Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently built a rack out of plywood. Wondering what would be the safest way to keep the snakes warm, or give a hot spot, (OOhhh and I live in florida).
Thanks Alot....
Steffen

Also off the topic, next time I build a rack what is the safest material to use and where can I get it, expanded PVC????...???
Thanks

>>I recently built a rack out of plywood. Wondering what would be the safest way to keep the snakes warm, or give a hot spot, (OOhhh and I live in florida).
>> Thanks Alot....
>>Steffen

I personal use flexwatt set to the hot spot temp adjusted with a t-stat. Chris uses rope light and I'll let him explain that. If you read through the last week of post this subject is covered a lot! I would read through then re post questions. That would give you a better understanding of what you want to do. Florida must be nice I have to spend a fortune keeping the reptile room at 80' here in North Dakota during the winter.

>>Also off the topic, next time I build a rack what is the safest material to use and where can I get it, expanded PVC????...???

Safest to work with or for the animal?
Most sign shops sell a product called Sintra its a PVCX material if you ask for PVCX most will have no idea what than is. Call around. If you still can't find it US Plastics in San Diego sells it but shipping can be costly it comes in 4x8 sheets. They also sell welders, cutters, routers and solvents all intended for the plastic market.

Re-post any Questions.
Hope this helped a little

Jeremy
>>Thanks

>>Florida must be nice I have to spend a fortune keeping the reptile room at 80' here in North Dakota during the winter.

Jeremy, what part of ND? I'm in Rapid City, South Dakota. Just moved here last May. We love it.

Drop an e-mail, I may be able to help you reduce your heating bills.

>>Chris uses rope light and I'll let him explain that.

I only use rope light because my racks are in a heated room and I only need to provide less than 10* of supplemental heat. I also need night-time temperature drops so shutting off the light source is no big deal.

I'll be glad to go into this in more detail if the original poster has decent ambient room temps.

>>>>Also off the topic, next time I build a rack what is the safest material to use and where can I get it, expanded PVC????...???

This is probably pretty safe for the DIY-er given it's anti-flame properties. It has not been tested extensively for offgassing but I understand it's generally considered safe.

Freshly cut sections of PVC pipe are often used around amphibians and delicate marine invertebrates so I believe the offgassing concern is minimal. These applications are not heated to the same degree as snake racks, though.

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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)

The absolute safest way to heat a rack is with ambient room temps. But since most want a thermal gradiant the safest way to provide that is with hot water cables/pipes run underneath the boxes.

People used to heat aquaria this way back when it was all they had to house reptiles.

But I ultimately assume that the real question here is what is the safest form of resistive heat to provide thermal gradiants in boxes.

I'm not really sure. Certainly none are anywhere near as safe as the two options listed above.
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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)