Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought a 4.5 cubic foot minifridge and a remote sensor thermostat. I plan to keep it in my room (normal living temps between 81F and 62F as extremes). How many feet of 3 inch heat tape should I buy to put inside the fridge to be able to heat it efficiently and maintain proper temps? (looking at flex watt heat tape, but if you have any other suggestions I am open to it.)
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1.0 100% het albino ball python (Junah)
0.1 normal Ball python (Alana)
01 50% het albino Retail Boa (Hitomi)

Look at the heat sources here. Tha small one should be plenty. You don't want too much heat.

http://www.lyonelectric.com/Parts/electrical parts.htm

I used 3' of 11" wide flexwatt in a similar sized fridge. The heat tape didn't have to work that hard (the room was 80-82 degrees) to keep the boxes at 88.

If you are going to have a room that fluctates in the range you said, I'd definitely invest in a good proportional tstat that can keep up, like a Helix or Herpstat.

normally it stays between 74 and 69, the other temps are the absolute extremes I have seen in my room around this time of year. There is never quick changes in temps, it is always a gradual change.

The electrician told me that thermostats normally are all on or all off, the do not send partial power to a heater. So he said I don't want something that will change the temps too fast and shock them because it kicks on and heats 5 degrees per minute.
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1.0 100% het albino ball python (Junah)
0.1 normal Ball python (Alana)
01 50% het albino Retail Boa (Hitomi)

I used a mini fridge this season and used 1ft of 11in heat tape.
After losing my first clutch a fan was added to keep temps consistant with better results. I found mine to be too small!
I used 6qt sterilite tubs for egg containers and 3 clutches was the max. I dont regret using it but it is too small for my needs. There aare two type of thermostats available, Perportional and a standard on off. Perportionals are more expensive but way more acurate. A on off style will have a temp differential so basically you set it to 88 with a 2 degree differential and it will turn on at 88 and off at 90. A perportional thermostat varys the voltage to maintain a steady temp of whatever you decide. I used a on off style thermostat and hatched eggs with it but woul recommend a perportional if you can afford one. Johnson controls a419 thermostat is what I used for under $60.00 but you can buy a much better helix perportional thermostat for around $140.00.

Good luck this season!
Bryan

1 foot of 11"? Big apple told me I would need 6 feet of 11", and I thought that sounded like way too much. Right now I only have 2 snakes, which will leave me with one clutch of eggs. I am somewhat limited on space for now, so I am not very worried about it right now. It will be at least 3 years before I have a second breedable female, unless something changes. So, I am going to live within my means and not overbuy for something that might come in 3-5 years. Thank you for the advise though, it is my first time doing this, and even though it is a hobby and not to make money, I greatly care about these animals and just want what is best for my small collection. Hopefully things will go well and you all will be answering my "newly born ball" questions!
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1.0 100% het albino ball python (Junah)
0.1 normal Ball python (Alana)
01 50% het albino Retail Boa (Hitomi)

I just had a clutch of 5 pip and lost one that died in the egg with this setup. I would recommend a small fan to keep temps more consistant. I used a computer case fan with a plug in 12 volt dc converter. you dont want too much of a fan just enough to keep air circulating. Good luck

it's always a good idea to back up your thermostats with an on/off thermostat regardless of what you use as your main t-stat.