Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Question, if this is placed in an area that the air temp is 65 - 68 degrees, will this still be good, or does the room need to be warmer for this rack?

Thank you
-----
0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger (Dash)
1.0 Amel Retic (Mahola)
0.1 Ball Python (Cyeanne)
0.1 Red Tail (Memphis)
1.0 Coral Sun Glow Boa (Rodman)
0.1 Blood Python (Danica)
1.0 Green Ananconda (Prefontain)
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa (Bing Bong)

I have no experience with this rack but I have found that anything heated by flexwatt, which these are if I am not mistaken, will probably need ambient temps a bit higher. I prefer not to use flexwatt in a room that gets lower than the 70-75 degree range.

Bart

I agree with Bart.

It works fine in some applications, but I am planning on going Flex-Watt free in the near future just for peace of mind. This of course presuming these racks use Flex-Watt.
-----
Larry Stroud - Fort Pierce, Florida

I have a flex unit in one room and a vision pipe tape in another room. My room temps vary from the high 60's to low 70's. The vision heat is on a herpstat and the flex is on a johnson.
What problems can I expect with these room variances? Haven't had problems yet, except minor adjustments on the thermo. The flex is used as back heat on a pvc 4-drawer unit, and the pipe tape used on a BP V70 unit (11 tubs).

Mike

Mike,

I would think the t-stats will adjust with any change in room temps. The only thing you should consider is flexwatt tends to only heat the tubs about 15 degrees above room temps. Can't speak about the heat cable since I have no experience with it. If your room drops into the high 60's, you can expect a high temp in the back of the tubs to be not much higher than the low to mid 80's. If this is warm enough for the critters you keep, then you should have no concerns.

Keep in mind the 15 degrees above room temps is a general rule of thumb that I have found to be accurate when using flexwatt as backheat to heat the air temps in the tubs. If you are using it for belly heat to increase surface temps in a tub, say for colubrids, I think it would perform better.

Bart

ARS does use heat tape for its racks.

No their optimum performance is not in a low temp room. ARS's heat panels, and I only have experience with the E option, work best as supplemental heat.

I've also noticed ARS racks are hard to keep high humidity levels. I will probably switch to aspen and see if the conditions improve.

I run a single rack of 7030 and 8018, I also run a space heater and humidifier.

Cheers
-----
Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile
Specializing in Boa Morph's

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
0.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow
1.0 Ghost
0.1 Possible Super Hypo
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Suriname/Columbian cross
0.1 Anerthrystic

Thanks for the advise, that saves me a lot of money.
-----
0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger (Dash)
1.0 Amel Retic (Mahola)
0.1 Ball Python (Cyeanne)
0.1 Red Tail (Memphis)
1.0 Coral Sun Glow Boa (Rodman)
0.1 Blood Python (Danica)
1.0 Green Ananconda (Prefontain)
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa (Bing Bong)

>>Thanks for the advise, that saves me a lot of money.

Please don't get me wrong. ARS makes very a high quality product, and Brian is a pleasure to work with. My circumstance are mildly different.

First I believe that any reptile room should be heated to the bottom line temp of the species in which you house. For those that keep multiple species you can either average the bottom temp (for those that keep a reptile menagerie) or isolate each species in a separate room. I prefer the latter.

In either case heating the room is actually more efficient as running a single heat source typically uses less energy than dozens. Situation dependent of course.

Like I said before my situation is different, I happen to live in a climate very harsh to the keeping of reptiles. The winters are very cold -40°F ambient this year. As a result it is very very dry, due to the heating required to maintain adequate temps not only for me but my inhabitants.

In either case running a space heater and humidifier solves cage issues. Misting also helps, and when poor humidity is observed through poor shedding a secondary water source is added to beef up humidity.

I also utilize AP T10 cages for my females, I have zero issues with them. Humidity and temps are easy to maintain, although they do take up considerable more space and are more difficult to keep clean. That really can't be avoided.

Cheers
-----
Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile
Specializing in Boa Morph's

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
0.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow
1.0 Ghost
0.1 Possible Super Hypo
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Suriname/Columbian cross
0.1 Anerthrystic

I agree it looks like a quality product, however, I have a room that is 64-68 degrees. The cages I run heat panels in and kane heat mats on the bottom, I was just wondering if the ARS system was strong enough to keep the right temps up.
-----
0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger (Dash)
1.0 Amel Retic (Mahola)
0.1 Ball Python (Cyeanne)
0.1 Red Tail (Memphis)
1.0 Coral Sun Glow Boa (Rodman)
0.1 Blood Python (Danica)
1.0 Green Ananconda (Prefontain)
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa (Bing Bong)

I am going to guess that no rack is going to keep good temps in a room that cold. My room is also that cold in the colder months. Only cages with heat panels seem to work for me. Everything with flexwatt has to be moved upstairs.

Bart