Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had originally panned on building an exptra compatment in my snake enclosure where the lamps would go so the ceiling would be "flush," just two screened holes where the lamps would shine through. I was going to have one lamp, one ceramic emitter and at night turn off the lamp (so i could sleep). I have heard that emitters are expensive concerning your electric bill

Not even sure that the emitter would sufficiently heat over night is all part of the guessing game before building. Obviously i may be way off but imjust making the plans to build and the holes for the lamps with need to be figured in beforehand.....

I was given the idea to use a heat panel instead. Ive heard all the good things about them but im not sure about the use. Do the go under substrate? attach to walls, or ceiling? and is there one or maybe more that would heat a 4'x2.5'x 4' enclosure? would i still need the basking lamp possibly shut off at night?

p.s. i begin building in 2 weeks

If you use a radiant heat panel you do not really need another source of heat. It can be left on all day because it doesn't emit any light. I would recommend mounting it on the ceiling similar to an overhead bulb. It should cover approximately 1/3 of the area on your ceiling. This should give your tank a heat gradiant. A heat emitter should also work well should you decide to go that route.

Regardless of which you choose you will have to tinker with it a bit. Keep in mind it is difficult to know exactly what you'll need before the tank is actually built. Depending on how insulated the tank is, heat requirement of the species your keeping, ambient room temps, it's difficult to predict. I toyed around with a bunch of different bulbs and distances before I was happy. Keep in mind being able to add if the need arises or hooking up to a dimmer and tuning the heat source down if need be.

For example, my room gets cold in the winter and I often raise the basking spot and put in a higher watt bulb during the winter. I do the opposite during the summer.

I agree with the other poster - you will not really know beforehand.

Boas need an ambient temp of no lower than 75 deg just as a guideline, although in their natural habitat, depending on locale, they may experience much cooler temps at times. But for captivity, if you stick with making your cage such that the coldest area is 75 deg, your boa will do well. Of course, the warm area will need to be higher.

Ceramic emitters are not less efficient than light bulbs and are probably more because they are not turning energy to light. And they direct heat down quite well. And, used with a proportional temperature controller, they are as efficient as any heater could be. Snakes do very well with the long-wavelength heat they emit. They get unbearably hot to the touch though, so you would have to have it screened off with hardware cloth, not window screen.

Thing is, with a cage 4ft high (did I get that right? I forgot now) you will need a shelf for the snake to bask on if the lamps shine through a hole in the top if the cage is actually tall as I think you said. What a mouthful that was.

Heat panels mount on the inside ceiling of the cage. Their biggest benefit is that they warm a large area without being too hot to the touch where they damage skin - yours or the snake's. So they are a great choice for any large snake cage.

If you want bottom heat too, buy an 18x18 Kane heat mat, put it inside the cage, and plug the power cord into a dimmer. In fact, that can be your basking area, and the lamps or emitter or heat panel above can be to keep the ambient temps around 80 or so. Use a thermostat.
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Mark

thank you both that really gives me a good idea now on how im goingto heat this thing. i was undecided without a good plan but i like the idea of a heat panel on the top and a heat pad on the bottom.
with a wooden enclosure the heat pad under the substrate will be safe right?

should i just put the heat mat in the middle of the substrate in the middle of the cage?

is it okay to put a hide over part of the heat mat or will it get too got inside the hide for that?

Things like this are best answered after the box is complete and you can use a temp gun to check it out.