Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've made a cage for my boa out of an Ikea cabinet However, I'm not really sure about the best way to heat it. I put down peel-and-stick tiles, and I won't be putting in any other substrate. I can't see a regular heating pad working, as he would be lying right on it.

How about heat rope? I live in Canada and would prefer not to spend a fortune - is this a viable option?

I'd rather not install a heat lamp, I'd rather he have belly heat than basking heat.

Any ideas?

Best fit for the cage would probably be a radient heat pannel, but they are on the expensive side.

Next best in my opinion would be to cut out a square a little larger then the size of the heat pad you plan to use for the cage size. Attach a piece of glass or plexiglass that is slightly larger then the hole to the floor of the cage. This will give you a space (the height being the thickness of the cage floor material) to attach the heat pad to the bottom of the glass. Silicone the edges of the glass and you will have a surface that is just as durable as the stick on tiles you have already installed.
-----
- Jason F.

It's tough that you already put down a cage floor, because it's hard to put in belly heat then. You could also have routered a channel into the floor and put heat cable in the channel, and then covered that with a thin sheet of rigid waterproof plastic (like shower surround material).

I use heat cable as overhead heat in my green tree python's cage and it works well, but she doesn't need belly heat.

Again, if you don't want to rip up the floor you just put in, your best bet would be a radiant heat panel. You also could possibly put flexwatt or other heating pad on the wall of the cage, though it wouldn't look pretty. If you don't mind re-covering your floor, you can put flexwatt over your peel/stick tiles and then, as the other person mentioned, put something over it. I wouldn't recommend glass because heat differences might cause it to crack, but you could use thin acrylic/plexi or shower surround plastic. You could cover the whole floor with it and silicone the edges as well.

Might want to ask in the caging forum (look in the General forums) for more help!
-----
Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com
1.0 Ball Python, 1.1 Hog Island Boas, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 0.1 Green Tree Python