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I have a plastic shelving unit that can hold 4 20g longs. I was thinking about putting a heat tape with a thermostat on the backs of the cages. Is this a good idea?

Sure, but with a thermostat and assuming that the cages are for some sort of small nocturnal terrestrial animal

I misread. Belly heat is better than back heat for most applications. It shouldnt be a problem to put heat between plastic and glass if you're using a thermostat since optimum heat for any animal isnt hot enough to melt plastic when you do it right

For glass tanks - depends on what you are housing and the ambient room temp.

For example, when the background temp is 75, your heat tape is around 90, it will be great for a kingsnake or other colubrid. As soon as the ambient temp is below 70 deg during the day, forget it.

For boas/pythons, forget it. Glass doesn't hold heat that well.

You are better off heating from above with lamps or radiant heat panels, or else from below with heat tape/pads.

Plastic shelves warp with heat, so if you use heat pads/tape below the cage, consider using Velcro to stick the heater to the glass bottom. When you want to service the cage, you'll have to pull the cage out with heater attached, so run your power cords to facilitate that.
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Mark

Thanks.My response is underlined.

>>For glass tanks - depends on what you are housing and the ambient room temp.
>>For example, when the background temp is 75, your heat tape is around 90, it will be great for a kingsnake or other colubrid. As soon as the ambient temp is below 70 deg during the day, forget it.

The cages are plexi-glass and they house corn snakes.
The room temperature can be anywhere from 75 to 80 during the day and in the morning/night low 70s to high 60s. I don't have air conditioning and this is the first year in the new house so I don't know what winter or august will be like.

>>You are better off heating from above with lamps or radiant heat panels, or else from below with heat tape/pads.

What is the most affordable way to simultaneously heat and control that heat in the cages? I've noticed some steep differences in temperature between cages that are side by side when using heat lamps. One cage may read 82.7 the one less than an inch away will read 89.9.

>>Plastic shelves warp with heat, so if you use heat pads/tape below the cage, consider using Velcro to stick the heater to the glass bottom. When you want to service the cage, you'll have to pull the cage out with heater attached, so run your power cords to facilitate that.

I didn't mention this before they can hold, I don't know the exact number now, but it was an impressive amount. The shelves are very thick. Would they still warp?

>>
>>The cages are plexi-glass and they house corn snakes.
>>The room temperature can be anywhere from 75 to 80 during the day and in the morning/night low 70s to high 60s. I don't have air conditioning and this is the first year in the new house so I don't know what winter or august will be like.
>>

OK, acrylic, yes - do not use heat pads/tape directly on the acrylic. You have three choices:

3. Attach a piece of expanded PVC to the inside back wall of the cage (Velcro is perfect for this) and tape or Velcro a heat pad to that. You can use Ultratherm heat pads from the Bean Farm, or those Exo-Terra mylar pads. Both are sealed.
>>

>>What is the most affordable way to simultaneously heat and control that heat in the cages? I've noticed some steep differences in temperature between cages that are side by side when using heat lamps. One cage may read 82.7 the one less than an inch away will read 89.9.
>>
One temperature controller can control multiple devices, but when those devices are bulbs, there is a problem. That problem is, you have one probe. If the probe is in a cage where the bulb burns out, the other cages will likley have their bulbs ON. Bad situation. So, if you want an economical setup with one controller, then use heaters that do not burn out. That means heat pads. Ceramic heat emitters do not burn out for years, so you can use these, but monitor everyday. This is why the in-tank heat pad setup is great. One controller does all of your cages.
>>

>>I didn't mention this before they can hold, I don't know the exact number now, but it was an impressive amount. The shelves are very thick. Would they still warp?
>>

Yes they will, maybe not terribly and maybe only in that one spot, but they will. But since the cages are acrylic, you will not be using undertank heat, so it doesn't matter.

Cornsnakes do great with overhead or ambient heat. With a background temp in the 70's, sounds like you are in great shape to use a heat pad or heat cable in the cage. If the Winter temps are low, you have the option to cool the snakes.

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Mark

Thanks for the help. I've seen the heat pads at the reptile shows so I'll pick some up at the next show.