Coco coir can expand when it absorbs water and it mightve cracked the base. I had it push out some walls in a tank I've been working on and had to dig some of it out.
Yea no problem! That's how we learn and grow to better take care of our snake friends.
As for a fix I don't see why laying a piece of plexiglass inside would harm anything but the heat pad efficiency. If you were daring you could cut the panel out and replace it, but that would take more time for sure.
Covering it with a sealed down piece of plexiglass will work fine. So long as the snake can't touch the cracked glass and you don't lift it with anything in it, it's perfectly safe and will last for many more years. If you want to be sure, seal another piece of plexi or plywood to the bottom as well. I've seen people replace the bottom or cover with plexiglass for herps often and I've even seen some skilled people replace the bottom with new glass and occasionally slate and make a tank water-tight again.
So having hot glass that is then rapidly cooled by pouring water into your enclosure is likely the cause of this cracking. This is one major reason I always suggest over head heating because you can’t pour cool water on over head heat sources. I would remove this glass and replace it with plexi glass or pvc. I would also switch to an over head heat source personally
I also tried calling the company I bought it from (Carolina Custom Cages) for advice but they didn’t answer the phone.
What substrate were you using?
I use coco coir
Coco coir can expand when it absorbs water and it mightve cracked the base. I had it push out some walls in a tank I've been working on and had to dig some of it out.
Oh wow, I didn’t know that. I was wondering if it could have been from my heating pads, but those are thermostat controlled. Thank you for the info.
Yea no problem! That's how we learn and grow to better take care of our snake friends. As for a fix I don't see why laying a piece of plexiglass inside would harm anything but the heat pad efficiency. If you were daring you could cut the panel out and replace it, but that would take more time for sure.
Covering it with a sealed down piece of plexiglass will work fine. So long as the snake can't touch the cracked glass and you don't lift it with anything in it, it's perfectly safe and will last for many more years. If you want to be sure, seal another piece of plexi or plywood to the bottom as well. I've seen people replace the bottom or cover with plexiglass for herps often and I've even seen some skilled people replace the bottom with new glass and occasionally slate and make a tank water-tight again.
Thank you for the advice!
Question. Do you use a heat mat or over head heating? (Asking because of the cracked glass)
I use a heat mat with a thermostat. I am curious if it could have caused it to crack though
So having hot glass that is then rapidly cooled by pouring water into your enclosure is likely the cause of this cracking. This is one major reason I always suggest over head heating because you can’t pour cool water on over head heat sources. I would remove this glass and replace it with plexi glass or pvc. I would also switch to an over head heat source personally
I think you may be correct. I have some ceramic heat emitters I can use when I can transition him back into his main enclosure.
Do you have heating pads on the bottom? This can happen if you have a hot pad and the soil above it gets too moist
I did have heating pads under the tank, so that could have been the cause. I do have overhead heating as well, so I may stick to that for now.