Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First off, let me tell you I'm not new to reptiles. I've had snakes for over 15 years.

Up till now all my reptiles have been pets. I have allways kept them in thier own cage with thier own heat,most the time I use UTH, or heat lamps.

Now that I have gotten into breeding, I have realized I need to use racks.I don't really like racks, I like BIG cages that let you see the snakes.

So, I need to know how to use heat tape! I think I know a little,But I know I don't know enough.

I have looked through the post here and to tell the truth, I feel like I know less now.

Let me tell you what I THINK I know, then if you will fill in what ever I leave out or what ever is wrong, OK?

You put the tape in place,(I'm going to use back heat),then you use the little clips to hook up the cord. put a dimmer on the cord to control the watts, and that controles the heat output.

Is that about right?

I am building my own rack, as I have allways made my own cages, I just like to do it myself.

If you need any more info let me know and I'll post it.

Thanks for any help!
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2.3 burms
2.4 balls
1.1 Kenyan sand boa
0.1 coastal carpet
0.0.1 nile
0.0.1 savanna
0.0.1 water monitor

what are your room temps?
what species are you housing?
what's the temp you want were the snake is going to be?
what is the material your useing for the rack?
i'm just curious when you built cages in the past did you consider putting the heat source on the back wall? if not why not? have fun!

Ok,
Room temps are 85-89 daytime,80-85 night time.I have two room that are just reptile rooms, So I can adjust them if needed.thay have thier own thermostat,and heatpump.

Species; ball pythons for now, will be burms,retics,and boa's in a year or so.Of course the burms and retics will be in the 106qt sterilites, the balls and boa's will be in the 35qt sterilites.

Temps I want, 88-95 hot side, 80-85 cool side.with a drop of a few degs. at night.

Material, I have allways used sealed plywood but would like any ideas you have on this as it's getting old rebuilding them every few years.But that was cages, And I have been told it was ok to use plywood for racks as the snakes will be in tubs.

As for a heat sourcs in the back wall, I never thought about it.But I plan to run the heat tape on the back wall of the rack,is that a good place to put it?I was thinking that way, so the snake could move to the front of the tub to cool off.

Like I said, I know how to care for my snakes, I just have never used heat tape before.

Thanks for the help
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2.3 burms
2.4 balls
1.1 Kenyan sand boa
0.1 coastal carpet
0.0.1 nile
0.0.1 savanna
0.0.1 water monitor

if your room is at the temps you want to keep the snakes then you have no need to use heat tape,i have heard of people who do that with great results.but if you want to raise the rack just a few degrees back heat would work with the room temps you describe.even if you used 3" heat tape on the belly the snakes would be able to move to the front of the tub.i have a 10 level rack with 3" belly heat that uses appox. 170 watts,if i used back heat it would be over 300 watts.the animals you mentioned have higher humditiy requirments that would work well with belly heat as you can move the water dish back and forth to adjust the humditiy in each tub,not an option with back heat.most people use melamine to construct racks,i believe it's less expensive the good quality plywood,also the finish on melamine works well for plastic tubs sliding in and out.there are several sites that show rack construction,perhaps someone could post those sites.have fun!

if your room is at the temps you want to keep the snakes then you have no need to use heat tape,i have heard of people who do that with great results.
I agree at those temps supplemental heating is almost out of the question with out really taking a chance to over heat the snakes

i have a 10 level rack with 3" belly heat that uses appox. 170 watts,if i used back heat it would be over 300 watts.
How big are the racks ? you must have almost 60 ft of 3" flexwatt to get 160 watts ( just asking ) lol

Also and this is just my opinion your "low end temps " sound a little high to me by atleast 5 degrees or so they dont seem to give much drop in temp and the high side also sounds a little on the hot side again JMO
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Visit the new website while the Jungle gets made over.

..................each opening is 35" and has 34" of heat tape,let's round off to 36" of heat tape per level (my math is lacking) which at 6 watts per foot is 18 watts per level, times 10 levels is 180 watts i.e. appox. 170 watts.did i miss something? have fun!

Yea, I know my temp are a little higher then I have read they should be, but I have allways kept them that high, and to this day I have never had any trouble with over heating the snakes.

I'm not saying your wrong, in fact I'm sure your right, but I see no reason to change what as worked for me for so long.

What I was realy looking for is how to run the heat tape in the rack, I meen I was going to put it on the back wall, but Now that I have read more I am starting to think about putting it on the bottom of each opening. Now if I run it that way, is it going to hold up with the tubs sliding in and out?
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2.3 burms
2.4 balls
1.1 Kenyan sand boa
0.1 coastal carpet
0.0.1 nile
0.0.1 savanna
0.0.1 water monitor

i'm not sure why you want heat tape with those room temps,but it's your choice.there's two ways most people run belly heat,first you can secure the heat tape on the shelf with foil tape which is metal that will save wear on the heat tape and disperse the heat.second you can route a channel the width of the heat tape so the tub never touches the heat tape.have fun!

Thanks for the info

I want to run the heat tape cause even though the room teps are good for them I've allways had a hot spot for them.

like right now, in my albino burmes cage, I cut off the UTH today to see what the temps would be with out it.The room temp is a warm 85, but the temp in the cage is only 82, I'm not sure why it's lower, to tell the truth,it does not make any sense to me, but that is what's happening.

Do you still think I don't need the heat tape?
even if I don't use it now I still like to know how to do it so when the time comes I can.

Thanks for all the help!
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2.3 burms
2.4 balls
1.1 Kenyan sand boa
0.1 coastal carpet
0.0.1 nile
0.0.1 savanna
0.0.1 water monitor

i haven't changed my mind on the heat tape i belive it's overkill,but if you insist i would highly reccomend a back up system with two thermostats or a thermostat and a QUALITY dimmer.now think about this,your going to spend about $200-300 dollars on heat tape and heat control devices to raise your temps a few degrees that will put you at the upper limits of safety.would it not be easier and safer to just turn up your room temps a couple of degrees?? frankly i don't see the payoff of heat tape in this case.have fun!

You might be right about just turning up the heat,I think I'll try that first.

I hadn't made up my mind yet, I was just looking to get some advice on heat tape, hell I haven't even started to build the rack yet.I guess if I do need it it would be easy enough to add at a later date.

I do thank you for all your advice, and help.
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2.3 burms
2.4 balls
1.1 Kenyan sand boa
0.1 coastal carpet
0.0.1 nile
0.0.1 savanna
0.0.1 water monitor