Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently purchased a display rack with 4 compartments. It came with heat tape on the bottom of the rack but it felt as if it was not working 100% and plus my temperatures were low. As a short term fix I purchased heating pads which are regulated by a thermostat. The heating pads are adhered to the bottom/underneath the rack. The cages still do not feel humid enough when I stick my hand inside even though I placed the water bowl over the heating pad. The rack seems to been build with a type of thick plastic -- you can get an idea of what I have by going to this website:

http://www.boaphileplastics.com/421condo.html

Any suggestions on the best way to heat this rack in a cheap fashion? I keep 4 snakes in the rack (each having their own compartment) -- 2 balls and 2 boas. Any advice?

Thanks

Is the cage unit elevated off the floor with the heat pads under the cage (heat pads have an air space between themselves and the floor/table/etc?

Or are the heat pads touching a shelf/table/floor with the cage resting on top?

Also, what is the ambient air temp in the room?
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Mark

The heating pads are adhesive so they are sticking to the bottom of the cage and I have the cage sitting on top of one of those metal shelving units to put it at eye level with myself. The ambient temperature was reading 70-75ish, even though when I pointed the IR gun at the bottom of the rack where the heat pad was it would read upper 80s low 90s.

I bet the shelf is sucking away most of the heat energy from the heaters.

Path of least resistance - heat will always go to metal before plastic. Melamine does the same thing - sucks the heat away unless there is enough wattage to heat the melamine and cage.

Use bumpers, pieces of foam, whatever, to elevate the cage off of the shelf such that the heat pads do not touch the shelf. Then you can go back to using the strip of heat tape if you want.

For additional effectiveness, lay a piece of styrene foam down on the shelf, then elevate the cage as described. The foam will help limit heat loss.
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Mark

Is there a risk with the foam burning or catching on fire? Do you use foam and if so what kind?

If its hot enough to melt the foam it is probably way too hot for your animal. It shouldn't touch the foam anyway

Keep the cage elevated off of the foam so the heat tape is not contacting the foam. Lay down the foam, then use MDF blocks to elevate the cage up off the foam sheet. Then you are for sure fine. I believe the flash point of the foam is printed on the sheet. It is lower than wood but higher than most herp-related temps. Again, leave an adequate air space between heater and foam and it is a non-issue. I leave as little as 1/2 inch air space and have never had a problem. This assumes your are keeping the heat tape to a manageable temp, like no more than 110 deg F.

I use the cheap white foam sold at home depot. The blue may be even better. Even better is Reflectix insulation because it can withstand much higher temps but is also very expensive.
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Mark