Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We are building a rack with 12 shelves heated with flexwatt. It will be built with plywood and the back will be made with pegboard. Now, my question is, can this be done using one thermostat? What size flexwatt should be used and where should it be placed? Any suggestions on wiring?
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Lori
www.hissnhers.com

>>We are building a rack with 12 shelves heated with flexwatt. It will be built with plywood and the back will be made with pegboard.

>>Now, my question is, can this be done using one thermostat?

Twelve shelves is a pretty tall rack and it will tend to get hotter on the higher levels. This can be a problem if only one species or multiple species with similar thermal requirements are housed in the rack.

So this is a species-specific question and also depends on some factors I'll mention below.

>>What size flexwatt should be used and where should it be placed?

This is also species-specific, but it does not end there. The size of the boxes, how they are oriented in the rack, whether the sides are open or complete, the ambient room temperatures, the natural vertical temperature gradiant in the room, what type of substrate and cage furnishings will be in the box and many more issues affect how you should heat the rack.

And even if we did have all these variables there's still no magic formula.

>>Any suggestions on wiring?

I'll leave that to others.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

I beleive I would go with 2 6 tub racks or even 2 7 tub racks. What are the sizes of your tubs? If they are small you cuold go with a double sided deal like 6 on each side and use 11" in the middle..JMO..
-Matt