|
1-10 of 13 messages
|
Page 1 of 2
Next
|
|
Neodesha/vision cage glass blow out?
|
Reply
|
|
by SCatheris on November 28, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Well today a pretty crazy thing happened. For background info, I work at a nature center. We have three species of hots, a east. coral, a canebrake rattler, and a south. copperhead. The Agkistrodon and Crotalus are in neodesha or vision cages (the ones from Bush Herpetological for the record)And today my boss and I were feeding everyone. He takes care of the hots since I'm a minor. So yeah my boss was trying to unlock the cage and I guess the hole in the glass wasnt big enough for the masterlock to fit loosly. So he twisted it a bit and the glass pretty much exploded in our faces ina 6 foot or so radius! Of course the rattler gets pissed and it's not a big one only about 2 foot or so in length. So he moved the rattler to a new cage and I started sweepin..... Has anyone else had this happen to them with their Bush herp/neodesha cages? If you haven't I recommend plexiglass lol which I've heard should be used before.
|
| |
|
RE: Neodesha/vision cage glass blow out?
|
Reply
|
|
by Peter on November 28, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Glass + twisting = not good
Id either get a smaller lock or a bigger hole...Also do you have those cages where the public can reach the fronts? If so I'd definatly either change that or glass that wont shatter under a good thump.
Peter
|
| |
|
RE: Neodesha/vision cage glass blow out?
|
Reply
|
|
by SCatheris on November 28, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
yeah well the Agkistrodon cage has plexiglass and they are in the public eye daily but luckily we got some cagemates who can share so the Crotalus can have his own cage. It's only temporary, I'd prefer the cages with doors as would my boss but these are jsut a bit "safer" since the non-hot cages have very slight gaps between the door in the hinge so whenever people come in I try n keep em from gettin too close to it. I watch out for it myself, but as soon as we get it repaired with plexiglass everything will be back to normal.
|
| |
|
RE: Neodesha/vision cage glass blow out?
|
Reply
|
|
by Cro on November 28, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Justin, any Bush / Neodesha cage has to be at least 12 years old, as they have been out of business that long.
As glass ages, it gets more brittle, and more subject to break. Since the glass is tempered on those cages, when you twist a padlock against part of it, even on an edge, it will shatter into a thousand pieces if it is stressed too much. That is what tempered glass is supposed to do, just like a car window.
It is very difficult to find a padlock with a narrow enough shackle and a wide enough shackle to work with the 1/4 inch hole in those cages. That is why I use those nylon zip locks on my neodesha cages.
If the padlock was not lining up and had to be twisted, you were either using a too big padlock, or the glass had been placed in upside down, and the hole in the glass and the hole in the cage were not aligned properly. Too much force was used in some way to cause the glass to break. Dont blame the cage, blame the person who did not know how to use it, or the use of a padlock that had a shackle that was too large for the cage.
Best Regards JohnZ
|
| |
|
RE: Neodesha/vision cage glass blow out?
|
Reply
|
|
by SCatheris on November 28, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
It wasn't me and I'm positive it was the padlock. That was some funny glass though it looked like glass cork. Just an accident, I'm sure it won't happen again. As i said before We'd rather use cages with doors but we use those for the harmless species.
|
| |
|
RE: Neodesha/vision cage glass blow out?
|
Reply
|
|
by LarryDFishel on November 28, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Yes, glass ages and becomes brittle, but I think you're normally talking over a few hundred years, not 12...
We have a whole room full of neodesha cages, most of which have glass fronts. In the 5 years I've been volunteering, 2 of them have broken that I've seen (one by me), both after being dropped 3 feet onto a plywood floor. Many more have been dropped and NOT broken. They came with very hardy glass...
There are a couple of possibilities I can think of:
1) He twisted the lock REALLY had and over stressed it.
2) It was just a bad piece of glass (it is possible for the tempering process to be done wrong and result in a piece of glass that will explode if you look at it the wrong way). Is it possible that it was not the original glass?
Go the the nearest hardware store that has racks of trays with small parts and find "clevis pins". 1/4" diameter and 3/4" long or longer. Drill out the hole to accept a luggage padlock. Push the pin through the hole in the cage from the front and put the lock on the back.
http://www.madprogrammer.com/pics/dscf1641.jpg
|
| |
|
RE: Neodesha/vision cage glass blow out?
|
Reply
|
|
by GREGLONGHURST on November 29, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I have an original Neodesha. Many years ago, I had to replace one of the sliding glass sheets. I was using a hook to open or close it, with the hook in the lock hole. The experience was exactly like yours...exploding glass. I have been more careful since, & it has never happened again. The cage is a 4 footer, & the glass broke when it was fairly new, so I would say the age of the glass is not a factor.
~~Greg~~
|
| |
|
RE: Neodesha/vision cage glass blow out?
|
Reply
|
|
by SCatheris on November 29, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Well it's good to hear I'm not the only one it happened to. It had to have been the lock we use the big locks for the hots and not the small ones like for the harmless cages. He (my boss) was jiggling it around and....boom. We've never had that problem before when we were taking the lock out so who knows. the snake was fine, we were fine so it's all good. They are nice cages though. Here's a couple pics of that canebrake hope the code works.
[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/SCherper/canebrakeredo.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/SCherper/animals%20at%20work/m.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/SCherper/animals%20at%20work/S3000071.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/SCherper/animals%20at%20work/S3000018.jpg[/IMG]
|
| |
|
RE: Neodesha/vision cage glass blow out?
|
Reply
|
|
by SCatheris on November 29, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
ok well here are some links to those pics for thsoe who are interested.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/SCherper/animals%20at%20work/S3000018.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/SCherper/animals%20at%20work/m.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/SCherper/animals%20at%20work/canebrakeredo.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/SCherper/animals%20at%20work/S3000071.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/SCherper/animals%20at%20work/S3000075.jpg
|
| |
|
RE: Neodesha/vision cage glass blow out?
|
Reply
|
|
by Buzztail1 on November 29, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I tried looking through the older posts to find where we talked about this before.
I didn't find it but there is a solution that has worked very well for me.
In the older slant-fronted Neodeshas there are holes in the original plate glass that line up with holes in the plastic frame. The holes are rather small for most padlocks. So, the fix for that was to take plastic coated electrical wire, fold it to make a loop and twist or fix that with a clip or something to make the loop permanent. The loop is then passed through the hole in the frame and the glass and then opened to allow the lock to be placed in the loop. (The clip should be large enough to not pass through the hole.) Eventually, after years of use, the wire will wear through the plastic coating and at that time you just replace the wire.
This has worked for me for years and I haven't lost a glass front yet.
I can take pictures to post if this explanation is not clear enough.
R/
Karl
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|
