Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My panel arrived today and I am very confused as to how to set it up. I dont know how to attach the panel to the interior roof of the cage. I see there are two holes opposite ends of the panel, I assume those are the ones that the screws go through. Once I have the screws threw I dont know what to do. Do I have to drill holes in the top of my vision? The screws only have about 1/4th of an inch coming out so that wouldnt be enough room to even go through the roof of the vision. Also, whichever way I attach it, the two sides will never be touching the roof at the same time. Because of the 3" slant, one side is always in the air. How do you suggest I go about this?

try using the really strong industrial mounting tape. Not the regular two sided tape, but the stuff that once you put it on doesnt come off without a fight.

Try that. just a suggestion

Richard

I like to use longer screws that will go all the way through the panel and through the roof of the cage (like a vision/neodesha/etc.). I use washers to provent the screw head from going through the panel. I will then snip off any remaining screw that is not bolted down on the outside roof so that it is as flat as possible (particularly if you are going to stack the cage). When I am installing a heat panel for my visions, I make sure that it fits snugly in between the plastic grooves; taht is why I prefer neodesha cages; much easier to work with. Call the manufacturer to see if having the panel slanted will work; my concern is that if there is space, your snake could try to crawl into it which could prove to be harmful if it gets stuck.

I talked to Bob before purchasing the panel, letting him know that there will be a space. He said that there wouldnt be any harm done to the snake should he decide to get up there because it doesnt get hot enough to cause any damage. The only concern he had with the snake getting up there, is that it would be a tedious task of removing the snake from his comfortable spot. But other than that he said no harm can be done. I just finished setting up the panel, in all of about two hours, I think I got it at good as it will get being slanted. The two sides are bolted down, and there is a gap in the middle, I put as much styrofoam as I had inbetween but it didnt completley cover all the holes, so I taped the rest up with duct tape. I think that should work. Now that I have done it once, I'm confident that next time will go by much easier becuase I will know exactly what to do. I also will not be purchasing any more visions, the grooves are the biggest pain in the butt. After seeing how flat and insulating the Nedodeshas are, I wish I had gotten one of them instead and I will make sure next time to do so. Sorry for rambling on, thanks for all your help! I'm sure I will be on later with more questions.

I’m a little confused. We had that discussion on the Retic Forum (here). I even measured my own cages for you. Why would you buy a panel that was too big to fit? ProProducts has more than one panel that would fit perfectly in that 4’ Vision. Oh well. It will be difficult to keep a snake from eventually getting behind the panel. And it does get hot on the back side.

By the way, any time I see the words “duct tape” and “snake cage” used together I cringe. Many of us have snake and duct tape stories to tell. I hope you don’t join us in that group. It’s a pretty good bet – if you have duct tape in your cage, your snake will manage to get entangled in it somehow, some day.

-Joan

The reason I bought a 12"x24" is becuase Bob said without it, the other end of the cage would get too cold if I ordered something smaller like a 12"x18", due to my cold ambient temperatures of around 63. He also said that the only concern about the snake getting up there is that it would be a pain to get him down, he said that he cant get burnt or anything like that. He is still up there now, and once I figure out how to get him out without getting bit, I am going to cut out cardboard slides the of the hole, so I can tape them on the sides so that hopefully she wont be able to get up there. Eventually she will grow out of it though and wont be able to fit up there. Until then I hope the cardboard will hold.