Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got your name from a member of the burmese forum. He said you could answer my questions about Pro product radient heat panels, and using them on my vision. I have a vision model 422 (4') and I am considering buying a radient heat panel from pro products. They recommended one that was 12"x24" and that will not fit in the spot next to my heat lamp shroud. The only place it fits is on the complete opposite side of the cage. That means that if I put it there, it would have to create enough heat for the entire cage becuase it would be my sole heat source. Will that work? Hows is yours set up?

Hey,
My cages are 45"long by 16/12" high, and 18" deep, and I use the 18"x12", Pro-Product heat panel just fine. However, I don't use Vision cages so I can't comment on that type of cage. The one thing I would probably say about the material that they are made of, Vision cages (plastic), is probably that they have no insulating property, and might cause some of the heat to dissipate if the cage is not kept in a moderately warm room, i.e. 70-77 degrees. A larger heat panel will not allow for a large enough thermal gradient and might make your charges unable to escape the heat if they choose or need to.

I use melamine for my cages and they have a higher rate of insulation property, so the smaller heat panel works great - Infact too well. The heat panel I use also, has a wattage output of 65watts, so I would imagine that the larger heat panel would have a much broader thermal output rating. Try looking into the smaller unit and see what Bob says over at Pro-Products, and see what he says about it. I also, like the way the Pro-Products heat Panels mount, versus the Helix panels that Robyn prefers. He has his reasons for this though. I'll let him explain.

Hope this helps!

- Angel
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Sometimes on your way to your dream, you get lost and find a better way!

Bob is the guy I talked to at PRo Products. He is the one who recommened I get the 12"x24" with 88 watts. He said that would work fine on my vision and create a great thermal gradient. I think the reason it is so high is becuase my ambient room temperature is around 65 degrees. The only problem I have with it is mounting it on the opposite side of the cage without the heat lamp.

Hey,
Yeah, I guess then you might be better off going with the larger unit, if your temperatures dip down into the mid 60's. I have no idea how the Visions work in terms of their physical characteristic, so I can't really offer any advice there. I'll leave that for someone that does. Perhaps Kara might have some suggestions for you, or you might want to call Vision your self and see if they can offer you any ideas.

- Angel
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Sometimes on your way to your dream, you get lost and find a better way!

Just one more point that I should've mentioned, and that is that my rooms also, dip down into the upper 60's on occassion and the smaller unit of 18"x12", keeps the cages toasty at night with no apperant lose of heat and maintains an excellent gradient over all - even with the lower temps during this harsh winter.

I've read temps under the unit in the high nineteens before tweaking the thermostat and setting the unit to where I need it; so the smaller one might fit into the space you need and do a good job of providing you with the necessary temperatures.

-Angel
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Sometimes on your way to your dream, you get lost and find a better way!

i am definitely not the guy to recommend the pro products stuff to you : )

i like the Helix panel much better, and that is the one i would recommend. i think the attachment mechanism on both products is poor, we just glue them to the top of the enclosure with liquid nails, works great, and secure.

we mount the panels on the opposite side of the shroud, if necessary, and that works fine. we also have ambient room heat, so we don't need supplemental heating, but the light shrouds in Visions are poor for heating anyway, so consider a different type of supplemental heat if needed, perhaps a heat pad or something else...

best of luck.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles