Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When stacking plastic cages (in my case, Precisions), Is it permittable to allow an UTH for an above cage to come into contact with the top of the one underneath it?

Eric
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http://www.theherpzone.com

You will be fine as long as there are no sharp edges to cut into the element and there is a thermostat in use...
-Matt
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www.MGReptiles.com
Professional Heating Supplies

I tell ALL my customers to make sure when stacking the cages to provide a AIRSPACE between the cages VS laying the flat on each other. This allows Heat buildup to disperse and not build up high temps against the heating element. (flexwatt , UTH) I have done several trests here with flexwatt and when it becomes sandwhiched into something with no air flow it gets SUPER HOT 150 degrees. provide even a 3/16" air gap the max temp i ahve ever got off it was 105-110degrees. Most ofthese heating elements are designed around having air pass over to keep them from overheating. when they become enclosed it builds up heat that can become a issue IMHO so i would simply purchase a smal pack of lil door bumpers from ahardware store and stick on each cornerto allow airflow between them.
.02 from a cage builder
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Buisnesses come and go everyday, what keeps you here is how you treated the customer the day before....My Boa Can Kick Your Boas _ss!www.cheapcages.com

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edited sig file 2/8/05

Alan, I agree, it's a good idea.

I think sandwiching flexwatt between expanded PVC might be okay but would still provide the air space. I have found expanded PVC to conduct heat quite well and the foamed interior probaby acts as an air space of sorts.

Again, I'd still use the physical air space for my personal peace of mind.

Chris ,

I use to think the "built-in heat" was somethin nice but after doing one here the ONLY way i will ever do any form of "sealed incage heat" is to provide several 1" min airholes in the floor of the cage and the cover and seal the top over the ENTIRE floor . I think when you do just your heated section it becomes a pain to clean the floor due to the rasied floor aspect.

The above post of me aboutthe 150 heating reading .. that was with a 30"x24"x12 cage i had just built for oneof my own snakes had the flexwatt attached to the bottom . I ALWAYS run flexwatt full steam before isend it out to test it for a hr . well when i checked the cages bottom had actually started to warp from the extreme 150 temp on the floor , it wasnt bad but you could see the bow where that 3ft strip was, i gunned it the ranco and was like OH S**T thats when i noticed it had no "air gap" i took added my feetto it and viola the temps wide open never saw over 105/110 which is warm to the touch , before it was scalding hot to the touch would have surely burned a snake or been most uncomfy to one ..

So in closing i need to clarify ... im not saying built in heats bad, wrong etc just not anything id ever use without venting below it the heat for airflow from below and provide atleasts 3/16" rubber bumpers on the cage.

Winston on ur post i hope it wasnt geared toward a answer i replied with ? I am not looking to promote or sell anything here just giving my advice on what i have actually witnessed first hand . I use a multitude of heating products and will suggest any or all of them all depending on the application they are used for . Due to that i dont even list them on the site as i will use many different ones . In closing the main reason i no longer post here is because many times iwould get posts removed when i post / reply to them for some odd reason ? yet others pimp alot ofthings here so i rarely ever post or read here much for these reasons and likely will be some time before i do because of it .
take care guys and no matter what ya do when using heat ALAWAYS check it 2xs before going full on with animals in and have a failsafe .. with that later
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Buisnesses come and go everyday, what keeps you here is how you treated the customer the day before....My Boa Can Kick Your Boas _ss!www.cheapcages.com

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edited sig file 2/8/05

I would highly recommend that you use an UTH that is acceptable for plastic. There are a number of brands that are for glass only, so ask questions before you purchase. I get almost all my supplies from http://www.bigappleherp.com as they are reputable and will answer all your questions if you call them. However, there are a couple other places I go for supplies but I find that the staff in some places are not very knowledgeable.

I have a lot of reptiles and spend about $10,000 a year caring for them, new housing, food, etc. I would say 90% of that $10,000 is spent at Big Apple. The reason for this is because the guy who owns it, Steven has been helping me with care advice for more than 8 years.

I am a loyal customer and many of you have seen me stand up for Big Apple whenever I see someone say something that is unfounded or simply not true. However, I have noted that most of these statements are made by competitors who simply want to sell their higher priced product and knock down a less expensive alternative.

Anyway, just my two cents but the answer again would be to get UTH units that are made for use with plastic containers. I use Dragon's Lair Mats at Big Apple but I know they have a new mat which looks good to me called the IntelliTemp Heat Mats.

Respectfully,

Winston