I have two different types of cages with two different types of Flex Watt heat tape.
My oldest cages are from Doug Barrs. These are nice custom cages that did not come with any type of heat installed in them.
I purchased 11” by 12” sections or heat tape rolls from Big Apple supply and cut the tape to the desired size (11” x 2’ for the boa cages) I also purchased the recommended ends and clamps to hook them up. I use a simple corded lamp dimmer to control the output of a group of eight cages with a digital thermostat to keep the tape at 95 degrees. This tape is now 6 years old, has never failed however I do check the temps every time I walk into the room. The tape covers 1/4th of the cage floor space, so even if it did go wacky and jump up to the 120 degrees that it is possible of getting to, it would not be left alone long enough to cause harm to the snakes inside the cage.
The second type of cages that I have are Jeff Ronne Cages.
I had Jeff install the heat in the cages and he uses the low wattage flex watt heat tape (a better product in my mind now that I have tried both) Again I use a corded lamp dimmer to keep the tape a 95 degrees, but it appears that the max heat on this tape is about 110 degrees. In these snake cages about 1/3 of the cage floor is covered in this tape and a digital thermometer is also used to keep track of the temps. These temps are also checked each time I go into the room.
These cages are only a year old so I can not attest to the durability of this tape, but ti does seen to give a more gentle and even heat then the normal flex watt tape.
I hope this helps your research some.
Good Luck
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

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