looking for the best way to heat a melamane cage for a red tail boa. i have heat pads but some say not to use on wood elcosures. would it be better to use a ceramic heat emitter?
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best way to heat a melamane cage
jayf
Mar 03, 2004 12:57 PM
Replies (2)
sstorkel
Mar 03, 2004 01:30 PM
>>looking for the best way to heat a melamane cage for a red tail boa. i have heat pads but some say not to use on wood elcosures. would it be better to use a ceramic heat emitter?
Due to the amount of formaldehyde in melamine, I prefer not to use anything that will transfer a significant amount of heat into the "wood". That includes most light fixtures and ceramic heat emitters. Radiant heat panels are my preferred heating device for these types of cages...
markg
Mar 03, 2004 02:05 PM
I agree with Sstorkel that radiant heat panels are a great way to get the job done. They come in large sizes such that a large boa can be heated with only one panel, one electrical connection, one dimmer, etc. Very easy.
Another way that I've had excellent results with is using a combination of lower-wattage daylights and a red heat light or ceramic emitter.
For example, the cage was plywood 36W x 24D x 20H. In the left 1/3 of the cage I installed a plastic lamp holder from Home Depot ($3.00, and you don't need ceramic for this). Mount it on a utility box. There are some low-profile utility boxes that work nicely. In this socket I had a 40 Watt halogen bulb on a dimmer.
In the right 1/3 of the cage towards the rear, I installed another lamp socket just like the first one. This holds a 50 watt spot red heat lamp on another separate dimmer.
Bulb cages (guards) are available from Big Apple. I didn't use them, as the wattage of these bulbs is low (plus being dimmed down a bit) and the bulb temperature wouldn't burn skin on contact.
At night, the halogen goes off (timer). Both bulbs run through one ON/OFF thermostat just in case the temps get too warm in there. During warmer months I unplugged the halogen lamp, as it just wasn't needed.
With this setup in that cage in a room with an ambient temp of 65 deg, I could maintain a cage air temp of 75 on the coolest end and a basking area of 90 under the red bulb, with the middle of the cage staying in the 78-83 range.
