Hey there!



"What kind of overhead heat are you going to use for your enclosure? I am looking to build a few cages and was going to try heat tape with a thermostat, but am open to other substitutes. Is overhead heating just heat lamps?"



I'm going to use 2 - 150-watt ceramic heat emitters to start out with. They'll both be on the hot end, spaced apart within the width/depth of the cage.



Since my cage is stackable the CHEs will be on the inside with a safety guard around them. For cages that won't have other cages stacked on top of them it's much better, simpler, safer, to cut a hole the size of the dome housing the CHE or light bulb and just place it on top of the cage.



CHEs (ceramic heat emitters) are infrared devices. The rays penetrate the snake's body for better heating versus the heating of the snake's skin where light rays stop. Lights left on 24/7 can stress snakes and in some cases, if that's the only source of heat, what can you do? Of course, they make the night-light bulbs but they generally don't produce enough heat for the average Burmese Python cage. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Plus, if you can get one to last you 3 months or more please tell me how you did it. CHE's cost 3 times as much but last 20 times longer.



With that said, I'm still considering radiant heat panels. For one or two cages I wouldn't hesitate to use them. But given that I've got to build at least 8 of those big cages it comes to about $1000 difference. That's a lot of cuzin Luke's white ligtnin'. (Just kidding, of course.)



Heat tape is good and inexpensive. Those that use it say it's effective, too. I use it in a hatchling rack but no cages. Yet, at least. The thing about using heat tape is the cage modifications that need to be done. Specifically the routing out of the area the heat tape will fit into. And sometimes it could mean reinforcing the bottom of the cage somehow or another.



Randy (Art In Scales) can fill you in quite well on heat tape. He's built some nice setups with it.





"I was planning on using the cabinet plymood or melamine and then putting heat tape down and maybe finding some plastic material or laminate to go over the heat tape, possibly even a piece of plexiglass or something (might make cleaning easier)."



Choosing the type of material was probably my hardest decision. There are soooo many factors to it all.



I love wood grain, and a fairly light, not dark, color. That limited my options to plywood or high-end melamine. I don't remember what the exact cost of the cabinet grade pine plywood I used, but it was $15 for a 4 x 8 sheet or less. The melamine was $45 for a 4 x 8 sheet. Like I said earlier, building one or two cages, a lil' more money's not much of a deal. But with 8 cages, it becomes quite a big deal.



If woodgrain's not important & a plain ol' colored cage wii do, I'd probably go with 3/4-inch MDF or plywood, put several coats of high quality indoor paint on it, seal all corners, and be done with it. It'll last longer than the average keeper will ever need it for.



I don't know how well putting plexiglass over the heat tape will work. It may work just fine, I'm just saying I don't know because I'm not that familiar with using heat tape. Now, as for protecting the inside of the cage from humidity damage, you can laminate it with formica, cover the insides with pllexiglass, vinyl flooring, and many other things other than a water-based polyurethane like I used. I'm considering trying epoxy resin (fiberglass, without the cloth strips) in my next cage.



The first rule in cage building - K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) That's not directed at anyone but me. I have to constantly tell myself that.



Let me know if you've got any other questions. Hopefully someone else will chime in here soon. Thanks for the compliments on my cage. Due to lack of time & a fe mishaps on my part it's still not quite finished. I hope to get the last coat of poly on it tomorrow (Wed) and then take it to get sliding glass door tracks & glass installed by end of the week. Weather permitting, that is.



Take care!

Mike
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,

this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:

Appalachian American





www.natures-signature.com

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