Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok so I have decided wood cages suck when breeding. My problem is heating the floor for my females. Last year I used a kane's heat mat witch worked awsome but I do not have the money for another one and my thermostat does not have a ground plug so I would have to buy another. So I was thinking of building a platform with wood and having a plexiglass top (I have plexi left over from another project) and heating it with th 11' flex watt. Do you think the plexi glass would melt? I do not think it would but I wanted to make sure. Do you have any other suggestions

The flexwatt would not melt the plexiglass. It would have to get super hot before that could happen and if you have a thermostat that isn't a worry. I love flexwatt. I used to buy heat pads and even UTH, but heat tape is under $4 a foot and way easier to work with. I buy mine from Big Apple, but The Bean Farm also sells it. I just like Big Apples very quick delivery. I think your idea is a good one because your utilizing materials you already have. By the way for like 45 cents you can get a little plug converter that goes from ground to no ground. Hope I helped

I don't think you'll have any problems with the plexiglass melting but you would need to use a thermostat. Another option is Bean Farm's Ultratherm heat pads, which were recently recommended to me as an alternative belly heat source. They can be used inside the cage, just like the Kane heat mats, and are basically like thick flexwatt but sealed & designed for use inside the cage. They aren't anywhere near as expensive as some of the other options and are supposed to be very reliable. I haven't tried them yet, but plan to.

Raven