Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm thinking out the design of my basic rack system and was wondering if its okay to let the tubs sit right on the flexwatt? I read somewhere that sliding the tub in and out can eventually cause the mylar coating of the flexwatt to rub off, therefore being a shock or short hazard. What do you guys do with your flexwatt in these situations? What if I leave the lids on and just picked up the tubs instead of sliding most of the time? Thanks for your time.
-----
-Sal

1.5 Leopard Gecko Colony

I don't have any but I know some people who do... They just use a thermostat to regulate the temperature so it doesn't melt anything.

Yea I have a thermostat for it but was just wondering about the danger of sliding it in and out everyday. Would that cause the flexwatt to lose its coating, creating a shock hazard or something? Thanks.
-----
-Sal

1.5 Leopard Gecko Colony

Just try to get the flewatt as flat as possible to the floor of each level. I use small pieces of velcro, and it works great, Also, you can run the flexwatt on the back panel instead of the floor, thus totally eliminating your problem. I hope this helps!
-----
Greg Holland
G&M HERPS
www.imageevent.com/gmherps
gmherps@sbcglobal.net

A lot of people will tell you that it will wear through the coating, which after many years it may, but no time soon. I've had my rack (below) for a year and a half and no sign of wear yet. As far as using lids and setting it on, no way. The great thing about racks is just slide it out and its open, plus you'll never find a lid that secures good enough. You could put the tape down the back, but your snakes really should have some belly heat. You can hold it down with metal tape like I did or even clear packaging tape works fine. Just as long as it's nice and smooth. Hope this helped!

This is a pic during construction of the back of the cage before I put on the back panel. I made mine 3 tubs wide, but looking back I wish I would have only made it 2 because the wood does sag 1/8" in the center front.

do you have a pic of this rack finished? what type of wood is that? How long is the rack? How difficult was it to make? I see you continually routed the heat tape throughout the rack so does it have just one plug connection? Also with the end tubs they will get heat from the botton as well as the side so will they be much hotter then the rest?

When I use my thermostat with the rack, can I just tape the sensor probe to the hot part of the heat tape with foil tape? I plan on using a thermostat every 3 shelves along with light dimmers to control the heat. This setup is for Leopard Geckos btw. Thanks everyone.
-----
-Sal

1.5 Leopard Gecko Colony

n/m