Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just finished building a rack and wiring it, and I wanted to see if you guys thought the way I wired the flexwatt to the thermostat should work fine. First, the rack holds 8 - 32 Quart sterilite tubs. I have 11" flexwatt tape under each tub (belly heat). What I did was wire each piece of flexwatt tape with its own individual power cord. I then plugged all of the cords into a power strip. Lastly, the power strip cord is plugged into the thermostat (I got the Big Apple Herp "Herp Power" proportional thermostat).

I have the temperature sensor on top of the flexwatt heat tape of the top slot of the rack. My question is, do you think that it will be a problem that the thermostat is getting its reading from one heat tape, and then having to run all 8 from the power strip? Should the other heat strips heat up to the same temperature? How accurate do you think this will be? For future purposes, would anyone have done it differently? The reason I wired each flexwatt heat tape individually (rather than in a series) is because I am not using the entire rack right now, and this way I can unplug any unused slots. I would really appreciate any opinions out there. THANKS!

-Mike

sounds like a nice set up.the 11" heat tape is a bit of overkill,the heat tape i would think will cover most of the bottom of the tubs,which has a couple of problems.the snake will not have a cool side of the enclosure and if the thermostat should stick open the temps would cook the snakes.it's like you built a go cart and put a v-10 viper engine in it.what i always do with a new rack is put the tubs in and plug in directly to a wall socket and check the temps (thermometer in each level) the next mourning.that way you can see if it would heat to a dangerous level.having each level wired seperately will work fine.the probe should always be in the hottest level,usually the top level.i have 3 herp powers and they work well,it's important to remember to NOT just trust the dial setting,put a thermometer in several levels to be safe.probe location is critical,a half inch either way can make a dramatic differenct.please post what the temps are after a night of staying on.have fun!

I had the same concernss while building the rack, but I didn't think the 4" flexwatt would cover enough. Right now, the flexwatt covers a little less than half of the tub. If I would have gone with the 4" only about 1/6th of the tub would have been heated, so I made the decision to go with the 11". I have separate thermometers metering the temps in a couple different tubs. I have been testing and tweaking the temps the last day and a half and I have stabilized the temperature at about 90.5 on the hot side.

The only thing I do not like about the Herp Power thermostat is that the max temp setting is 94. So the heat tape will only go up to 94, but inside the tub I was only getting to about 87.5. What I ended up having to do is elevate the heat sensor a little bit off of the heat tape (so it reads as being a little cooler...this way, the tape heats up to a little bit more than 94, and inside the tubs, I have been able to reach about 90). Let me know what you think. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

-Mike

some how i was thinking more of the tub would have flexwatt under it.if you pull the probe away from the heat source the temp in the tub should get higher before the herp power levels off.if your using aspen for bedding it acts as an insulation between the heat source and the inside of the tub.in my experience newspaper transfers more heat to the inside of the tub.BTW what are you housing that requires such high temps?

I'm housing ball pythons. Hot side should be between 90 - 95. I am keeping it at about 92. Why, do you think this is too hot? I have always heard between 90 & 95 (although some people go between 85 & 90).

oh i'm sure those temps are ok,i'm not into balls maybe someone could confirm that for you.it's refreshing to work with someone like you that does there homework.let's see some pix.have fun!

I have been wanting to post some pics of the rack, but I am not sure how. I must have the pictures posted on a website before I can post them here, right? Any recommendations on how to do this? Once I figure out how, I will definitely post some pictures...Thanks! BTW, what types of snakes do you have?

i've never posted pix,not sure on how to.
1.2 desert kings
1.2 rosy boas (thinking about selling or trading)
1.2 tri color het hypo hondos
1.2 tangerine het hypo hondos
1.0 " hypo hondo
0.1 tri color hondo
i'm getting a 03 1.0 het for albino ball python shortly.i got 5 hondo eggs two days ago,and the other hondo female is laying now,six eggs so far.having fun!

Wouldn't worry about it. There's no need to go above 90 for BPs.
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(¯`·.¸¸.·´Kane`·.¸¸.·´¯)