Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just moved into a new house with a relatively cool basement where my animals are living. I am in the market for a new rack and am debating between a melamine rack or an XPVC rack and am wondering:

1. Is melamine really a much better insulator than XPVC? Given the temps in my basement (currently about 68F) my biggest concern is how well the rack material will hold in heat.

2. How bad is it to have my boxes slide right over flexwatt? The melamine rack that I am looking at is designed without a recess for the flexwatt. If I go that route, I would secure the heat tape directly to the shelf with foil tape but the box would slide over it and sit directly on it. I have always had racks where the boxes do not come in contact with the heat tape so I am just not sure about this set up.

Thanks for any comments you may have.

Rob

P.S. - I am really not handy and don't have many tools so building a rack myself is not really an option.

Expanded PVC is a remarkably good insulator for its weight, but in most case melamine is going to be better. You did not mention thickness, but if you're comparing the typical 3/4" melamine to the typical 1/4" PVCX, then it's really not contest, the melamine will be better.

However, since the basement is cool, I might actually recommend the PVCX. That may sound crazy, but bear with me for a moment.

My thinking is that since it's a cool room I would wrap the rack in Reflectix insulation regardless of what it's made of. Reflectix is a potent blocker of radiant energy so it will really equalize the insulation properties of either rack.

So why use the PVCX? I believe it would conduct heat better than the 3/4" melamine and help distribute the heat over a greater length of each box than the melamine. I think your heat gradient would be more gradual.

Sometimes in a cool room racks can end up being super hot at the hot end but still fairly cool at the cool end. This is bad and can be very dangerous for the snake, even with a thermostat. In these cases you want some thermal mass to distribute the heat and I think PVCX would do a better job.

Please understand that this is just a guess on my part and I can't say for sure that I'm right or that the difference would be significant. But if you're worried about the heat tape setup in the melamine rack this might be a reason to just go with the PVCX.

Now, regarding the boxes sliding on the heat tape, I try to stay out of conversations regarding heat tape and it's use so I'll leave that to others.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

Chris,

Thanks for the great information. As always, you are very helpful. It does raise another question, however. I've never worked with Reflectix before so what would be the best way to attach it to a PVCX rack? Also, if I wanted to wrap my Vision rack (which is experiencing exactly what you described: very hot hot spot/very cool cool end) what would be the best way to attach it to that? For the Vision rack, could I just poke holes in it and use cable ties or would that ruin it? Sorry if these questions seem really basic, I am just handyman challenged and have never worked with Reflectix before. Thanks for your help.

Rob

>>Expanded PVC is a remarkably good insulator for its weight, but in most case melamine is going to be better. You did not mention thickness, but if you're comparing the typical 3/4" melamine to the typical 1/4" PVCX, then it's really not contest, the melamine will be better.
>>
>>However, since the basement is cool, I might actually recommend the PVCX. That may sound crazy, but bear with me for a moment.
>>
>>My thinking is that since it's a cool room I would wrap the rack in Reflectix insulation regardless of what it's made of. Reflectix is a potent blocker of radiant energy so it will really equalize the insulation properties of either rack.
>>
>>So why use the PVCX? I believe it would conduct heat better than the 3/4" melamine and help distribute the heat over a greater length of each box than the melamine. I think your heat gradient would be more gradual.
>>
>>Sometimes in a cool room racks can end up being super hot at the hot end but still fairly cool at the cool end. This is bad and can be very dangerous for the snake, even with a thermostat. In these cases you want some thermal mass to distribute the heat and I think PVCX would do a better job.
>>
>>Please understand that this is just a guess on my part and I can't say for sure that I'm right or that the difference would be significant. But if you're worried about the heat tape setup in the melamine rack this might be a reason to just go with the PVCX.
>>
>>Now, regarding the boxes sliding on the heat tape, I try to stay out of conversations regarding heat tape and it's use so I'll leave that to others.
>>-----
>>Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

Well you're in luck as you really only need to operate a pair of scissors and some tape I would use blue painters tape or whatever tape you may have laying around.

For the Vision rack, you may also need a bit more thermal mass over the heat source. I assume you have one of the newer Vision racks. I have not seen one in person so I'll assume you'll have to put the thermal mass source inside of the cage.

Once you have the rack wrapped in Reflectix, check your temperatures again. Once they are stable maybe take large tupperware of water (with the lid on) and place it over part of the heated area. I imagine you'll in the level with the water you'll see a more gradual temperature shift a less extreme hot spot.

If it works to your liking then you can choose something else for a thermal mass source.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

...and I'll keep you posted.

Rob