# Vivarium glass shattering



## Stratton (Dec 27, 2008)

Tonight with out warning, or anyone near our 4x2x2 vivarium there was a loud bang and the glass shattered into little pieces. 
There was no strain on the glass, the snake was not touching the glass. The glass was 4mm toughened glass with the British Standard stamp.

Has anyone else ever had this happen, or heard of this happening? And what could cause it.

Will post pics later.


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## NBLADE (Apr 11, 2007)

Stratton said:


> Tonight with out warning, or anyone near our 4x2x2 vivarium there was a loud bang and the glass shattered into little pieces.
> There was no strain on the glass, the snake was not touching the glass. The glass was 4mm toughened glass with the British Standard stamp.
> 
> Has anyone else ever had this happen, or heard of this happening? And what could cause it.
> ...


 
never experianced it, but could be caused by temperature changes, or if there is any weight on top of the cage etc


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## shrek (Jun 19, 2008)

i have not had any viv or aquarium glass shatter but i have known windows on shop fronts shatter not long after installation ,could be a slight flaw in glass and the slightest touch could cause it to go


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

shrek said:


> i have not had any viv or aquarium glass shatter but i have known windows on shop fronts shatter not long after installation ,could be a slight flaw in glass and the slightest touch could cause it to go


yeah I'd agree, often if it smashes for no apparent reason it's been installed badly, at a SLIGHT angle or one corner being secured with more pressure then the rest, kind of like a chip in a windscreen, it weakens the whole thing, you don't see cracks appearing but the tension slowly increases until it just all goes.


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## pollywog (Oct 6, 2005)

That's the problem with using toughened glass, when it goes it smashes into lots of tiny pieces leaving a big hole for the animal to escape, if you used standard float it would just crack usually leaving the bits in place and preventing the animals from getting out.


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