Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I built a cage for my fiance a while ago. Actually 2 cages. I used flexwatt with the expanded pvc floor. The floor was cut for the flex then pvc laid over it. That flexwatt isnt enought to heat to the proper temps. I have just been messing around with the heat rope as well. Heres what i found out. If i use the flex under and the rope inside of the cage it heats up properly. The cages are unoccupied right now but they will be for 1 pine and 1 corn. If I use foil tape to keep the rope to the bottom and then cover with substrate will this be ok? We are gonna try to make it naturalistic.
thanks
Cody

Heat rope is safe for use inside the cage as far as moisture is concerned, as the heat rope is sealed.

A thermostat or temperature controller will be necessary to limit temps, of course.

Is there a way you can use overhead heat? Those two snakes can be heated easily with overhead heat, and then you will have a true gradient. Then you can dispense with having Flexwatt and heat rope, or just do one of them.

While bottom heat works well in racks that use plastic boxes with miminal substrate and minimal air volume, it is another story in larger cages with lots of air volume. What you get then is hot-spot in an otherwise cold cage. At least this time of year. Late Spring and Summer will be OK.
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Mark

Mark,
The reason i have strayed away from overhead heat is because of the looks. Each cage has an 18" light fixture in it but of course that doesnt make much heat. I was trying out the rope because I figured with it actually being in the cage it would help. What i did was run the rope around the area of the flexwatt so it doesnt overheat. It is taped in place for now and it seems to heat the cage well. The end with the flexwatt is the hot end and the other is cooler. If I need to I will and an overhead heater i was just trying to avoid that. Thanks for the input
Cody

Describing it that way, your setup sounds reasonable.

I've used heat rope quite a bit in the past. I've used it inside cages with slightly moist substrate with no worries. The only thing to avoid is full immersion in water, although I have seen that done too with no problems (still avoid that).

Sounds like you are in good shape with what you have, and it sounds like it is what you need to do.

Another option (I've done this alot too with tropical reptiles) is to have one piece of Flexwatt on one side set to 90 deg or whatever hotspot you want, and another piece on the rest of the cage set to 78 or 80 or whatever you want. Requires two temperature controllers, but you can do multiple cages with those same 2 controllers.
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Mark