Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have just completed designing and building some custom cages made out of 1/2" high-grade plywood. My design allows for them to be stacked ontop of each other... but there is a slight oversight.

There is room between the ceiling of the bottom cage and the bottom of the cage above, for a flourescent fixture, that will rest on hardware cloth in a hole cut in the ceiling. However, there is no room for a heat-emitting light bulb. In previous cages, I have just added a light bulb fixture to the underside of the cage, and placed a wire cage around it to avoid reptiles getting burnt. I would like to have a better option than that.

Someone in a repticon show mentioned a ceramic strip that can be attached to the ceiling of a cage, and will act similar to any other ceramic heating element. Does anyone know of what I am talking about, and where to get it? Or do you know another solution?

Ceramic strip? How cool would that be. Let us know if you find anything.

Don't know if a radiant heat panel would be too large for your cages, but if not, that is a fantastic solution. You mount them inside the cage and they will not burn your animals.

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Mark

I use the radient heat panels as well. They are the best thing i have ever got for my animals. They are a little more expensive, but save money and hassle in the long run

I like how the radiant heat heats mass rather than air. Kind of like having a heat pad shot down from above, without the hassle of raising cages up or taping Flexwatt underneath. And, a reptile can fine-tune its thermoregulation with an RHP because the radiated heat envelope is more gradual from the center out.

I just wish they made 10 Watt RHPs like size 5x5 inches for small cages. Yes there are CHEs but it takes much more wattage with a CHE. I would bet 10 watts of RHP would be like 30 Watts of CHE but without the super high heater surface temps.
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Mark

Thank you both for your input.
What you suggest sounds like the perfect option for my 2'x 3' cage. Unfortunately, after some research, I think my 2' x 1' wooden cages are too small for successful temp gradients. I noticed that there is a 28watt RHP, which would be a good wattage, but is 12" x 9", which means it would take up half of the ceiling - is that bad?