Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings!

I am about to build my own design of cages for my animals which will house various python and boa species (mainly dwarf/insular species).
The sizes will be 2'x2'x1' (LxWxD), 3'x2'x1', 4'x3'x1' and 6'x3'x1'.
The cages will be made of a good quality plywood and sealed with a water based polyurethene and I will line the floors with linoleum which will be sealed around the edges to make it waterproof, easier clean up and such.

Questions:

1. I am wanting to install overhead heat like you would with a proradiant heat panel (only I am not able to afford a panel for each of these cages just yet), and I wanted to try doing that with either flexwatt, ultratherm heat pads or heat cable (the later two being waterproof to my knowledge).
In using these, what and how would I affix them to the ceiling of a wood cage with the water based sealant on it? (the aluminum tape designed for flexwatt...is it good for all three products?)
What about tall and wide stables to use for the heat cable...bad idea?

2. how do I know what wattage to use for these cages given that they will all only be 12" tall and range from 2-3' deep?

Advice on these questions is much appreciated. I want to do this safely.

Hugs,

Amanda Rose
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Amanda Rose
Amanda's Menagerie
Bringing Animals, People and Education Together Under One Roof.
amandas_menagerie.tripod.com
My Email

You can attach these to the ceiling with the same aluminum tape. No problem there. But you'll need to use Reflectix or something similar to reflect that heat back down into the cage so leave some sort of gap on top if you plan to stack the cages.

Note that none of these heat sources have the wattage per square inch of a radiant heat panel so don't expect a lot of heating. I would not recommend this if the cages will be in a room temperature area.
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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)

Thank you Chris. I was hoping to get advice from you.

Well, let's try this angle:

If I go with putting the flexwatt/heat cable on the bottom (having a space below the cage floor surface) and I still want to line the cage floor and up the walls with vinyl/linoleum (are these one in the same?), how would I go about the flooring? I would have the flexwatt/heat cable in a "routed out" sort of fashion and have that taped down in there...but, in order to make sure no feces/urine/water comes into contact with it AND can keep my vinyl/linoleum flooring....how should I go about that? Or in that instance in using this flooring, should I place the flexwatt/heat cable under in a routed out area period like that?
I'm wanting to use the flooring mentioned, but also make it so they are well heated cages and waterproof too.

Hugs,

Amanda
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Amanda Rose
Amanda's Menagerie
Bringing Animals, People and Education Together Under One Roof.
amandas_menagerie.tripod.com
My Email

Vinyl flooring and linoleum are basically the same thing for the sake of this conversation. But it won't work well for the method I'm going to recommend.

What I used to do and would do again is the following.

Cut a rectangle out of the bottom of the floor that is about 2" wider and longer than the size of heat tape you plan to use. Keep this cutout away from the sides and front/back of the cage as to not affect the structural integrity of the cage.

Route a groove from the cutout to the back or side of the cage. This is where the cord will run.

Cover the entire floor with some sort of rigid plastic that will conduct heat. The two most obvious choices are Sintra or another type of expanded PVC material and fiberglass reinforced panel, aka FRP. Silicone the edges.

Tape the heat source the underside of the floor material, inside of the cutout area.

I like that this provides an air space for heat source and also means it only has to conduct through the flooring material and not the thickness of the wood. And obviously it makes the floor more durable and easier to clean.

Others have just routed out a shallow recess and then sandwiched flexwatt inbetween this area and some sort of flooring. I have not tried and would not be comfortable with it myself.
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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)

Thanks again Chris. Your advice has been very helpful in helping me make the decision about how to go about building my cages.

Hugs!!

Amanda
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Amanda Rose
Amanda's Menagerie
Bringing Animals, People and Education Together Under One Roof.
amandas_menagerie.tripod.com
My Email