Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Absent mindedly I left a heat lamp on top my vision cage. It made a little piece melt down like a stalactite. How can I fix this? I was going to cut the piece off, melt it down and patch it in there. Anyone have any suggestions?

This used to be a buzzing Forum with a few really smart advice givers. Guess they got busy with their lives.

If the damaged area is in a flat area and is sizeable, you can do the following:

1. Buy a polyethylene kitchen cutting board from Walmart, Target, wherever. It should say HDPE. You do not want acrylic.
2. Cut out the damaged area on the cage to leave a hole. A square hole might be best, but whatever. Smallest hole possible that removes the damaged area. A jigsaw works best. For a small area, a stepped drill bit is best.
3. Cut a piece of the cutting board sized to fit over the hole in the cage.
4. You can drill 4 corner holes and bolt the patch over the hole in the cage. If you want, bolt the patch on the inside of the cage.
5. You can cut a second piece from the cutting board to fit into the hole you now have from the patches area. You can use epoxy putty to press into the gap.

If the damaged area is small and curved, you can use a piece of fiberglass and some poly weld glue from Tap Plastics. What you do is use a small torch (like a culinary torch) to heat the area to be glued. Not melt it, but heat it enough to change the molecular structure to accept the glue. Takes about 2 minutes of passing the yellow part of the torch flame over the area to be glued. Mix up the glue, slab it over the damaged area and lay the fiberglass on it. Knead the fiberglass cloth into the glue. Let it dry, and you are done.