Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi am just putting the finishing touches on my 8x3 foot retic cage. Its made of melamine and some wood. My ambient in my snake room stays around 77 winter 80 in the summer. What would be my best choice in achieving the proper temps. I have no experience with heat tape but im sure i can learn. Ive also been looking at rhps but am not sure of the brand and the size. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you

Heat Tape is cheap and easy to wire there are videos on youtube on how to wire heat tape i solder all my ends i don't like the clips you can buy they can fall off if you dont crimp it tight anuff, but keep in mind you do need a heat controller that can run $100 and up. another good choice is radiant heat panels they come in many size but the different sizes don't mean the bigger they are the hotter they are its just the size a cage your size you mite need to run 2 large and i think there a lil over $100 and i'v read you can use them with or without a heat controller but i recommend a controller with any heating.. hope this helps out a lil keep herpen

For your melamine/wood cage you should probably grab a radiant heat panel to go on the inside top of the cage. That is probably your best bet.

I've heard of some people using ceramic heaters from the top which would be a little less inexpensive.

Either way you will want to get a thermostat. The post from MontanaHerper said he thought you can use a RHP without a controller but this is incorrect to my knowledge. I just got 2 RHP panels from ReptileBasics for my PVC cages from AP. I had flexwatt run underneath the cage but no matter how high I set the controller I didn't achieve the heat temps I wanted so I had to spring out. The RHP's put a lot more heat more efficiently IMO..

The ceramic heaters might be cheaper but I'm not sure they'll last long enough...

I spent I think $80 on 1 80 watt RHP which is good enough for the 6 foot cages I have. If I were to go with an 8 foot cage which I'll need eventually you might need a 100-120 watt RHP which will probably run just north of $100 a $80 controller..

Heating is a bigger expense than one might think, but it is essential..

Let us know what you chose since other people probably have the same question...

Also -- would you mind posting some pics of your cage if you can. I like seeing what others can do with wood/melamine.. I'm currently debating whether to buy a boamaster 8 foot cage or make my own.. $390 from boamaster seems like not too bad of a price for such a large cage..
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1.0 Het Albino Burm
0.1 Albino Burm
1.1 Mojave Ball Pythons
0.1 Normal Ball Python
1.0 Albino Ball Python
1.1 Pastel Ball Pythons
0.1 Spider Ball Python
0.2 Het Albino Ball Pythons
0.1 Lavender Albino Retic

Seeking bigger cages for the family

Yeah ill go with the rhps.What brand did you purchased and are you pleased with them? I purchased a large peice of furniture from a store going out of business and built my cage out of that but for my next cage im going to try building one from scratch. Thanks for your replies.