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I'm going to heat my cages with a 1/2" heat rope designed for keeping pipes and rooftops from freezing. Mainly because I am in the trade and got a steal on the product, pretty much at the distributors cost.

My plan is to secure the rope underneath each cage section, which in turn would also be the ceiling of the cage above it. This in my mind would create belly heat for the cage above, and air or radiant heat for the cage below.

I am going to loop the tape back and forth across the leftmost 1/4 of each cage (48" cages) and secure it to the melamine with some insulated nylon wire holders designed for standard 1/2" romex cable. I will run the heat system off of a BAH-1000 Big Apple Herp thermostat.

Does this sound acceptable as far as heating the cages goes? Each cage would have belly heat below it, and the ceiling above it (the floor for the next cage) would have radiant heat as well. As long as the melamine will transfer the heat it should work like a charm.

The product states that it doesn't excede 100 degrees F surface temp even run wide open due to a proprietary design, and can be used with plastic pipe (PVC pipe) without any type of external temp control, so I am comfortable that it wouldn't be a problem with the melamine being that I will be running a thermostat to control it.

Sorry so long, comments / suggestions always welcome.

Dan.
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"Colubrid-aphilia", adj; An inordinate love of Colubrids.

I currently have 4 racks that use heat rope. When I first switched to heat rope/cable, I was concerned that it would not work as well as flexwatt which I had used for years. It definitely does work as well, at least for me. I was warned about wrapping/coiling up any excess cable. I was told to not let the cable touch itself. This could lead to burn out. The insulation would melt in that area. So I would be careful about how you position it in the melamine.
I'm curious, just how thick is the melamine your using? Also, if you router a groove or space inside of each cage bottom, what are you going to cover it with?

>>I currently have 4 racks that use heat rope. When I first switched to heat rope/cable, I was concerned that it would not work as well as flexwatt which I had used for years. It definitely does work as well, at least for me. I was warned about wrapping/coiling up any excess cable. I was told to not let the cable touch itself. This could lead to burn out. The insulation would melt in that area. So I would be careful about how you position it in the melamine.
>>I'm curious, just how thick is the melamine your using? Also, if you router a groove or space inside of each cage bottom, what are you going to cover it with?

The cable I am using is self regulating and the manufacturer claims and advertises on the product itself that it can be wrapped and crossed over itself with no risk of overheating or meltdown.

I'm not going to route any grooves (no router) but just mount it to the underside of the cage bottom.
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"Colubrid-aphilia", adj; An inordinate love of Colubrids.

I like the idea of routing a groove but with the 1/2" diameter I'm afraid you'll affect the integrity of the floor.

I think you should just set it up and try it. Set the cages up on some cleats and see how well the heat transmits through.

If you don't like the performance then there are other options. My favorite is to cut a large rectangle out of the floor of the cage. Cover the rectangle with Sintra, linoleum, or FRP and then attach the heat cable to the underside of the floor. Makes the cage more durable and easy to clean as well as providing a safety air space for the heat source.

>>I like the idea of routing a groove but with the 1/2" diameter I'm afraid you'll affect the integrity of the floor.
>>
>>I think you should just set it up and try it. Set the cages up on some cleats and see how well the heat transmits through.
>>
>>If you don't like the performance then there are other options. My favorite is to cut a large rectangle out of the floor of the cage. Cover the rectangle with Sintra, linoleum, or FRP and then attach the heat cable to the underside of the floor. Makes the cage more durable and easy to clean as well as providing a safety air space for the heat source.

Chris,

It's 1/2" wide and only 1/8" thick, more of a flat oval shape (actually it's the same shape as regular three conductor home wiring, or romex).

The air gap is no problem, the bottom cage sits on a base that has wheels and no top to it, the cage sits on the two end supports and the middle brace and the rest of the base is wide open (when viewed from above), and each of the other three cages the rope would mount to the roof of the cage and have 12 inches of airspace under it (the cage below).

I'll give it a whirl and see what happens.
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"Colubrid-aphilia", adj; An inordinate love of Colubrids.

I could have sworn I replied to this post...

>>It's 1/2" wide and only 1/8" thick, more of a flat oval shape (actually it's the same shape as regular three conductor home wiring, or romex).

Okay, I know what you're talking about. I used it many years ago and it worked well.

If necessary I think you could route a narrow groove in the bottom of the cage and route the cable through on its side. That's if not enough heat is transmitting through in the first place.

Let us know how it works.

Hey Chris,

thanks for the reply. The heating is giving me fits at the moment. The cages were already built when I got them, as far as the melamine goes: they were in use at a grocery store as a bakery rack. That's gonna make it hard to route any groves in the bottoms, least of which I don't have a router as of yet, ha ha.

I started this with a "budget buildup" in mind, but it's snowballed since then. The only good part was the free melamine boxes (48 x 24 x 12 with a partition already in the middle to make each box have two 48 x 12 x 12 cages in each). The lights were a big hit at around $13 each, and I could have gotten by without them, but I like to see my Hondurans when they are out.

I can not wait to get these done, I'm tired of the tanks and clips on the screen tops, it's a hassle every time I want to feed or water or play with my babies.

Should have glass in them and be wired with lights this week, and potentially get the heat sorted out by or over the weekend. Too much work family = not enough time to play in the garage.
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"Colubrid-aphilia", adj; An inordinate love of Colubrids.