Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey ther i currentyl have my cages with infared heat bulbs i wanted to change this over to heat tape does anyone have any info as to how to set heat tape up in melamine cages ex. outside underneith, inside, inside, under laminate floor ? any infor would be greatly appreciated

My preferred way:

Cut a rectangle out of the floor that is about 2" wider and longer than the piece of heat tape that you'll need. Keep the cutout at least 2" away from the exterior cages walls/front as to not affect the structure and to say away from screws or other fasteners.

Route or chisel a groove from the cutout to the back or the side of the cage. This will be a recessed are for the heat tape cord.

Laminate a piece of Sintra or another brand of expanded PVC sign board over the entire floor. 1/8" should be fine, although if the cutout is excessively large you may need 1/4".

Using aluminum tape rated for heat tape, attach the heat tape to the underside of the expanded PVC in the cutout area.

This is not the cheapest way to use heat tape in a melamine cage, but I believe it is the safest and it also makes the cage floor more durable.
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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)

when you say cut oout do you mean just use a router to make a slite indentation were the heat tape would sit?

No. You cut completely throught the floor.

You could do just a partial relief, but most particle board interiors with melamine are not durable enough to hold up, IMO.
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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)

oh cool but i dont think that would work to well for me as im going to have cages stacked on top of each other any other ways you can suggest?

This works great for stacked cages. Why don't you think it will work?
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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)

oh im not doubting you in any way just personaly i dont have all the funds in the world lol im not the greatest carpenter so i dont wana go taking away from any of the strength of the cages i dont wana have to worry about spills and such either and overall i dont wana have the cages in any irepparable condition in case i ever decide to put them to other use for say a monitor or something along the lines were infared heat lamps are needed ...i rember seeing some cage plans awhile back that used heat tape with with laminate flooring over top any thoughts on that ? also i was even thinking of using mylar with it because if i can remeber correctly mylar is fire retardent

No problem. I always stress on this forum only doing what is within your comfort zone despite what others have had success with. Over the years thousands of reptiles have been kept in cages sealed with oil-based polyurethane with no apparent ill effects. But I won't use the stuff on even the outside of a cage. It's not within my comfort zone.

And neither is sandwiching heat tape between any two materials. It's done all the time but not by me. So I have no experience with it.
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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)

welll thats total cool can you for see any possible problems with that ? i.e. melting the lmainate floor?

Like I said, that is outside my comfort zone. I did something similar once where I built cages without floors and only had thin layers of shower board tacked to the bottom of each cage. The cages stacked on top of each other with heat pads inbetween. It worked fine but I don't think I'd do that again.

That's all the experience I have with it.
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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)

oh no no i mean physically put the heat tape in side then just cover it with some laminate floor of sorts or how about underneith the melamine stacked betwen the cages would enough heat beabl eto get through say 5/8'' or 3/4 ''?

I use flexwatt between PVCX and my Melamine carcass enclosure. There is an 1/8" gap in which the flexwatt is placed there is now vent per-see but its not water tight ether. This panel is on the side of my enclosure. It has been in use with no ill effects as of yet. However this is just supplemental heat and only brings the cage from 80* ambient to 90* on the hot side.

Best of Luck

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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.10 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.2 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child

Yeah I realize that's what you meant. I was only giving you my closest experience with something like that.

I know others have done it.
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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)