Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Best way to heat a wooden enclosure?

I know I have seen this covered before, but I can't seem to find it. If anyone can help me out, I'd appreciate it.

I'm going to build book shelf type rack of tanks. Probably 4 tanks and a storage area on the bottom. These will be for corn snakes. It will be about 36"wide x 16-18" deep x 16"tall. I'll probably have sliding glass or plexiglass doors on front. I'll probably be using plywood.

I'm thinking about making the bookshelf and putting PVC board on the bottom of a tank with a spacer between the wood and PVC and putting the under tank heater there between the two.( It might be a regular UTH or flex heat tape.) Like what is in the picture. UTH will be controlled by a rheostat or (most likely) a thermostat. Heating these is my biggest concern, but if you think of something that needs to be pointed out, please feel free.

Black is plywood frame and shelf.
Green is the PVC board
Blue is the supports to separate the PVC and plywood
Purple is a light.
There will be 4 of these instead of the two shown.

Now for some questions:
1: Will a setup like this work ok?
2: Will PVC board allow good heat transfer to warm the tank well enough to 80-85 deg on that end?
3: Should I just put the UTH on top of the plywood shelf and then maybe put some plexiglass or ceramic tiles on top of it to keep the snakes from having direct contact?
4: Should I use another product other than PVC board? If so what?
Any other things I should look at or be concerned about?

Thanks for any thoughts and/or suggestions.
Rob
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"I reject your reality and substitute my own" Adam Savage
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Creamscicle motley corn
0.1 Creamscicle corn
0.0.2 Normal(?)corns
0.1 Black Pine
1.1 Bearded Dragon

1: Will a setup like this work ok?

I'm not sure. Some lights put out A LOT of heat, even fluorescents. What kind of light are you planning on using? You might consider just some very low wattage accent light of some sort.

I have a suggestion, though. Instead of putting in spacers, just cut a large rectangle out of each shelf that is about 1" to 2" wider and longer than the UTH you'll be using. Keep that rectangle away from the front, back or sides of the shelf and you won't lose any strength. Then just laminate PVC to the shelf and attach the UTH underneath that. You'll just need to protect that small area from the snake in the cage below. No big deal.

Personally I'd also put in some Reflectix insulation into that spot. I'd even try to set it up so the Reflectix directs the heat down into the cage below but I'd make the area accessible in case it does not work well.

2: Will PVC board allow good heat transfer to warm the tank well enough to 80-85 deg on that end?

Use 1/8" Sintra or other expanded PVC and you should be fine.

3: Should I just put the UTH on top of the plywood shelf and then maybe put some plexiglass or ceramic tiles on top of it to keep the snakes from having direct contact?

No, use the cutouts like I recommended. The only way this won't work is if the shelves are the same depth as the width of your UTH. But that does not appear to be a potential problem.

4: Should I use another product other than PVC board? If so what?

I don't think so.

Any other things I should look at or be concerned about?

I'm very concerned about the combination of lights and a UTH, as already mentioned. Also, definately use Reflectix in that shelf space to minimize heat transfer from cage to cage. In fact if you want to get creative you could also use it to block the heat transfer from the lights, although you'd then need a larger air space in each shelf.

The heat transfer issue is my only concern with these bookshelf-style cages, where the floor of one cage acts as the ceiling for the cage below. If you build individual and stackable cages then the floor can be raised up about an inch and Reflectix and be placed into this area to block the radiant heat transfer.

If you do go with the bookshelf design you might consider using your spacers to insulate the entire shelf with Reflectix. Tough call.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

>>I have a suggestion, though. Instead of putting in spacers, just cut a large rectangle out of each shelf that is about 1" to 2" wider and longer than the UTH you'll be using. Keep that rectangle away from the front, back or sides of the shelf and you won't lose any strength. Then just laminate PVC to the shelf and attach the UTH underneath that. You'll just need to protect that small area from the snake in the cage below. No big deal.
>>

Thanks Chris
You made this suggestion to someone else. I read it and then couldn't find it later. The stackable type sounds good for the reasons you mentioned. Last night I found an endtable type thing that has sliding glass doors. It would be about perfect. I'm thinking about making a few copies of it and stacking them.
Thanks again Chris

If anyone else has any suggestions/ comments, for or aginst book shelf type tanks, please let me know
Rob
-----
"I reject your reality and substitute my own" Adam Savage
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Creamscicle motley corn
0.1 Creamscicle corn
0.0.2 Normal(?)corns
0.1 Black Pine
1.1 Bearded Dragon

I still like the one-piece, non-stackable design. For that design you would only need six horizontal shelves. To stack five cages you'll need ten. The back and side material works out about the same.

But I don't think going five high is practical. You'll need to keep the entire unit at about 79" to fit it through doorways. I highly recommend casters so subtract another three inches for that and keep the structure at 76".

Next you need to subtract for the thickness of the flooring, which will be 3/4" plus the thickness of the PVC. Without spacers you'll have at least another 5" of space taken up, leaving 71" for the five levels.

That's only about 13" of height for each cage, which is fine but once you install a substrate dam and an upper lip to each cage you'll have a very narrow viewing area.

I say reduce the number of levels or go with a stacking design. With a stacking design you can go over 80" tall by a bit and still reach the top cage and still move it out of the room.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

I had a very large cage 2' x 4' x 7 1/2' that could be (and was too darn many times) moved through doorways. Have to tip it over along the 4' side, then tip it up onto the 2' side. Put two furniture dollies under it and away you go. Not the easiest thing to move but it can be done. Some critical things to remember,
- It has to be strong to withstand the forces encountered while tipping up and down.
- You need enough room to lay it flat to move it
- One of the three dimensions must be narrower than the door frame.
- Corners can be quite tough to negotioate.
- the diagonal from top front to bottom rear has to be less than your ceiling height so you can tilt it up.
- strong friends help when it comes tome to move, although I moved my big cage several times by myself, I am 6'1" and 200plus lbs, not exactly scrawney
- shorter then the door fframe will always be easier to move but how often do you move a big cage?

Still has the same design issues ie litter dams viewing space etc.

Another thought is a two piece cage like the one on the left, but then again it's only four levels. (the one on the right is my updated, new and improved model - 4 seperate stacking cages.)

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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
13.26 BRB
11.16 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

>>- the diagonal from top front to bottom rear has to be less than your ceiling height so you can tilt it up.

I'm glad you mentioned that. I probably wouldn't have built it to the cieling, but that makes so much sense.

I showed my wife the pic of your tanks and she said that she likes something like them.
Thanks for your suggestions,
Rob
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"I reject your reality and substitute my own" Adam Savage
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Creamscicle motley corn
0.1 Creamscicle corn
0.0.2 Normal(?)corns
0.1 Black Pine
1.1 Bearded Dragon

Right now I'm just really thinking about it. Trying to build it in my head. I'll draw it out first for sure. I have plenty of time. Right now my corns are only about 10" or so.
Thanks for your help and suggestions Chris.
Rob
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"I reject your reality and substitute my own" Adam Savage
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Creamscicle motley corn
0.1 Creamscicle corn
0.0.2 Normal(?)corns
0.1 Black Pine
1.1 Bearded Dragon