Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking to purchase a rack system (sweater boxes) and I have a question about heating. If I have a rack that consists of say 5 or 6 tubs lined with heat tape (belly) will all of the tubs be the same temp? Will the heat rise and make the temp hotter in each tub starting from the bottom up? Herpstat Retrostats only have one temp gauge to measure the heat. How do you make sure each tub is the same temp? Thanks.

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1.1 100% het albino W. Hognose
0.1 66% het albino "red" W. Hognose
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The lowest drawer tends to be cooler. By "cooler" I mean the ambient temperature in the box near the heat strip. The heat strip/tape/rope/etc will be roughly the same temp under all boxes, but the air temp in those boxes will be lowest on the bottom and highest in the top drawer.

In most cases, the effect is not very dramatic and is no cause for much concern. Still, I would put the most cool-tolerant animal in the lowest drawer and the warmer-climate-tolerant animals in the upper drawers where you can.

How much of a temp difference between top and bottom drawer for a 4 - 5 level rack with 6 inch tubs approx? Is it negligible like 1 - 2 degress? Or more like 5 or 6?

>>How much of a temp difference between top and bottom drawer for a 4 - 5 level rack with 6 inch tubs approx? Is it negligible like 1 - 2 degress? Or more like 5 or 6?

It depends on many things, like the material the rack is made of and how the room is heated. The higher heat in the top of the rack is due to how heat moves through the rack conductively, not due to "heat rising". I have never had a rack vary by 5-6* from top to bottom and I have never had one less than 4' tall (about seven tubs for a typical box).

One design I like is the racks that use heat cable that allows you to customize how much heat is below each tub. My Vision rack has the design and I really like it. Whether you're designing or building I would consider this design.
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0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

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