I guarantee that with ambient air temps of 68 deg, bottom heat in ANY cage will give you a warm spot in an otherwise cold cage. You need heat panels, CHEs or lamps. Yes, 1/2" thick material will help a little, but most likely not enough in a cage with lots of volume. I'm talking for exotic animals that in nature see temps that rarely fall below 75 deg. Temperate snakes like cornsnakes do fine with just bottom heat.



For people that have warm rooms of 78-80 deg, bottom heat works great. For us that have cold rooms, a strip of heat tape or a few runs of heat cable won't cut it. Stick with the heat panels and get the heat cable option too if you want, but stick with heat panels in cold rooms. In summer, you can unplug the heat panel and just use the bottom heat if you want.



This is my opinion after trying many methods and types of heating for exotics in cold rooms like yours: Simple is best, and floor heat doesn't keep the air warm enough.
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Mark

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