Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay I tried the suggestion of filling my cage with the furniture.I use cypress mulch and aspen mix.Put in a rock and some branches and fake plants...Put all three Visions stacked with flexwatt between and left it all day long to heat...Here are the temps...89 degrees against the bottom..Air 4 inches above the hotspot is 75 degrees cool end is 74 degrees...Still too cold...I need 90/92 basking,82/85 ambient air, 78/80 cool end.

I have an VOM(volt, ohm meter)we tested to make sure we were getting juice from the plug end all the way to the far end of the flexwatt so it is hooked up correctly..What am I doing wrong now?
I say screw it and trash this stuff and just order the 11 inch flexwatt put in two panels for each vision cage and see if that works....I think someone else said this would work better...
-----
.........
)

till I have this heating up like it should..I am under the impression it should be heating to 115 without a rheostat in place...Well I can barely get the stuff to heat to 85 degrees in 15 minutes..Maybe its defective?
-----
.........
)

I am also having problems with my flexwatt for my racks I just made, not getting any hotter. I am ready to throw it away as well.

For my visions that are in my basement I have a 4ft one and a 6ft one. My 4ft one I have two extera heat pads underneath and a medium radient heat panal above. Temps are good for my boa. For my retic in my 6ft one, good thing is he is only a baby so I have two extera heat pads and a medium heat panal above. I also use 50 watt bulbs for the light spots that temp around there is the 83 but the belly heat over the othersides is 90-92 with my thermastat without it, it gets around 100. I realize this is a lot of hook ups but I have put to much money into my snakes to let them die do to cold air, why not spend an extra 400 to keep them warm.
I am starting to think what everyone says about visions they are not that good, look good, easy to clean but hard to keep heat. Oh ya tape up the back of the cages with some plastic window stuff, that helps a little.
Also if you want true temps about the bottom of the cage use a infrared therm, you can get one at radio shack for 50 bucks. It will give you accurate temps and you can see the reg therm that you use is probably wrong.

Thanks
Jeff
-----
0.1 Rott
1.0 Super Tiger
0.1 Green Burm
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python

but I dont know about getting radient heat panels..Those are way too expensive..
-----
.........
)

Your problem is not the fault of Flexwatt. The 25" Flexwatt has a lower watt-density. It is a very good product and very safe. You made the right choice.

The material that Visions are made from doesn't insulate well at all. To help, cut sheets of styrene foam insulation (avail at Home Depot for example) to size and tape to the back and sides of the cage (inside or outside). As a matter of fact, I use a piece under my Visions floor below the heat tape. This helps keep more heat inside the cage.

If the cage air temp is still too low, then you must either heat the room some or else put another heat source around the cage.. like a big piece of Flexwatt along the outside back wall with styrene foam insulation over it. That will definitely work.
-----
Mark G

Sorry to hear about your troubles. FWIW, I always used 11-inch FlexWatt with my Vision cages and got temperatures similar to the ones you're looking for. Just make sure you have a good thermostat or rheostat controlling the max temperature on the heat tape!

But before you go out and buy 11-inch heat tape, I'd suggest you check the connections again. I've seen a situation similar to what you describe when the metal clips weren't making good contact with the electrical conductor in the heat tape. Make sure that the power cord has a good connection to the clips and the clips have a good connection to the conductor in the heat tape. I really squeeze the heck out of the clips with a pair of pliers, trying to put even pressure over the entire clip! If you get too much pressure on one end, or don't squeeze the clip hard enough, you won't get a good contact and the heat tape won't reach maximum temperature.

I realize that some of the difficulty is getting the heat to stay in the enclosure. Getting the temps up and keeping them where you want them.
Some people disagree with this, to varying degrees, but I feel that and most of the heating element manufactures feel that there must be a reostat or thermostat control device in conjuction with the heating element. Not only for safety, but also so you have complete control of the temps.
Here are a few quotes from manufactures that I found.
Heat Tape - It is recommended that a rheostat, dimmer (use a dimmer intended for incandescent lights) or a proportional thermostat be used with this product.
The Calorique website has a wealth of technical information on how to effectively and effeciently heat diffent types of spaces.
Here is the text to the insallation instructions for heat tape.
You can also find this info at

http://www.calorique.com/support/docs_frame.asp?Contents=documents/TIS/Tis104A1.pdf&PageID=240

Technical Information Sheet
Technical Information Sheet Electrically live edges of heating
stripes must be insulated
Plug into standard outlet,
dimmer control, etc.
High power (watt) density
applications require at least
one high limit thermostat which
may be used in conjunction with a
process control thermostat
Electrical connections
may be made with the
CalorIQue foil crimp connector.
Thermostat may be any
conventional type: thermocouple,
capillary tube, thermal resistor,
etc.
Insulate both
connections
(electrical tape,
silicone, etc.)
Always completely cut
through any heating stripe
Electrical Wiring

Good Luck