Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am pondering building a rack system for my rubbermaid enclosures. I researched the forum and have noticed that many people use 4" flexwatt either on the bottom or the back of the shelf. Here are my qx's:

1) Is there any advantage of using the 4" over the 11"? I am using relative large tubs (about 30"L x 14"h x 14w), would the 11" be better or should I go with the 4"?

2) Either way, is it better on the bottom, the back, or both?

3) Lastly, where is the best place to get the heat tape?

thanks,

mike

Your going to need a thermostat anyway so why not get the bigger tape and just lower the power to it. My tubs are 23x16 and I use 11". I had a nice big post on how I built my rack but it got erased with the upgrade here. here is one of the pics that shows how I constructed it.

The main difference in the different width of flex watt is the wattage. 3" tape is 10 watts per foot. 4" tape is 8 watts per foot. 11" is 20 watts per foot.

That is not a mistake, the 4" is a lower wattage than the 3". It was thought that the higher wattage in a smaller space on the 3" tape was creating hot spots. From that stand point, the 4" is better.

Understand that wattage has nothing to do with temperature. 10 watt tapes will consume 10 watts of power when a full 110 Volts is applied to it. At full power, 10 watt tape gets hotter than 8 watt tape, but if you are using a helix or big apple proportional thermostate, you rarely reach full power.

The 11" is a much higher wattage but spread out over a much bigger surface area. The hot spot problems don't happen with 11".

Which is better? I think it depends on the application. I don't like the 3" at all. I use the 4" for any application where the tape is going to be on the shelf with the cage above it. My reasoning is that way the highest temp spot in the cage is at the extream back of the cage and there is plenty of room for the animal to move away from it. With most rubbermaids, if you put 11" tape under them, the hot part of the cage will be most of the cage.

I use the 11" tape when the tape is applied to the back of the rack. With 27 quart rubbermaid racks, on strip of 11" will the back of the rack well. With 4" tape, you would need 2 or 3 strips.

I think it is best to put the tape under the cage. Absorbing heat through what they are laying on is much more natural for snakes. They are not as likely to bask in the sun like a lizzard does.

Both the Bean Farm and Big Apple Herp sell flex watt. They both also sell a variety of thermostats.