Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can't get any posts on the heating subforum so I'll try here:

I just purchased a used cage made by Cages By Design for either my California King or a Jungle Carpet Python. It's 60" high so I'm leaning towards putting the juvenile python in it with lots of stuff for climbing. I have a radiant heat panel I can mount on the top but with a cage with so much height, shouldn't I also provide some "belly heat" from below? The folks at Cages By Design said they don't recommend using a UTH under the laminate bottom. Don't know if it damages the laminate or if not enough heat gets through. Anyone with any experience in this area? What about putting the UTH on an appropriate size sheet of glass and laying this assembly on top of some type of insulating material in the cage on top of the laminate bottom panel? Any and all recommendations are appreciated!!

One option, especially for a python, is to use a Kane heat mat. Goes right inside the cage. You can wash them, step on them, put substrate on them, the snake can defecate on them...

Link: www.beanfarm.com

They sell many sizes. The 18x18 is nice, so is the 13x28 or whatever it is. Last a lifetime. Use a dimmer on it.

The other option is like what I did - encase a heat pad in PVCx and put it inside the cage.

I'm not familiar with PVCx. What is it? Where do I get it? How expensive is it? How do I work with it? Would you just use an inexpensive UTH to put in it or some other type of heat source?
Thanks!!

PVCx or XPVC or any other number of abbreviations is expanded PVC. One name brand is Sintra. The most common use you'd see this for is in signs. Think of the big plastic ones businesses use, with flourescent lights behind them so they glow. Basically, it looks like a solid colored plexiglass.

To buy it, you'd have to get it from a distributor, or a sign shop. I was thinking about building some cages out of it, and it was going to be $60 for a 4x8 sheet for me to get ahold of it. If you're only enclosing a heat pad, you may be able to get big enough pieces from a sign shop cheap. Ask around, and see if you can get the scraps they have left over from jobs. You never know- they may have something that would work perfect, and since it's their garbage, they'd probably sell it cheap.

I've heard working with PVCx is a little difficult, but I've never done it myself. You have to be slow, and careful, because it's easy to mess up, and expensive. To cut it to seal heat pads, you could probably just cut it with a fine toothed circular or table saw.

And to use that, I'd recommend using Flexwatt, or a similar product. Any of those cheap flat heat pads that are the same as Flexwatt, except they come pre-wired would probably work.

I think I'm on a similar track of thought here. I got a scrap piece of plastic from a local sign shop but it's the kind with air channels running the entire length, not a solid piece. to experiment, I stuck an old UTH to it and it's been plugged in for about 8 hours with no sign of melting or deforming. It's conducting heat almost too good - pretty hot to the touch using a small 8 watt heater. Haven't pointed my temp gun at it yet though. I guess I could use multiple layers on top to reduce the surface heat somewhat. Any idea what kind of glue works best?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!!