs the further away from the power sorce you go with flexwatt. I've used UTH and tubs with no problems, but I'm sure it happens. People on boats have snakes drop out of trees on deck. Why did the snake fall then? So many weird things happen every day around the world that it's definatly not going to be unheard of for there to be a fire with any practice you use. I honestly think there are better methods than tubs and UTH's but everyone has personal preference. Some people just get nipped in the butt by it.
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Member Comment
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10/5/2009 11:16:41 AM
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dalvers63
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