Dear Joan,



Thanks for the thoughtful reply.



My instinct tells me that if I touch something, and I can keep my hand there indefinitely, then it isn't going to cause a burn.



At 118 degrees, the naked flexwatt plastic sheet does not have enough stored thermal energy, nor enough raw power, to cause any discomfort when I place my hand firmly on it, and keep it in contact.



Common sense tells me that if I don't get burned, then a snake isn't going to get burned either.



But as you have pointed out, sometimes reptile answers can be counterintuitive. Thus, I'm trying to find out if I'm creating a danger if a spot in the cage is at 120 degrees surface temperature. By the way, the wall adjacent to that 120 degree hot spot registers only about 80 on the heat gun. My concern is that if the flexwatt is turned down too low, it won't generate enough warmth to properly heat the cage, or even one side of it.



Yet, I know others use the same sort of heat tape, and they use it underneath things like glass bottomed tanks, fiberglass enclosures, and the like, and even so, it's enough heat for the enclosure.



The frustration is that when I ask someone one question, they answer a different question. It's as if I'm asking whether I should stop or go on a red light, and they give me the name of the nearest use car dealer to help me purchase a car. Sure, it's related information, but it's frustrating to have to pinpoint the question so precisely in order to avoid having people throw out all sorts of answers that really don't have anything to do with the question I asked.



Our first snake was my 14 year old daughter, who got a ball python. I've become fascinated myself, and between us, we now have 8 snakes. I'm building some custom enclosures, and my questions are really aimed at fine tuning my understanding.



So often, I find that people really don't know, and yet are willing to speak out with total authority. That makes for a confusing situation, in which supposed experts are offering conflicting advice. I know I could find out the hard way, by burning a snake, but I was rather hoping that I could find out the easy way, by having people share their experiences with me. But having people who have never burned a snake tell me what it takes to burn a snake is not as believable as someone who has suffered a tragedy sharing the details.



Hope that helps you understand WHY I'm asking, and I hope it was clear WHAT I was asking.



Michael

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