Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a melamine tank, 4x2, with sliding glass doors in front. It is a great enclosure. I am having difficulty figuring out how to heat it. I moved my brb to a rubbermaid enclosure where I can control the temp/humidity better. I can't use an undertank heater...melamine is too thick. I tried a heat source in the tank, but the surface got too hot. It was a human heating pad, that was recommended to me by someone at the show. The tank does have a keyless light fixture in the back at the top. I tried to put a red heat bulb in there, but it got so hot the water would eventually evaporate.

BTW, I use newspaper and moss as a substrate.

Any suggestions? I really like the tank and would prefer to put him in there as opposed to the rubbermaid. I like to have him on display! Here are a couple of things recommended to me by people at a pet store that has a lot of snakes:

1. Get a heat rock (a large one) and put it in pantyhose, ties off the end and keep it under my moss.

2. Use a lower wattage heat bulb, they said the one I had was too high. I dont remember what it was.

3. Possible combination of the two.

I can post pics of the tank if it would help.

Thanks in advance.

Brian

Brian,
. There are specific reptile heating products which are far superior to hot rocks and human heating pads. Light bulbs are not safe in a snake cage because the snake can break them and you then have an electrical shock hazard. Have a look at some of the reptile suppply companies listed at the links at the top of this page. Look for a product called a ceramic heat emitter. These screw into a socket like a light bulb but they emit heat rather than light and they last for years and are very durable. They should be mounted up high in the cage near one end. Most heating devices get too hot and have to be controlled with proportional thermostats and/or rheostats. If your snake room is constantly maintained at one temperature you can use a rheostat to control the temperature in your cage. If the room temperature varies you will need a proportional thermostat to control the cage temperature. A non-proportional thermostat will be either full on or full off and the heater will be too hot when it is on. A non-proportional thermostat can be used in series with a rheostat to keep the heater from getting too hot when the thermostat is on.
Jeff
ps. If your pet store did not know about thermostats and rheostats they are the wrong people to buy anything from.

>>I have a melamine tank, 4x2, with sliding glass doors in front. It is a great enclosure. I am having difficulty figuring out how to heat it. I moved my brb to a rubbermaid enclosure where I can control the temp/humidity better. I can't use an undertank heater...melamine is too thick. I tried a heat source in the tank, but the surface got too hot. It was a human heating pad, that was recommended to me by someone at the show. The tank does have a keyless light fixture in the back at the top. I tried to put a red heat bulb in there, but it got so hot the water would eventually evaporate.
>>
>>BTW, I use newspaper and moss as a substrate.
>>
>>Any suggestions? I really like the tank and would prefer to put him in there as opposed to the rubbermaid. I like to have him on display! Here are a couple of things recommended to me by people at a pet store that has a lot of snakes:
>>
>>1. Get a heat rock (a large one) and put it in pantyhose, ties off the end and keep it under my moss.
>>
>>2. Use a lower wattage heat bulb, they said the one I had was too high. I dont remember what it was.
>>
>>3. Possible combination of the two.
>>
>>I can post pics of the tank if it would help.
>>
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>Brian

Hey guys thanks for the replies. I think I am going to try a ceramic heat emitter. Jeff, is there a wattage you recommend? I think I saw it in 150 and 250 watts. It is exo-terra. I will also put the wire mesh around it, but I hope it does not get to hot for him, I would not want him to get burned.

Also, as far as the temp thru out the cage, I have the gauge that displays digital readouts of the temp and humidity, and also has a cord ( baout 36" long) with a probe to possibly measure outdoor temps. Could I place the unit at one end and the probe at the other to get a reading at both ends? Do you think I should try the heat emitter without the rheostat at first?

Thanks again so much for the help.

Brian

Brian,
. The wattage very much depends on how warm or cool your snake room is and how large your cage is. If your snake room is very cool and your cage is large you may need 150 watts. My snake room is usually in the low 70s and 40 and 60 watt ceramic heat emitters provide plenty of heat in my 36 and 48 inch cages. I have no shields around my ceramic heat emitters. With them controlled with thermostats and rheostats they are never hot enough to burn a snake. They are hot enough that if they were on the floor of the cage and a snake laid on them for extended periods it would harm the snake. You could set up the thermometer at one end with the remote probe at the other end as you describe. You will need something to control the temperature of the ceramic heat emitter. On full 120 volt AC power they get too hot and will cause burns.
Good luck,
Jeff

>>Hey guys thanks for the replies. I think I am going to try a ceramic heat emitter. Jeff, is there a wattage you recommend? I think I saw it in 150 and 250 watts. It is exo-terra. I will also put the wire mesh around it, but I hope it does not get to hot for him, I would not want him to get burned.
>>
>>Also, as far as the temp thru out the cage, I have the gauge that displays digital readouts of the temp and humidity, and also has a cord ( baout 36" long) with a probe to possibly measure outdoor temps. Could I place the unit at one end and the probe at the other to get a reading at both ends? Do you think I should try the heat emitter without the rheostat at first?
>>
>>Thanks again so much for the help.
>>
>>Brian

"I tried to put a red heat bulb in there, but it got so hot the water would eventually evaporate."

Just how hot is it in your tank? The water will eventually evaporate out of mine too but it would take a long time. Evaporation will help you keep humidity up provided your temps aren't too high.

What are your temps? In what area of the cage(warm/middle/cooler) was your snake spending over 75 percent of it's time at? I think Jeff had some very useful suggestions. You could also make a wire mesh shield around a bulb and epoxy it to the cage. I don't know if epoxy would hold on melanine.
Just remember the shield will also be hot so burns could still occur, but the snake wouldn't be able to break the bulb.

Linda