Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings!

Setting up a wood Hagen Vivexotic terrarium for my son, which will have a proportional stat and all the usual bells and whistles.

I live in Italy, so I'll be using products available in Europe. I keep a few milksnakes myself, and am using radiant hat panels, which do a great job in 36" long terrariums. These were purchased years ago and are still highly reliable combined with Microclimate B2 PULSE stats.

It seems that the radiant heating panels are not as popular as they once were. A company called HORTOSOL has a thin, rigid waterproof heating pad that is intended to be placed on the floor, but I'd like some input before I use this option.

I'd be using aspen as bedding, and the terrarium would have a large heavy water bowl, and some climbing branches, and perhaps some above ground plastic foliage. The setup would house a sub adult L. t. floridana ("BROOKSI"), so the larger terrarium would be appropriate for the snake.

Please give me your best solutions, and a tip as where to place the thermostat sensor, which would obviously be well secured in its position.

Thanks very much for your help!

I'd like to add that the terrarium's thickness is a bit over 1/2", so the aforementioned heating pad could be placed under the terrarium, as long as I attached "feet" under the setup to provide for an airspace.

Thanks again, and very interested in getting advice from the pros!

I'm going to go with a Habistat Reptile Radiator (75 watt) that is available in Italy. Thanks.

Sorry to see you didn't get any input on your setup, the unfortunate downside to the forums slowing drastically over the years. I'd like to see your setup once completed if you feel so inclined so share some photos of it.
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Reptiles Make The World Go Round.

Thanks, and I will post some photos once I've completed the terrarium.

For a brooksi, which is a good-sized colubrid as an adult, the radiant heat panel is excellent as you know. This is especially true when using a wood cage with a wood floor. A ceramic heat bulb is also effective in the same way, but you need a bulb guard for that if inside the cage. I see bulb guards avail in the UK. You can always make your own, but that is a pain.

If the cage floor is glass, then you could use a heat mat instead and put it under the cage - either taped or glued directly to the glass beneath the cage. The temperature controller probe would go right on the heat mat, secured underneath it.

If the cage floor is a composite material (aka particle board or melamine) and is thin enough, you could still attach a heat mat underneath if the ambient room temp is not too cold.

If the cage floor is wood or composite and is thick, what you do is cut a rectangle a bit larger than the heat mat, then silicon a piece of glass or expanded PVC plastic on top of the cutout. Then put your heat mat under that.

Thanks Mark. I will be using bilaminated plywood, and it will be well sealed. I am ordering Vivexotic Viva Aluminum Ventilation Rails which have hidden vents that completely address the aeration of the terrarium, and looks very sleek. The bottom rail is almost 4" high, allowing for a nice layer of aspen.