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I am building a cage for my hypo corn. It will be 36"L x 24"D x 18"H made of MDF with a 1/4" glass door. It will be in a room with ambient temp of 72-75F. It will not be on the floor; however, it will be close to a well insulated outside wall. Would an 11" x 16", 65 watt, Helix radiant heat panel be best heat or 3" flex watt strip across the bottom toward back or both be best?

I would go with the radiant heat panel or an overhead fixture for that size tank. It will be easier to setup and probably give you better temps.

You could probably use the flexwatt but you would have to prevent the snake from coming in direct contact with the heat tape. It can be done but probably isn't worth the trouble.

Definitely overhead heat is great approach, but I caution using that large of a heat panel. You can, but use a controller for sure. The 11x11 size would be a better fit. Honestly, one of those 40 or 60 watt spot red heat lamps (cheap lamp fixture attached to a metal outlet box) would do the trick as well. A cornsnake is not a massive animal, so it doesn't need so much heat energy over a broad area like a big boa would. A heat panel of 11x16 is big boa heating. Again, use a temperature controller in any case.

>>I am building a cage for my hypo corn. It will be 36"L x 24"D x 18"H made of MDF with a 1/4" glass door. It will be in a room with ambient temp of 72-75F. It will not be on the floor; however, it will be close to a well insulated outside wall. Would an 11" x 16", 65 watt, Helix radiant heat panel be best heat or 3" flex watt strip across the bottom toward back or both be best?

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Mark

Is your 11x16 radiant heat panel a 50-Watt heater? If so, then it is fine. Sorry about that.

I have an 11x11 that heats a large cage, and it is about 45 Watts. The Bean Farm types (Boaphile designs it look like) are 50 Watts for 11x16.

All the rest of my post still applies. You don't need a heat panel for a cornsnake necessarily, due to the small mass of the snake, and an incandescent bulb will work.
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Mark

I have not bought the radiant heat panel yet; was just looking at one of the suppliers I usually use. Thanks for the advise. I will go with the 45 watt from Bean Farm. I will be making 4 or 5 of these cages and really did not want to have to use a light bulb if I could get around it. Price wise it would be cheaper but I would be concerned with snake possible rubbing on the light bulb cage it would have to be in if inside the cage or against the screen top it would have to sit on if outside the cage on the top.

1.0.0 Fluorescent orange corn
0.0.1 Hypo corn
1.0.0 Mexican black king
1.0.0 Brooksi king
1.0.0 California king

The nice thing about using radiant heat panels is that your cages will be suitable for just about about any snake should you choose to house a different species in some of those cages.

You are definitely doing it right.

The Bean Farm radiant heater they sell suited for 10-20gal tanks is a good choice for your cages. Plenty of heat. If you are unsure, buy one and try it first.

Another note just for your info: In larger cages, like 3-4ft cages, you can avoid high-temperature bulbs by using two or more low wattage bulbs. So in effect, using bulbs you can still get a warm cage without skin-damaging hot heaters. I just mention this just in case you ever have a need but don't have a radiant heat panel on hand. Radiant heat panels are still the best heaters though for most applications. You chose wisely.
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Mark

OK,thanks. I have just ordered a panel from Bean Farm. Would you advise I place it in a top back corner or more toward the middle? Thanks, Dave

You'll be glad. Excellent product.

Off to one side of the cage is great. As to whether or not to put it in the middle of the ceiling (off to one side) or more towards the back of the ceiling, it is up to you how much of the cage floor you want heated. For a cornsnake, more towards the back is fine. For a boa/python, I go more in the middle on my setups. Probably matters very little in a 36 inch cage.
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Mark