I recently purchased a PVC enclosure from Talking Serpents. I really like the enclosure itself but I noticed a plastic smell once the lighting and heat lamp were turned on. There is not a smell when they are not on. I washed it with Dawn dish soap and warm water in case there was a residue on it and had let it ‘air out’ for over a week with the heat turned up to see if that would help. There is still a plastic smell to it - I just don’t know if it is safe to put my snake in it. I did reach out to the manufacturer but have not received a response. This is my first PVC enclosure and don’t know if I am just being paranoid and this is a common smell that they just have. Thank you!
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Check the temperature on the PVC around where the heat source sits and on the floor below/above.
What wattage of lamp are you using?
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It’s an Arcadia deep heat projector 50w. It is in an enclosed heat cage that I bought from Talking Serpents to make it further from the ceiling. I have the thermostat set to 85F during the day. It drops to 76F at night. I also have uvb light that runs during the day - it is an Arcadia 6% Forest 39w. I just checked all surfaces around the deep heat projector and they are all at 85F-87F.
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It could just be the offgassing smell of the PVC. It isn’t going to hurt your animal. If it doesn’t go away in a day or so check back.
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Totally normal, the smell will dissipate with use. I’ve never heard of it hurting any reptile. If your still worried heat it up inside and you can place a small computer fan on the outside over the vents pushing the air away from the enclosure. The warmer you can get it the faster the smell will be reduced.
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