Reptile & Amphibian Forums

They striking serpents webpage was not done putting up pictures and directions to build, so there was no suggested heating setup as of yet. Here is a description of the pad from the site:

Made in Scotland, these heat pads are specifically designed for the vivarium keeper. The same technology as the Flexwatt Heat Tape is used, but it has been manufactured into a pad with an additional polyurethane coating to ensure moisture resistance and durability. These pads are regulated, because of low wattage, to stay between 65ºand 95ºF (depending on exterior temperature) thereby eliminating the need for a thermostat. However, if precise temperatures need to be achieved, use in combination with a proportional thermostat or a dimmer. Low wattage, long life and excellent cost make these heat pads great for using with herps and small animals. Comes with 6 foot cord and plug. This is a UL listed component.

Does it mean it is moisture resistant? Well, thanks, any help is appreciated!

Striking Serpents- What type of heating setup do you recommend for the cage you have on your site??

Thanks!

David
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kdrkreatures.com
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Moisture resistant?????? My big concern is repetative urinations on it. Remember heat rocks? You would eventually get a build-up of uric acid on the cords. Temp wise it sounds fine. I keep most of my animals in racks with flexwatt running down the inside back of the rack. My large cages I heat with lights with a guard. It sounds to me like you may have to play with it some. If it was me I would probably check into the heat panel first. Hope this helps some.
James C.
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IF YOU HAVE IT SHOW IT. IF YOU OWN IT FLAUNT IT!!

Heating

These cages can be heated with radiant heat panels, flewatt heat tape, or any other type of heat mat. We stack our cages and put a 1/4 inch gap between them. If a gap is not used the heat tape may get to hot or malfunction causing a fire. We use two feet of 11 inch heat tape running front to back at the far end of the cage. This will create a nice hot spot at one end.
!WARNING! *Heat tape should always be controlled by a thermostat or rheostat to ensure it doesn't overheat!

The full cage building instructions can be viewed at
showcase.netins.net/web/reptiles/cage.html
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Jared Douglas

About heating - say i was to use a heat panel - Is a 12" X 12" alright? And how do you use heat tape...do you buy the "tape" and then get a cord to go with it, and does it actually stick on to the cage...ive never used it or seen it before, so im kinda clueless. And one more, any suggestions on where to get a nice inexpensive thermostat? Thanks
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And do i put the heat tape on , say, the right side, on the whole side, not the back or front..sorry, i take a little longer to comprehend things, lol.
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kdrkreatures.com
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Check it out,it doesnt get any easier,the best price on flex watt is from the Bean Farm.LLL has the stats on sale now for 20 bones
http://www.dwightgood.com/snakes/projects.htm

T/

>>And do i put the heat tape on , say, the right side, on the whole side, not the back or front..sorry, i take a little longer to comprehend things, lol.
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>>kdrkreatures.com
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>>Signature file edited; oversized banner removed. Please update/correct. [phw 8/31/04]

We use two feet of 12 inch heat tape under one end of the cage. The tape runs from the back of the cage to the front. It is just slid under the cages and secured with a samll peice of tape on each end so that it does not slide out. We use a dimmer on our heat tape to control the temp of the hot spot. We heat our room to 80 with a digital proportional thermostat so the tape is turned down almost all the way to acheive a hot spot around 95 degrees.

Big Apple sells some lower end thermostats at reasonable prices, but if you look hard you may find them cheaper. Remember though, you get what you pay for. They also sell heat tape and the connectors for heat tape. You must buy an extention cord to use with the heat tape. You cut off the female end of the cord and use the special connectors to crimp the wires to each side of the heat tape.

A 12 inch heat panel inside the cage should be fine to heat the cage as long as it is covered in some fashion so that it is COMPLETELY water proof. Whether or not this will heat the cage sufficiemtly depends on how warm the room is that the cage is in.
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Jared Douglas

Posted by: Raven01 at Wed Sep 1 08:46:24 2004

I built a multi-cage unit with each cage having those dimensions and I only use the Ultratherm heat pads, mounted on the inside wall of the cage on one end. I have them set up on a Helix thermostat, set to 91-92F, sometimes up to 94F if the AC is really cranking or for this winter when the house will be cooler. The snakes seem to do quite well with just them. Floor temps of the cages along side the Ultratherm read about 90F, the far end reads about 80F. The only time any of the snakes appear to hang around the Ultratherms is just after a meal. Also, if you read the packaging for the Ultratherm heat pads, it states that they are not designed to be used outside of thick materials like plywood or melamine as the heat does not transmit through it well, and also that they should not be placed on the floor of the cage where they can become wet - from animal waste or spilled water. Humidity or slight moisture are fine, as they would be subject to on a wall, but submersion - even partial - is to be avoided.

Raven

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Basically, yes they can handle some moisture, but not direct contact with liquids. You can use them without a thermostat, but because of how well I built my cages with 3/4 inch melamine board & 1/4 acrylic sliding doors, coupled with me keeping my house no less than 70F year round, the pads were reaching 100-106F on warm days. That's much too warm for the snakes. Hooked to a thermostat, the pads reach no more than what I have the thermostat set to (I check with a temp gun) and rarely drop below the set temperature unless I've had the door open for an extended period of time. I've had mine in use for a few months now and am really pleased with them. I'll be switching all my cages over to them eventually.

Raven