Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay so right now I just installed a 150 watt CHE on a dimmer on the ceiling of the cage.Its a 4x2x2.Its heating the wood ceiling to 127 degrees, and 142 right up next to the fixture.
But its not really heating the enclosure.I have it in a fixture rated for 250 watts screwed directly on the wood and caging around the whole thing so the snake cant touch it.
I dont have a snake in it yet, Its still a work in progress.

NOW I do want to get a RHP but need to wait for a few months.
Should I put some of that tin/alum. flashing under the whole thing to prevent it heating the wood ceiling so much?

Couple of points -

1. CHEs direct heat down to the floor, so sometimes the air can still be fairly cool but the animal on the floor will still heat up nicely. They can be a bit deceiving especially if measuring air temps. Same with RHPs. But they work so well.

2. The above is true, but at some point the distance becomes crucial. Too much distance between bulb and floor and alot of heat is not reaching the floor.

What you can do is to use an electrical outlet box (metal) to mount the socket to. This lowers the distance between bulb and floor and helps to direct some of the unwanted socket heat into the metal instead of just to the wood.

140 deg is not dangerous, but having a metal utility box makes you much safer. They sell those ones for outdoor use, namely for security lights and such. They close completely and have side holes to mount a clamp to secure the power cord. If you want to be really safe, use a 3-prong cord and connect the green wire to the ulitiy box. Now you're talking. You can get a round box that is about 1.5 inches high then buy the extender to give you an additional 1.5 inches. That little 3 inches can help alot.

If using a bulb guard, attach some wood strips around the utility box so the bulb guard sits down enough to cover the bulb correctly.
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Mark

Thanks so much.Of course my tempgun had to die today too.
I just need this to work until I can afford a nice RHP.
I'll get my hubby to read your post and help out with this part.

Don't get the Radiant heat panel unless your room is very warm. They aren't alot better than a heat mat or flexwatt. I have used them and it didn't heat the enclosure anywhere near where i needed. I keep boas and have them in 4x2x16 high enclosures with the che mounted just as you described. I have near perfect temps. Even though I keep the boas in a basement which is usually 60-65 degrees. My warm side is 98 right under the che and the cool side all the way against the farthest wall is 78-80 depending. Your cage may be too tall I have had this problem with some earlier cages I built. If you go with my dimensions you will be good to go. I do have the problem with it heating the ceiling right above the che as well as the cage above it somewhat so I have to run the che on the cage on top down lower than the one on the bottom or I would over heat it. But i have successfully bred my boas in this setup for the past two years two different femals I might add. SO it apparently works very well.

I think your best option, or remedy, depends on the species you'll be keeping in the cage. Most terrestrial snakes won't make good use of a 2ft high cage and you end up having to heat a lot of wasted overhead space. Much like cathedral ceilings in homes.

If you have cage furnishings and a snake that can & will make good use of that cage height, then I suggest doing something like Mark suggested - lowering the CHEs within the cage. Otherwise, I suggest cutting your cage height down to somewhere between 15 - 18 inches. My Burmese & Reticulated Python cages are 18" high, I usually go lower on smaller species.

A lower cage height should also give you a much better temperature gradient from hot end to cool end. Also, with less space to heat the CHE won't be running as hard as it does now, therefore it won't heat the top of the cage, and/or bottom of the above cage, as much.

Best wishes!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

Don't know why I didn't tell you this..

You can lower the height of the cage by putting in a "false" ceiling. You attach 2x4s, furring strips, or whatever works for you around the perimeter of the walls well below the ceiling, then cover that with pegboard or plywood. I would go down by 8 inches at least like everyone else said.

24 inches is fine when using a basking shelf or branches. But for a snake on the ground, lower is better, and IMO 12-16 inches is best for a bigger cage like yours.

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Mark