Snake Enclosure Servicing

[thellr]

Hi There!
I have a snake enclosure (shown below), and was wondering if there is a company that comes in to service (general maintenance) of snake enclosures? I am located in North Bondi, NSW so preferably somewhere in Sydney?


Thanks!

 

[Snowman]

Hi There!
I have a snake enclosure (shown below), and was wondering if there is a company that comes in to service (general maintenance) of snake enclosures? I am located in North Bondi, NSW so preferably somewhere in Sydney?
View attachment 295398

Thanks!

Nope.

 

[Tristan]

doubtful, it would most likely be a trades person\hobbyist, lots of people on here build their own enclosures, if you list what you need\want serviced you could probably get a ton of tips on how to do it yourself

 

[Rob]

I agree with Tristan - If you could be a little more specific in what you wanted I am sure people could help (explain how to do it yourself) in the DIY forum.

Have you asked whoever built the enclosure for some general maintenance tips ?

 

[smileysnake]

what exactly do you need done to it should be able to do it yourself or ask a D.I.Yer on here if they could help you out let me know what you need done i might be able to help you.no harm in asking.....

 

[Snowman]

I'm a little intrigued as to the serviceable parts of an enclosure?! Change light/CHE, tighten light cage screws, clean glass track, put new branch in, make sure background is secure, clean water bowl, F10 surface area, polish hide, visual inspection of cords, check thermostat and thermometer for correct operation. Did I miss anything?

 

[Marzzy]

General handyman service I guess, but really can you use a screw driver ?

 

[Jacknife]

I'm a little intrigued as to the serviceable parts of an enclosure?! Change light/CHE, tighten light cage screws, clean glass track, put new branch in, make sure background is secure, clean water bowl, F10 surface area, polish hide, visual inspection of cords, check thermostat and thermometer for correct operation. Did I miss anything?

All of which would take even a novice less than ten minutes...

 

[thellr]

I'm a little intrigued as to the serviceable parts of an enclosure?! Change light/CHE, tighten light cage screws, clean glass track, put new branch in, make sure background is secure, clean water bowl, F10 surface area, polish hide, visual inspection of cords, check thermostat and thermometer for correct operation. Did I miss anything?

The thermostat and thermometer for the enclosure dont appear to be operating correctly. Not entirely sure of who installed the enclosure and can't find the details!

 

[Echiopsis]

The thermostat and thermometer for the enclosure dont appear to be operating correctly. Not entirely sure of who installed the enclosure and can't find the details!

If it's a plug in probe style thermostat rip it out and replace it. If it's a hard wired IMIT style ring a sparky.

 

[Ramy]

You could start by buying a new thermometer to compare temperatures. Consider maybe a infrared heat gun (which can be quite dear) or a simple thermometer with a probe you can stick inside the tank. I tend to start with checking the heat elements, make sure the bulbs/rope/mat is still getting hot enough. Then monitor temperatures with a thermometer over a period of a few days. If the temperature only seems slightly out compared to the thermostat reading, I'll just turn the thermostat up. Temps often drop at night, that's fine, as long as it's not dropping too much.

If you need to replace the thermostat, most commercially available thermostats don't need to be hard-wired in, they just have a probe you install into the tank (the most you'd have to do is drill a new/bigger hole for the probe somewhere). I use microclimate, but there all sorts out there. If you want an electrician to have a look at any wiring, any general electrician would be able to help (but they won't nescessarily feel comfortable around your pythons).

 

[smileysnake]

infrared heat gun on ebay $15..

 

[Moreliavridis]

Unless someone on here is a sparky but as others have said if its plug and play you can do it yourself.

 

[Snowman]

The thermostat and thermometer for the enclosure dont appear to be operating correctly. Not entirely sure of who installed the enclosure and can't find the details!

Okay as people have already said. The first step is finding out which one of those is giving you a problem. So we work by process of elimination. The cheapest option is to get another thermometer to see if the one you currently have is reading correctly. Bunnings have them for $13 in the outdoor section. Also get a picture of the thermometer and thermostat for us. Does the thermostat use a probe?

 

[firezone1au]

probably wouldnt occur to most people, but its a good idea to replace your light sockets & wiring periodically. discussed this the other day with a very well known reptile cage builder. when you consider how much time they are on & the heat etc. they surely must deteriote. he agreed 5 years would probably be a good idea. I reckon 10 years absolute maximum. I am in the fire industry & hear alot about fires starting. clothes dryers that dont have the lint filters cleaned used to be the biggest risk, these days it seems to be many people who leave laptops on all the time, go to bed/work with it on a bed or lounge blocking the vents on the bottom. not a bad idea to install a smoke detector too, especially if you have banks of cages.

 

[andynic07]

probably wouldnt occur to most people, but its a good idea to replace your light sockets & wiring periodically. discussed this the other day with a very well known reptile cage builder. when you consider how much time they are on & the heat etc. they surely must deteriote. he agreed 5 years would probably be a good idea. I reckon 10 years absolute maximum. I am in the fire industry & hear alot about fires starting. clothes dryers that dont have the lint filters cleaned used to be the biggest risk, these days it seems to be many people who leave laptops on all the time, go to bed/work with it on a bed or lounge blocking the vents on the bottom. not a bad idea to install a smoke detector too, especially if you have banks of cages.

If the right wires are used and secured properly and the the fittings are good quality they should last the life of the enclosure. House wiring when installed correctly will last a very long time. As you have pointed out though a lot of fires start with wiring that has been installed incorrectly or poor quality fittings and it is these types of things that people will buy the cheapest of to save less than $20 when looking after their snake worth $400-$1000 or maybe more. The biggest mistake that I see is the type of wire used is not high temperature wire and it will definitely deteriorate with the heat over time.

 

[ginji]

In the enclosures I've wired up, I use fibreglass sleeving around any wires that are near heat sources as an extra measure, it's good to about 450 deg C, and then wire is good for upto 70-80 degrees, though it shouldn't reach that. Heat will speed up the break down of the insulation, but by how much I'm uncertain.

It's also flame retardant.

 

[Snowman]

In the enclosures I've wired up, I use fibreglass sleeving around any wires that are near heat sources as an extra measure, it's good to about 450 deg C, and then wire is good for upto 70-80 degrees, though it shouldn't reach that. Heat will speed up the break down of the insulation, but by how much I'm uncertain.

It's also flame retardant.

Fibreglass sleeving is good. Though it wont be much help when using house hold extension lead type cabling. It's still only a v75 rating. It's kind of like putting a stick of butter in a metal container in the oven. It will still melt.... And so will the V75 cable if anything goes wrong. There are plenty of flexible cables that are much higher rated and this is the best option when connecting things like porcelain bases with the intention of using CHE.
I've used V75 on a few of my vivs where I've been to lazy to source anything else. I only keep pythons so generally I'm not using anything that hot and I no longer use CHE, but rather just 75w bulbs from bunnings.

 

[Lewi_11]

probably wouldnt occur to most people, but its a good idea to replace your light sockets & wiring periodically. discussed this the other day with a very well known reptile cage builder. when you consider how much time they are on & the heat etc. they surely must deteriote. he agreed 5 years would probably be a good idea. I reckon 10 years absolute maximum. I am in the fire industry & hear alot about fires starting. clothes dryers that dont have the lint filters cleaned used to be the biggest risk, these days it seems to be many people who leave laptops on all the time, go to bed/work with it on a bed or lounge blocking the vents on the bottom. not a bad idea to install a smoke detector too, especially if you have banks of cages.

Electrical wiring isn't very heat tolerant, the sheathes that cover the copper wires harden over time, become brittle and can crack and break. Not only from a fire safety perspective, but it's also a good idea to replace wiring and fittings to prevent electrical failure, possibly damaging expensive thermostats or the home's electrics. But I must interject and say, if you are looking to have your electrical components of enclosures serviced, get a professional. Not only will it void any home and contents insurance, doing your own electrical work is dangerous.
Reiterating the point that if your thermostat is wired into the enclosure, it should not be tampered with by anyone other than a licensed electrician.

 

[Bushfire]

I test and tag all my enclosures every 6 months.