The toxicity result of burning holes in plastic?

[Sharno]

When using heat to burn small holes in plastic containers for Ts, what's the risk of the fumes for the Ts? How do people mitigate that if there are safety issues?

 

[korg]

Are you burning the holes with the T inside the enclosure? Just burn the holes ahead of time then wash and air out the container. You won't have any problems.

 

[stewstew8282]

i issue all my Ts re-breather masks and post OSHA posters to make sure i am in compliance with local laws

 

[Amoeba]

I'm more worried about plastic particles from where I drill holes in my container.....I have actually switched to 102% all organic enclosures made from soy renewable recycled paper. I don't know how they made it this far in history without me obsessing over them and their well being.

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

I've used a hot nail to put air holes in many enclosures. Ts went in as soon as I was done and have had no ill effects.

 

[MarkmD]

I use small screwdrivers to burn holes in plastic containers, I do that and clean it before I put any T in, I've never had any problems so far.

 

[Poec54]

I use a soldering iron to melt ventilation holes in all my T containers, large and small. I give them a few hours to air out before I put a spider in. Never any ill effects.

 

[Sharno]

No, they aren't inside at the time of course
But I wondered how long people waited before putting the t in there. I wash and air it out but it wanted to see if people did anything else to be sure.

 

[Bugmom]

I stick them in right away. Heck I've done it with the T's in the enclosure when I had to add a few more holes. As far as I could tell, the only issues the T's had was annoyance that I had the nerve to pick up their containers, let alone do something with them.

 

[prairiepanda]

I do it in the bathroom with the vent running, but once the melted bits harden again they won't make any more fumes. Wave it around a bit to get rid of most of whatever's left of the fumes and you should be good.

 

[Curious jay]

Like Poec said, I use a soldering iron to melt the holes and simply blow into the container after and smell inside to double check the scent has gone.

 

[Artaeshia]

I've used a hot nail to put air holes in many enclosures.

I do this with all my plastic enclosures too. Great way of getting even sized holes! I wash out the enclosures before and after melting the holes in, no harm done to the Ts. Of course I would never melt them in while the T is in there (why would anyone take that risk? :S), that's the only way I think you would ever get any problems, if any.

 

[jdl]

I built a Poecilotheria subfusca tank and popped her in it then realized there were no air holes. I ended up soldering holes in the cage while she was in there and that was six months ago and she is sill going strong. Most of the time I will solder the holes then rinse the containers out. The smell drives me nuts, but I have not seen any harmful effects to the spiders.