Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I went to home depot to get some aluminum foil tape.
They had what appeared to be normal kind
& then they had extreme weather aluminum foil tape.
The extreme stuff said it can withstand temp of like -54 up to 267 degrees but it was about $19 a roll vs the $6 dollar roll of normal kind.

I can just use the normal stuff right? Is there a specific kind or brand that I should or should not use?

I will be putting a strip of this on the outside of my heat panel to cover up small ledge that my snake keeps sitting on.

What kind of heat source are you using that your snake can come in direct contact with it? You should NEVER place any kind of tape inside your snakes enclosure as it will and I mean WILL eventually get stuck to it!!

Adhesive tape Snake skin = TROUBLE!!!!

Maybe you need to re-think your set up.

ONce tape cdomesin contact with a snakes skin it is extremely difficult if not impossible to remove and is bad husbanmdry to place any kind of tape in the snakes enclosure.

Jared H
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~ ASK ME ABOUT MY BALLS ~

I will agree with Jared on this one. Avoid tape inside the enclosure.
However if in the future you ever do run into the problem of,
"MY SNAKE IS CAUGHT IN TAPE!!!"
There is a simple as safe procedure to remove the tape.

Note:
This is an old trick I learned years ago from Bob Applegate...a true pioneer in the world of Herpetoculture!
(Thanks Bob, if you ever get a chance to read this!)

Sometimes a snake which has escaped from it's cage can be recovered by capturing it in tape. (Duct tape seems to work best.)

Cut Several 18 inch strips of Duct Tape. These are stuck together on the long edges of each 18 inch strip...forming a "page" of sticky tape.

10-15 of these sticky pages of tape are placed (sticky side up) along the baseboards of the room and around heater vents or doorways to adjoining rooms....Any place you suspect the snake might travel.

Remember where each trap is located and check them EVERY DAY!
The snake moves about at night and usually will end up caught is a tape trap....

It is best to set the traps AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after the snake goes missing.

IT REALLY WORKS!

Now....how do you remove the snake from the tape trap???

Simple and safe....
Just get some Q-Tips and dip them into vegetable oil.
Now apply the vegetable oil to the adhesive side of the tape where it is stuck to the snake's skin.

Allow the vegetable oil to penetrate and disolve the adhesive glue of the tape....let the oil work it's magic.
Then Gently work the tape free of the skin....it will come right off!

Avoid getting any of the vegetable oil into the snakes nares...(nostrils)....this might be the only real danger. Do not pour the vegetable oil on to the snake...use the Q-Tips.

Rinse the vegetable oil off of the snake under luke-warm water.
This REALLY works well...and it is safe.

But it is best to heed Jared's advice and avoid the use of tape within the cage environment.
There is no need to subject your snake to the stress of being caught in tape within its own cage environment.
Tape also looks a little "tacky" inside of a cage.
...(pun intended.)
Best Wishes with your snake.
Take care,
Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!
970-245-7611

I never recommend using tape as a trap...just way to easy for any snake to get itself so wrapped up in it it can actually suffocate before you can rescue it. Better to use rat sticky traps as these are less likely to 'roll' the snake up within in it and will make enough noise when dragged about. You can also easily anchor them or tie string to bells or something so when a lost snake gets caught in it, it can make enough noise to wake you up should you be asleep.

Anyway, back to the main question, I have to say no heat source should be inside the snake's cage either, even if its regulated by a thermostat. It can still get too hot and burn a snake. Heat sources should be outside the cage. Aluminum foil can be used to help spread heat but remember that you need to leave space above your heat source (be it heat tape, heat cord or radiant heat panels) for heat to disappate. Trapped heat can crack glass tanks or cause shorts or overheating.
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PHLdyPayne

I'm not going to recommend either, but suggest you come up with another creative solution to keep the snake out of that area. That is one of the strongest adhesive tapes I've dealt with and I recommend against using any type of adhesive tape inside a snake enclosure. Their skin is so smooth and low in surface oils that you could end up with a traumatic situation on your hands if the snake were to somehow come in contact with it... Maybe even a few years from now if the tape were to get bumped and torn to expose the adhesive.
Paul

And Jared has already answered... Anyway, I'm glad we agree!
Paul

ah ok thanks a bunch guys probably just saved me a very very bad day, ill go with my other plan then which is to put a wood frame around it.

its a heat panel hung at the top of the cage
ive got it connected to a thermostat with the probe right by the hottest part and its not even too hot to the touch

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/heat-pads-heat-panels-heat-cable-and-rocks/-/small-helix-radiant-heat-panels/