Reptile & Amphibian Forums

whats the scoop with big apples heat panels? are they ok? do they just burst into flames? seems like a good heat source for the $$..the other question is..if they are infact as cool as they seem would a 24 whatter heat a 36"neodesha? or would the 40 be a better choice? ill be running it through a thermostat for sure but want to establish a horizontal heat gradiant soo i dunno would the 40 whatter be too long?..i know a ceramic heat emmiter will do the trick but i like the cleaner look outside the cage ya know...soo sorry bout the rambling but any input helps

thanx
eric

They are nothing more than heat pads with double the watt-density of a normal heat pad. That's it. They are a heat pad. Any heat pad will radiate heat. The thing about the Desert Rays "heat panel" is that I don't see any insulation or reflective surface to force the heat downward. They are just like installing a heat pad on the inside ceiling (with more wattage.)

It may just work in a small cage (if mounted on the inside) but even then it depends on your ambient temps in the room. A 3ft Neo has alot of volume, so if using a Desert Rays on the ceiling, get a large one (not the 11x11, go larger). You can always dim it down.

You can boost its effectiveness somewhat by mounting a piece of styreme foam insulation (Home Depot 2x4' sheet is like $3.00.. cut with big scissors) between the heater and ceiling.
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Mark

“You can boost its effectiveness somewhat by mounting a piece of styreme foam insulation (Home Depot 2x4' sheet is like $3.00.. cut with big scissors) between the heater and ceiling.” -markg

Hi Eric - Even more effective might be to mount a piece of foil-wrapped insulation to the ceiling before mounting the heater. Guess it depends on how tacky you want the cage to look

It never seems to fail with me – when I try to save a few bucks by buying something a step or two down from what I really wanted, I end up dissatisfied, or messing around endlessly trying to make it work. And I often buy something to replace it down the road, anyway, so I don’t really save the money.

With some of my smaller cages, like 2' wide, I’ve considered mounting an Ultratherm heat pad to the ceiling. Given my ambient conditions, I know they would heat the cage effectively, but the prospect of sealing the edges effectively so that a snake couldn't crawl behind it turned me off the idea.

I’m not knocking the Desert Rays brand specifically, but as I think Mark implied above, if you want a heat panel, buy a heat panel; if you want a UTH, buy a UTH. But no, they most assuredly won’t “burst into flames.”

-Joan

right on thanx for the info...so whats the deal with say boaphiles heat panels...is it the same stuff as desert rays but in a box with glass ontop?...what makes these panels soo expencive...is it possable to make one myself?...im hany with a soldering iron...i build prodessional grade tattoo machines on occasion soo if i could figure out what makes these heat panels tick...i can custom make one to the size and shape that would suit me best..call it a hunch but im thinking that boaphile doesnt have sumone make the innards to thier panels just for them...then they would be even more expencive than they are? im just curious...i know i have other options besides the heat panels but im curious ya know...soo anyone know what they make the high end panels out of?..
thanx again for the respnces
eric
P.S im not a cheapskate just curious enough to drive myself crazy lol