Reptile & Amphibian Forums

np

I have bred in both back heat and belly heat. I have had equal success. I prefer belly heat but it does not seem completely necessary.

Hope this helps.

Mike King
MK Reptiles

If your going to run back heat on a rack system you can use Heat Tape but it will not be as efficient as running it from below. As we all know, heat rises so under the cage presents a significant increase in heating potential versus back of the cage.

If you do use heat tape remember to use a thermostat. I use the BAH Series Thermostats, Helix and Herp Power Thermostats. They all have worked well for me for years. Standard UL foil tape can be used to mount the tape.

Winston

In typical hobbyist applications belly heat will be more efficient but this basically has nothing to do with heat rising. In fact heat does not rise, heated AIR rises.

To grossly oversimplify things, heat moves in three primary ways: radiation, convection, and conduction. Within each three there are a continuum of possibilites. Even more confusing they are not mutually exclusive - some combination of all three may occur in reptile cage heating.

At any rate, in a typical rack setup very little convection current is created so heat will rise very little in indivdual boxes. Flexwatt produces radiant heat which moves in whatever direction it is pointed until it is reflected or absorbed.

Regarding back vs. belly heat, there are tradeoffs.

Belly heat: More efficient for reasons I won't explain but some common errors are often made. Specifically little thermal mass in the tubs and a cool room can lead to an excessively hot floor but cool air elsewhere in the tub. The exact problems with the much maligned "hot rocks". Also tends to be more sensitive to thermostat probe placement and the subsequent accidents that can occur.

Back heat: Tends to be a bit better at creating warm zones and is less susceptible to probe placement errors. But the flexwatt does need to run hotter the way it's typically setup. Much of this can be overcome with the use of an air space and foil-faced insulation.

To summarize, if you use belly-heat be careful to provide some thermal mass and experiment with probe placement. Once you have a working setup make sure to secure the probe very well.

If you use back heat take advantage of air spaces and reflective insulation. And still provide thermal mass.
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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)