Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok basically my title says it all. I have either the choice of getting flexwatt or heat rope for my average sized rack. I will be housing a couple different species adult and babies with the same temp. requirements....So now before I just go out and buy whatever I thought I would see what are the benifits of both and how they have worked for those who have dealt with it.

Thanks in advance!
Kristy

I've been using heat rope lately and think it is fantastic in applications like a belly heat source in racks or under cages. In a rack, you would need to router a very small groove (like 3/16" wide and 3/16" deep) along each shelf back, in a semi-circle pattern or however you want to do it.

It all depends on what tools you have and how intricate you want to go. Flexwatt is easy because you lay it down. Heat rope is nice because you can easily imbed it into the shelves or walls of the rack and make loops or whatever pattern necessary for more or less heat. So you tell me, are you handy with a router or dremel tool?

Im not to handy myself but that is why my father is the one building the rack ) Heat rope is much cheaper for me to buy here in canada. I can get a 12' for $40 and 17' for $42 etc etc. But for the heat tape I can 1 foot for 10.00 (llinch)
How close should the loops be together for corns and bp's?
Any pictures?
thanks,
Kristy

Sometimes it is trial and error, but you can learn from my experiences.

First off, ball pythons require more of a heated area than cornsnakes. So, any tubs housing BPs should have a greater percentage of the floor heated than for cornsnakes. With that said, it is obvious you will need a few loops of heat cable under each BP box. I would say for a box roughly 22x16, make a few S-shapes with about 2-3" between loops and covering about 1/3 of the box floor area. I state this because this is what I did for a boa with great results.

For the corns, you can simply make a loose S-shape under about 1/3 of the floor area of the box, but not as many S's as for the ball pythons. This is why I like heat rope - you can adjust the average temp in the box by how you route the cable.

I also suggest you get as long a cable as possible. You'll use quite a bit. FYI there is a little blue line about a foot or more from the plug: this is where the heating starts (it doesn't go all the way to the plug.) Similarly, the end of the cable is not heated for a few inches. You might want to use a piece of string to figure out how much length per 2 or 3 shelves and use 2 cables for 6 shelves.

Another thing you can do is to do very loose loops under the boxes and also run a length of cable up each side near the back to help heat the air. Then you need less under each box.

See what I mean - it is kind of trial and error somewhat. However, too much cable can be dealt with using thermostats or controllers. Not enough heat is bad for the BPs. Corns are pretty adaptable. Good luck.