Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Up until now, I have always used ceramic heat emitters as my heating method. They work great but look ugly (particularly the necessary cage around them).

I am in Australia, and there are no large scale herp supply stores like bigapple and beanfarm here. But, after logging onto their sites, noticed they export here.

So, now heat tape is an option. Can heat tape be used inbetween stacked malamine enclosures? Or does there need to be some sort of gap? If the enclosure was 3x2x2 feet long, in a room that is 68F in winter, would 3 feet x 11 inch heat tape be adequate to heat the enclosure to 85F? Or am I best to stick with emitters?

I would like to here from people that have had success or failures with the tape. Is it tricky to use? Or is there a better Under Tank heating method that could be used with no gaps in between stacked enclosures made of wood?

Cheers.

You may want to consider a radiant heat panel. Heat tape may not work through the floor of your enclosure depending on the material.
The RHP is also more efficient in heating the air inside the enclosure. Especially at the low room temps, and the 2ft ceiling height of your cage that you describe.
You'll just need to use a thermostat with it.Plus, with their flat design, and the ease of attaching then to a melamine cage celing, you eliminate the problem of "ugly".

A heat panel hear costs upwards of $AU130 ($US130). That is far to cost-ineffective to put one in each box. THanks for the suggestion anyways.

PS - if anyone in Aust can get em cheaper... lemme know!

You'd be fine with the tape but you best bet would be to contact a breeder and ask them what they would do. Breeders know a ton of info on things like houseing and would prove more valuable in the long run.

a good breeder is alan bosch would you can find in the link below, just scroll down.
Click Here for Alan Bosch Reptiles...