Reptile & Amphibian Forums

From 3inch flexwatt? I bought two ceramic tiles and some aluminum flashing.And some of that Reflextic stuff.So Im not seeing the tiles heat up.Do I put the flexwatt between the tile and the tub?
If this doesnt work how do I use the flashing?
The room is set at only 75 but the tubs need to be at least 78-80 with a hotspot of 90ish.Ive got to get this fixed by tuesday..Im hoping the reflextic on the top of the lids will hold in the heat but dont know if I should put it inside the lid or on the outside.
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Anybody remotely interesting is mad in some way or another.

If we are talking about snakes, of the species that I have worked with, I can not think of one that could not tolerate an ambient temp of 75 if they had a basking are of 90. This would create the gradient they need to thermoregulate. Also, remember that room temp does not necessarily equate to ambient temp in the enclosure. Be sure to take your temps where the animal will be living. You may find that your 90 degree basking site creates an 80 degree cool side even in a room in which the temp is 75. Just some food for thought. Hope this helps.

Rob

I got two boas coming on Tuesday.I was told that in a room that cold that the flexwatt wouldnt heat the ambient temps in a 36qt flat bin.It would just create a hot spot that they would be forced to stay on in order to be warm enough.
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Anybody remotely interesting is mad in some way or another.

It's almost impossible to predict exactly what temp you will get in the bin from the heat tape. With that being said here are some ideas.

You can place the heat tape directly under the bin and set it to run at 90 - 95 and it should warm a portion of the bin up to that temp.

For boas I have found that overhead heat works beter than belly heat. This is my preference and works best for me. I keep a hotspot of around 110F and the cool side of the enclosure around 70 (depending on room temp). I know some people think it's too hot but I've never had any get burned and they seem to thrive with it.

I've found that it's easier to give a range of temps and then let the snake or lizard sort it out. I then make adjustments based on where they spend most of their time. you need a fairly large enclosure to accomplish this, however.

As far as the reflectix, it really doesn't matter where you put it, it's just there to insulate the box and stabilize temps. I would modify the lid and use overhead heat (lightbulb fixture, dome lamp, rhp, etc..) This is assuming it's not in a rack system where this would be tough to do.

I wouldn't be too concerned if the temp is 75 and not 78. As long as you provide a gradient you will most likely be fine. Most snakes will use the hotspot to warm up then move back to their hide or wherever they feel comfortable. Don't be so concerned with exact temps, focus more on how your boa responds to the temps. If he's always on the hotspot the tank is probably too cold. If he's never on it it's probably to hot. People seem to get too hung up on numbers. Hotspot must be 92.5 degrees and humidity at 72% etc. Exact numbers really aren't that important. There good as a base to start with but that's really it.

Thanks, I tried the reflextic on the outside of the lid and it didnt seem to do anything.So put it on the inside of the lid and it raised the temps up almost 5 degrees.So now the hotspot is 95 to 100 its not stable across the flexwatt and the ambients are 78.I still would like the hotspot lower and the ambient to stay at 78.
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Anybody remotely interesting is mad in some way or another.

I agree with molonowski2. As long as the animal has ample room to thermoregulate properly I think the temps you are getting should be fine. I have not worked with boas as much as some others but the ones I have worked with were kept in much the same way that molonowski described and they did fine. If your low end temp was in the 60s I would probably suggest trying to raise it some but I think the mid to high 70s you are getting should be fine. As was said before, talk to the snakes and let them tell you. Good luck.

Rob

I think the setup you are describing will work very well. I think your getting to hung up on numbers and missing the big picture. The snake doesn't care about numbers it just understands hot and cold and uses them for whatever it's needs are. I'm not trying to be abrasive or anything, just trying to help you see whats really important. Most people don't give them enough credit and want to control everything exactly. This is usually unnecessary and frustrating. They have been using different temps w/o our help for a long time so they know what they're doing. The difference between 78 and 75 is very little and in my opinion nothing to worry about.

With that being said adjust your rheostat until the hotspot is at your desired temp. Then you will probably have to play with the ventilation until the ambient temps are to your liking. Limiting the ventilation will raise ambient temps (you should be able to get from 75 to 78 with little trouble). Your looking for a small change and will have to make some small adjustments to hit your target numbers.

You need to have the heat source in direct contact with the thermal mass source for best results. With aluminum this is very important as an air space between the heat source and the aluminum can cause the heat source to dangerously overheat.

Describe exactly what you're trying to do. Heat a rack from underneath (i.e. belly heat)? Or trying to create DIY radiant heat panels that direct heat downwards.

Or what?
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

have you actually made a heat panel with flexwatt before chris, im wondering how well that would actually work
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1.1 jungle carpets
1.1 sumatran bloods
1.1 het albino rtb

No, not with flexwatt. I have experimented with the basic concept with other heating devices, however. Mostly heat cable but also heat pads and even rope light.

My best guess is that with the proper heat source it would be fairly easy to do, although there may be certain specifications or tolerances that promote efficiency, longevity and/or safety that I'm unaware of.

I have never made a fully enclosed RHP that could be placed inside of a cage like a panel from Pro Products or Helix. I have experimented by running heat cable on a few different thermal mass sources and then using a double layer of foil-faced insulation board and Reflectix as a radiant barrier. Not a lot of watts per square foot but a surprising amount of heat was directed away from the radiant barrier.

I looked at flexwatt as a potential heat source for DIY RHP's but if I recall correctly it did not offer as many watts per square foot as most RHP's.

The basic concept of a RHP is simple: heat source, thermal mass source, air-space and radiant barrier. The exact execution to get a product as efficient and safe as a Pro Products panel is not something I have attempted to work out.

Others have taken the results from my experimentation and made their own RHP's. I won't name them but maybe they still lurk here and will chime in. They got much further along in the process than I did.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

i have a few ideas ill start looking around and playing with a few diff things and let you all know how i make out
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-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?

more distant future hopefuls
1 or 2 of each maybe a breeding pair?
--anery boa (ooooh)
--jungle carpet python (love to have 1 or 2)
--dumeril boa (ahhhh)

slightly more wishful thinking
--hypo br rainbow boa (love em)
--anery br rainbow boa (oooh even better!!)
--motely boa (gorgeous!!)

Im just trying to heat two bins in a cool room.Its hard to have any heat gradient with the flexwatt sitting under the plastic bins.Its just a hot spot and then cold air.So I did manage to get the ambient air up to 78(with the reflextic) which to me is about perfect but the hotspot above the flex is 102.Thats too hot.I need the flexwatt to site ideally around 92.I put the ceramic tile under the flexwatt to try and spread the heat more.I also bought the flashing but havent used it, just bought it incase...I need this stable by Tuesday.
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Anybody remotely interesting is mad in some way or another.

I have heated many cages by sandwiching a piece of flewatt between two ceramic tiles. It works great but you have to have a thermostat because the tiles will get really hot. I have never used an air space and never tried aluminum.

Just be careful to find a way to secure the tiles (I use double sided velcro) otherwise burrowing snakes might move them around.

Also make really sure that your flexwatt connections are well insulated if they are going to be in the actual cage with the reptile. This includes taping over the opposite end from the connectors.

This is common in cold rooms.

For boas, 3" wide heat tape does little to warm theh rest of the tub unless the room is warm. Since the room is cold (for this time of year anyway), here are some options when using a tub:

Option 1: Put a piece of 11-inch wide Flexwatt under much of the box (about 50%), and use a thermostat to keep it at no more than 80 deg. Keep your 3" wide Flexwatt at the rear edge of the box and set that one to 90 or just use a dimmer to approximate. Now the boa will be able to get very warm if desired or else get cool, but not too cool.

Option 2: Consider the incubator technique. I used this for baby pythons, and it worked nicely. I made a plywood box with a hinged door and window and vent. I used two 25 watt bulbs, a dimmer wired to both in parallel, and a simple ON/OFF thermostat to keep the ambient air in the box to the 75-80 range. That was it. Put tubs in the "incubator" and use just a small heat pad or 3" wide flexwatt to give them a basking spot.

Tile is nice inside the cage over the bottom-heated area, as it helps spread the heat. But you don't need it persay if you make sure the Flexwatt is not too hot. Using thermostats is your safety net against overheating.

Low cost temp control setup: Use one of those $40 thermostats. Output "hot" lead put in line with the dimmer. Now you can use the dimmer to fine-tune the heater and the T-stat setting prevents overheating.
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Mark