Radiant heat panel advice needed quick!

[Shad0w]

Greetings,

I need some advice...

Tommorow Im going to pick up two radiant heat panels from PCpets.

They have two sizes,

one 11X17
the other 11X30 (or about that)

I got two vision type arboreal cages I need to heat, they are approx 24X24X28

My question,

Will the 11X17 mounted on one side of the tank (will cover almost 1/2 of the top of the cage) be enough to heat these arboreal cages?

Will they be able to radiate enough heat to warm the substrate underneath it approx 24 inches away?

What sort of temps can one get with them?
BTW... snakes to be housed are two Jungle carpet pythons.
Anyone else use RHP's for thier carpets?

Any advice is appreciated :D

[BoidKeeper]

Will the 11X17 mounted on one side of the tank (will cover almost 1/2 of the top of the cage) be enough to heat these arboreal cages?
You better hope so if it's all coming tomorrow.lol
But seriousely, I use one know and I have another one waiting to be used. Will it heat up the substrate from 24" away? Probably but to do so the top perch will most likely be too hot for anything. They get really hot. How are you controlling them?
Cheers,
Trevor

[Shad0w]

They are not comming tommorow.. I was gunna go buy them tommorow :)

Gunna use rheostat to control them...

[Shad0w]

Boidkeeper,

What dimensions are yours? and what size of cage u heating?

[Shad0w]

bump

[Mark]

Shadow I'm using the smallest one on a 4x2x1 and it keeps the cage nice and warm. I'm glad I went with the smaller one because being run flat out the cage hits 110 on the hot side and 80-90 on the cold side when I was testing ti before I put it on a dimmer. It's not as high as your but thoswe small panels get nice and hot.

[BoidKeeper]

I'm using the smallest one in a vison that is 36"x18"x18".
Cheers,
Trevor

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

BOB:

Radiant heat panels are the best way to go over anything on the market than can naturally mimic nature and the sun for our animals. When I first heard about these they weren' t even offered in Canada so I spent a heavy coin for my first 30 units from USA from the Manufacturer itself. Now over the years there are lots of locations offering them and somewhat copying the design as well. In my book nothing beat radiant heat other than nature itself. So the investment you are about to do is both better for you and the animals. A good quality designed unit from the originator lasts for years and after I checked into I heard numbers up to 27 years and more, so that is a great benefit for you - simple cost - low maintenance best heat possible. Another beneifit is most are built super thin and cover very little space on the ceilings of the cages that use them.

The ones I use are 12" x 24" x 1" from Pro Products in the USA.

PRO PRODUCTS (http://www.pro-products.com/)

Below is a panel seen attached to the ceiling of its cage with a probe next to it to control the panel and its needs.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2330cage_002-med.jpg

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2330cage_003-med.jpg

Above red circled areas is the prode of the thermostat I use with them but bought separate.

In your use the panels seem a bit large for your needs and if they have smaller ones it is best to go that way as well. Although the units you describe will work for the Jungles being they are pythons that use all the space in a cage and will regulate themselves through the cage if you provide them with branches for height and shelter boxes on ground level.

I do recommend getting a these types of thermostats or better over just using a simple rheostat. The ones I use are so sensitive to radiant heat output that the animals core temps are exactly what I set and want in my collections.

The same size units I use are in ETB cages as well except I use 1 and divide a cage for the 1 only for 2 ETBs. Cage is divided with a solid divider almost up to the ceiling just giving enough clearance for the panels to be in 2 cages.

Well hope this helps.

Cya...

Tony

[Shad0w]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the info... in fact, those are the exact thermostats I use... Goodie!

Do you bother with a dimmer or just rely on the thermostat?

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

BOB:

For the last 3 plus years I just used the thermostats and the panels, no dimmer. We are now switching over to high end thermostats like....

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2330double_thermostat_000-med.jpg

At the moment we are testing these units for a 4 month observation and collecting data to see if they are doing what our facility needs. The current ones posted above work fine but we are thinking a safe guard like you mentioning a dimmer but these units are industrial built and have a 2 system in place in case 1 fails. Nothing is full proof but this will work for us.

Cya....

Tony

[BoidKeeper]

Sweet Tony they look awesome. Do tell me more.
Cheers,
Trevor