Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok.. heres the deal.. My living situation is still at home. My house is currently being constructed..PAIN IN THE BUTTT!

Ive always kept my breeders in my barn stalls in aquariums. This year with the overwhelming number of breeders i now have, and still getting,I made the switch to racks. My questions:
I will need 56ft of flex watt for my rack. Its big,, it holds 35 breeders in 28 qt boxes, plus 42 hatchlings. I dont wont to buy 3 helix 500 watt thermos.. theres over 1000 watts hear if i use 11inch tape. Is 4 inch tape enough to keep them warm enough during winter during brumartion?? I live in NC and we have semi cold winters here. All i need to do is keep them around 60 or so for hybernation. Ive never worked with flex watt, so i would rather ask first instead of spending over 400$ on thermos. It will be next year before i can start my builing project which will have AC and heat, plus heattape. I think 4" will work.. but i wont to be sure.

thanks
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My herps..
0.0.9 amel hatchling corns
1.1 reverse okeetees
1.0 normal corn
1.0 Anery
1.2 Amel corn
0.1 Jasper county Okettee
1.0 American alligator
0.1 Copperhead
0.0.2 Timber rattlesnakes
2.3 black rat snakes

Are the 1000 watt BAH that big apple sells..any count? I really would like digital proportinate, but im out to get the best bang for my buck. Then again im looking out for my herps as well.. I will need around a 1500 watt thermo.. either a 1000 and a 500 or 2 1000's

thanks
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My herps..
0.0.9 amel hatchling corns
1.1 reverse okeetees
1.0 normal corn
1.0 Anery
1.2 Amel corn
0.1 Jasper county Okettee
1.0 American alligator
0.1 Copperhead
0.0.2 Timber rattlesnakes
2.3 black rat snakes

Thats the same thing as a bio stat.

I use one on a wire shelving unit I use for a rack. Once you get the sensor in a good placement, to match a warm end of a tub it works fine. But it is an on off thermo, so you get a few degrees of variation. but is 81-83 that critical?

Or in your case, 50-53, or what ever you pick. Again, teh warm end will be in tht range, but due to a short tape, the cold end is very probe to the effects of the room temps.

I hope that helps?

Tom

>>Thats the same thing as a bio stat.
>>
>>I use one on a wire shelving unit I use for a rack. Once you get the sensor in a good placement, to match a warm end of a tub it works fine. But it is an on/off thermostat, so you get a few degrees of variation. but is 81-83 that critical?
>>
>>Or in your case, 50-53, or what ever you pick. Again, the warm end will be in that range, but due to a short heat tape, the cold end is very prone to the effects of the room temps.
>>
>>I hope that helps?
>>
>>Tom

1 key to me is what ambient temperature can you keep the area that your herps are in, in your coldest weather spell? If the room can ALWAYS be kept close to your brumation temperatures, I do not see an issue. But a 50 degree end on flexwatt, and a 35 cold end will of course be a disaster.

I have little to no practical experience with helix, but why not use something like bio-stats? I do not see a need for proportional thermostat. Temperature variation from on to off is about 2-3 degrees tops.

You may want to post on the cage and habitat forum. there are VERY knowledgeable guys in there.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/forum.php?catid=4

I run into a similar situations at the shop. People want to know what size heat bulb for the heat lamp. Tank size, room temps and flucuations are key. To me you need to know what the room temp will be at to make a good decision.

Good luck.

Tom

Thanks for the info.. again until my house is finished.. they will continue to be in the barn.. which is outside and will be pretty much the same temp as the outside air. So again.. i dunno.. maybee i should just spend the extra cash and get the 11in tape..
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My herps..
0.0.9 amel hatchling corns
1.1 reverse okeetees
1.0 normal corn
1.0 Anery
1.2 Amel corn
0.1 Jasper county Okettee
1.0 American alligator
0.1 Copperhead
0.0.2 Timber rattlesnakes
2.3 black rat snakes