Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If I put heat tape directly on the shelf of my rack so that the bin sits on top of it when it is slid in, will I have problems with the heat tape tearing or wearing out?

If I run it down the back, I have heard people say to put peg board on the back. Is this to reflect more heat inward? Do I mount the heat tape on the back and then mount the pegboard behind it?

Thanks,
Nick

I would put it under the back of the bin to provide belly heat for the snake. Idealy the plastic tubs would slide in and out on rails from the top, but this is a lot of work. Or some rack makers make a groove for the tape to sit down in. Now people will say that the plastic on the heat tape will eventually wear out. I have been sliding my tubs in and out on heat tape for a year like 5 times a day and there is no sign of wear. I think you will be fine, just make sure that there is no sharp edges on the bottom of the tuband keep an eye out for wear. Below is a picture of my rack during the building process. I did finish by putting the back board on, but you can see how I weaved the tape through the entire rack and used metal tape to hold the edjes down tight to the tubs could slide over easily. Hope I helped.

Regarding the Flexwatt-down-the-back solution: Pegboard is cheap and has that clean white surface and insulates fairly well. If you want to make it so less heat is lost to the outside air, put a piece of styrene foam behind the rack back. Much better results than just pegboard alone.