Hi all

I'm finally about to set up my new double stacking viv and am looking for ideas about what you do with your wiring.

I've always had a converted aquarium so my heat mat has always been underneath the viv on a polystyrene block.

I've decided that I'm putting the heat mat inside the viv and then creating a false bottom with perspex. I thought it would be better to put the hole for the wiring, stat and temperature probe out at floor level, but the other half, (who is the technical wizard) thinks it should feed up the wall and out near the top. I'm not happy to do this cos my corn is a climber and a wanderer and I think he could try to go behind the wires, unless of course we staple them into the wall.

Please somebody tell me what you do???

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1.0.0 anery corn - Monty (10yo)
0.1.0 miami zig zag corn - Calleigh (4yo)
3.1.0 Somali cats (bred by me) Harry, Roscoe, Cadbury, Purrdy (9yo - 13yo)
0.1.0 Siamese cat (bred by me) Luna (short for lunatic!) (10yo)
0.0.15 pond fish - couldn't be bothered to name them!
www.feorag.freeservers.com

not staying:
2.0.0 red squirrrels - released to freedom the 18th April 2008!


And remembering
Leyla - our beautiful sorrel somali, put to sleep aged 16½ to prevent further suffering

have the wires come out at the bottom rigth hand corner of the viv, take the plug off, put the wirse through the hole.. and all you have left it a tiny neat lil hoel with the wires cominh out of it.. all the messy stuff will be behind the viv..


if that made sense....

__________________
Lizards9.9.7 Crested Gecko5.14.5 Leopard Gecko1.1 Berber Skink1.2 Fan Footed Gecko1.0 Mossy Gecko2.3.7 Gargoyle Gecko1.1 Uroplatus.cf.ebenaui 1.0 Uroplatus Guentheri1.0 Uroplatus Henkeli2.2 Cat geckos1.1 Eurydactolodes agricolae1.1 Tokay Gecko[/option][/option]
Snakes 1.0 Hognose1.0 Milksnake(soon to be 1.1)1.0 Spotted Python[0.1 Corn snake
Amphibians2.1 Axolotl(one morphed)
Mammals0.5 Mice2.0 Cats (soon to be 4.0!!)
OthersLots of fishLots of snails
Soon for sale0.0.2Leopard Geckos0.0.2Gargoyle Geckos0.0.2Crested Geckos
Looking after7 cats
http://www.freewebs.com/freckstheleopardgecko

Yes, that's what I want to do, but the OH has some daft idea about the substrate coming out the hole! But of course, I am a woman and so I will get my own way!!!

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1.0.0 anery corn - Monty (10yo)
0.1.0 miami zig zag corn - Calleigh (4yo)
3.1.0 Somali cats (bred by me) Harry, Roscoe, Cadbury, Purrdy (9yo - 13yo)
0.1.0 Siamese cat (bred by me) Luna (short for lunatic!) (10yo)
0.0.15 pond fish - couldn't be bothered to name them!
www.feorag.freeservers.com

not staying:
2.0.0 red squirrrels - released to freedom the 18th April 2008!


And remembering
Leyla - our beautiful sorrel somali, put to sleep aged 16½ to prevent further suffering

if hes worried about stuff coming out, which is hard when u only need to drill a 4mm or 5mm hole! Just silicone round the the wire in the hole!

If you haven't fixed the vents in yet you could add a slot for the heatmat wires and maybe even get the plug through.

__________________
Snickers
Snakes - Carpet Pythons1.1 Bredl's Python (Neville/Luna)1.1 Jungle X Carpet Python (Molly/Arthur)0.1 Diamond X Carpet Python (Aurora)
Inverts - Tarantulas0.0.1 B. bohemi - Mexican Fireleg (George)0.0.1 B. emilia - Mexican Red Leg (Ginny)0.0.1 B. smithi - Mexican Red Knee (Fred)0.0.1 B. vagans - Mexican Red Rump (Charlie)0.0.1 C. fimbriata - Indian Chevron (Snape)0.0.1 C. cyaneopubescens - GBB (Mosag)0.0.1 E. sp. "blue femur"0.1.0 G. rosea - Chile Rose (Aragog)0.0.1 L. parahybana - Salmon Pink Birdeater (Hagrid)

I think he'll do that anyway, but there is the stat probe wire as well as the heat mat wire, so the hole may be bigger than that to get the stat probe through. Anyway, he's downstairs now sorting things out and has agreed to put the hole down on the floor - I can hear hammering of some sort going on.

Thanks everyone for the comments and advice.

Ooh I'm getting so excited about getting my new snake!!!

__________________



1.0.0 anery corn - Monty (10yo)
0.1.0 miami zig zag corn - Calleigh (4yo)
3.1.0 Somali cats (bred by me) Harry, Roscoe, Cadbury, Purrdy (9yo - 13yo)
0.1.0 Siamese cat (bred by me) Luna (short for lunatic!) (10yo)
0.0.15 pond fish - couldn't be bothered to name them!
www.feorag.freeservers.com

not staying:
2.0.0 red squirrrels - released to freedom the 18th April 2008!


And remembering
Leyla - our beautiful sorrel somali, put to sleep aged 16½ to prevent further suffering

I put the stat probes through the vents, if that helps?

Vents are halfway up the other side! I told the guy who built it not to drill any holes for the wiring because the viv can only go in one place, so the vents have to be on one side and the holes for the electricity supply have to be on the other.

__________________



1.0.0 anery corn - Monty (10yo)
0.1.0 miami zig zag corn - Calleigh (4yo)
3.1.0 Somali cats (bred by me) Harry, Roscoe, Cadbury, Purrdy (9yo - 13yo)
0.1.0 Siamese cat (bred by me) Luna (short for lunatic!) (10yo)
0.0.15 pond fish - couldn't be bothered to name them!
www.feorag.freeservers.com

not staying:
2.0.0 red squirrrels - released to freedom the 18th April 2008!


And remembering
Leyla - our beautiful sorrel somali, put to sleep aged 16½ to prevent further suffering

Just another suggestion....

I don't like taking the plugs off heat mats, so I have the wires up the back of the viv, going out of the vent strip and fix them in place using telephone wire clips. It looks neat and little'uns find it a lot harder to climb up.

__________________
Susie,
Corn snakes; 1.1 Reverse Okeetee, 0.1 Amel Motley (Sunglow), 0.1 Ghost, 1.0 Lavender, 1.1 Lavender het Hypo, 0.1 Butter het Motley, 0.1 Xanthic Snow, 0.1 Bloodred (poss Hypo) het Lavender. 4.8 Leopard Geckos. 1.0 Bearded Dragon.
A wonderful hubby, 1.1 grown children and 0.1 White Cat (the feline kind).

Thanks everyone for the advice - the decision has been made!

The hole is at floor level and has been sealed. For those of you who answered my query about heat mats, the mats are on the floor covered with perspex sheeting and sealed, so we're nearly ready to go.

Because I had the viv specially made to maximise the size because there is only one place in the living room where it can go (a shelf on the fireplace) I also had a sloping roof made to hopefully stop the cats sitting on it all day and so my OH has drilled a plug size hole into that little cavity and all the wiring is going to feed up to that and then inside the cavity. So that should neaten the wiring too.

Now all I need is to decorate it, switch it on, move Monty and collect my new girl!

__________________



1.0.0 anery corn - Monty (10yo)
0.1.0 miami zig zag corn - Calleigh (4yo)
3.1.0 Somali cats (bred by me) Harry, Roscoe, Cadbury, Purrdy (9yo - 13yo)
0.1.0 Siamese cat (bred by me) Luna (short for lunatic!) (10yo)
0.0.15 pond fish - couldn't be bothered to name them!
www.feorag.freeservers.com

not staying:
2.0.0 red squirrrels - released to freedom the 18th April 2008!


And remembering
Leyla - our beautiful sorrel somali, put to sleep aged 16½ to prevent further suffering