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I am building a 6 level caging system for my kings out of Oak plywood. I was thinking on having one section of the cage flooring in each enclosure having a clay type flooring tile so I can attach an undertank heater to offer belly heat. Just looking for thoughts and oppinions on this idea.

Thanks,
Miller
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1.1 Florida King
1.0 Eastern Kings
1.0 Black Milksnake
1.0 Chow Chow
0.2 Cats

I did the same thing with mine. Well What i did was cut a square in the bottom of the cage and put some plexi over i and then put my heat pad on that. been like that for 3 years and havent had any problems ut o it.

ken
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0.1 Albino Cal. King (Fokker)
0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn (trouble)

0.0.1 Anery (Thanks Jimmy)(Sam Wise)
2.2 Dogs(2 Boxers, Cookie and Joe, Lhasa Apso, George, pik ahpso, Gizzy Gumdrop)
0.1 Wife
0.1 Kid

I used ceramic tile on the back of my bearded dragon enclosure held in place with liquid nails and grouted just like a real floor. I then aimed my uva uvb slightly toward the tile back. It looks amazing and it heats the tile during the day at it is still warm in the morning after the light has been off all night. I love it and I plan to try it on the floor of the cage soon. Good luck with your setup.

What I always recommend is to cut a rectangle out of each floor that is about 2" wider and longer than the UTH source you'll be using. Make this cutout away from the walls of the cage so the structure of the cage stays intact.

Then go ahead and cover the entire floor with Sintra or another type of expanded PVC sign board.

Then just use aluminum foil tape to attach your heat source to the underside of the expanded PVC.

Also route a small groove for the cord to run out the back of the cage.

If the floor of one cage will be acting as the ceiling of another, you might want to take some measure to keep snakes out of there. Perhaps anther piece of Sintra screwed over the opening. This piece would not need to cover the entire ceiling.

Fiberglass reinforced panel (aka FRP board) would also work for the floor.

This design works very well with the Sintra as it increases thermal mass and helps spread out the heat. It also makes the floor of the cage much more durable and easier to clean.

Thanks for all of the responses, the information has been very helpful. It's a couple of weekends project so, no more work until next weekend. Couple more questions, How should I light it? the roof of one shelf is the floor of another. I don't want the rooms to overheat since I plan on using some type of belly heat in each enclosure. Also, should I be concerned with the wood drying out over time with the UTH?

Thanks again!
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1.1 Florida King
1.0 Eastern Kings
1.0 Black Milksnake
1.0 Chow Chow
0.2 Cats

>>How should I light it?

To avoid heat build-up you'll want to use a low wattage fluorescent fixture. Probably something designed to be used under cabinets.

>>Also, should I be concerned with the wood drying out over time with the UTH?

This is not a huge issue with plywood. The Sintra floor idea will help avoid any problems but is not absolutely necessary.

If this were pine or another dimensionally unstable solid wood, I might feel differently. But plywood is not a concern.