Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ive got a few questions on heating and controlling rack systems. As far as heat goes im planning on using heat tape, but I dont knwo where to run it. Would straight up the back but sufficiant or do i need to run it under each tub for belly heat(im caging mostly ball pythons). also im planning on making it about 8-10 tubs high, how shoudl I wire the thermostat/thermostats(how many, what tubs etc) and what thermostats do you recomend? Thank you for any help I can get.

For simplicity's sake, belly heat tends to be more efficient. But not because "heat rises" (which is not really true), but because the heat can travel more efficiently via conduction when in contact with the box.

Back heat can be used and can be a lot safer, but to take advantage of it one really needs to add thermal mass and a reflective barrier, which essential makes the entire back of the rack into a large Radiant Heat Panel. But this requires proper execution, something not everyone seems prepared to do. And it also sort of gets away from the basic simplicity of a rack system.

Which you use really depends on a lot of factors. Most import is the temperature of the room throughout the year, followed closely by the design and materials used for the rack. Distant to those is how much thermal mass (other than the snake) is inside of each box.

I'll leave the rest of the questions to those with more experience with heat tape and thermostats.
-----
Currently keeping:

5.8 Gonyosoma oxycephala (Javan, mixed colors)

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

OK so belly heat is better. would i use a seperate peice of heat tape for each tub and wire then into a parrallel circuit or just weave the tape back and forth?
Also thermostats, The temperature in the room changes quite a bit but it is generaly on the warm side(due to thew reptiles heating). I dont think one thermostat would very safe for all 10 tubs. would two thermostats(5 tubs each) but enough? and what kind of thermostats do you recomend?

I Just bought a herpstat 2 therostat to control 2 different racks so I could have different and accurate temps on both racks. It also gives the option of using night time drops on one or both racks.

I myself prefer belly heat for simplicity. Back heat general requires the rack to be enclosed as to produce the required thermal gradient. The lower the overall temp of the facility the more inefficient back heat will be, generally. By using solid sides many of these problems can be over come.

In regards to either of use of heat tape. The strip needs to either be wired so the overall length is less than that required by the manufacture depending on size, or wired in parallel. Keeping in mind not to wire more than the cicuit will allow.

As far as thermostats its up to you I myself run one per rack however, my room temps don't flucutate that great from floor to ceiling. Ideally their should one type of control per enclosure weather it be a rheostat or a thermostat. Many of us just can't afford a thermostat per cage. So whatever your comfortable with, one thermostat for the lower cages and one for the upper would be great. Or a Herpstat pro can handle 4 units each with their own power and prob...

Just some idea's...

Cheers!
-----
Jeremy Payne
Owner
JB Reptile
www.jbreptile.com **Coming Soon**

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Motley Het Anery **In aquisition**
1.0 Snow "Khal" RTB
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.0 Ghost RTB **coming soon**
1.0 Hypomelenistic RTB
1.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0.1 Child

So from what I have gathered thus far: belly heat is a bit easier(I do like easy), the tape can be wire either in parallel or weaved, and two thermostats on a 10 tub rack system should work fine. Any suggestions on simple but reliable thermostats. Id like one where i can just set the temperature where i want it.

>>So from what I have gathered thus far: belly heat is a bit easier(I do like easy), the tape can be wire either in parallel or weaved, and two thermostats on a 10 tub rack system should work fine. Any suggestions on simple but reliable thermostats. Id like one where i can just set the temperature where i want it.

A proportional thermostat like the herpstat, helix, etc. will give you closer to the same temp at all times. Where as a On Off thermostat like a Ranco or Johnson will give you a general area of fluxuation.

That doesn't count night time drop etc.

So its really up to you...as in what you want to spend.

I myself use Ranco ETC-111000 and don't have any problems.
-----
Jeremy Payne
Owner
JB Reptile
www.jbreptile.com **Coming Soon**

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Motley Het Anery **In aquisition**
1.0 Snow "Khal" RTB
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.0 Ghost RTB **coming soon**
1.0 Hypomelenistic RTB
1.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0.1 Child

I intended to use flex-watt as "back heat" radiating into the tubs but it simply didn't work for me. Likely because I made mistakes in execution. So I use flex-watt as parallel wiring and so far it's working great. Full plans can be read at the link below.
Link

-----
Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

With belly heat, I am a firm believer in using a heater that, if on full, is not likley to melt the tubs. This means using a lower-watt-density heater if you can..

I do not know what size boxes and heat tape you were planning on using. May I suggest that for baby boxes, use the 3-inch 6 watts/ft Flexwatt available from a number of sources on the kingsnake.com classifieds. For large boxes, if you can fit it, consider the 17" wide 10 watts/ft Flexwatt (cut into 1 section per shelf instead of weaved) available from the Bean Farm.

Some people run two strips of the 3-inch Flexwatt side by side to get more heated area for larger boxes/animals. Normal 3-inch Flexwatt is 10 watts/ft. In an enclosed rack, that stuff can get hot. I realize you have a controller, but still, always plan for the worst case scenario. The 6 watts/ft density Flexwatt is inherently safer to the animals in event the controller fails or the probe falls out, and the watt density should still be fine for heating the boxes under normal conditions.

Make sure the controller probe is firmly fixed where you want the temperature sensed. This is a most important point.
-----
Mark