melamine & flexwatt tape

[KevinV57]

I am building a cage with melamine and would like to heat the cage with flexwatt under the bottom of the cage. Does anyone
have any experience with this procedure. Is is safe or is it a fire
hazard? A friend built his cage with melamine and heats it successfully with an interior light bulb. I prefer heating the bottom of the cage for digestion factors. Anyone who has experience with this type of caging and heating options?

[Tim_Cranwill]

I would suggest insulating the heat tape from below with some thick Styrofoam. This will make it so that the heat tape won't have to "waste" as much heat trying to penetrate though the malamine.

[BOA68]

I use melamine for all my enclosures. The problem is the thickness. What is the thickness of your melamine? I use 3/4". It is too thick for Flexwatt. The tape will have to reach temps that are way to high in order to penitrate the melamine and then it won't be enough to heat the tank because it won't be enough heat. What i do is cut peices out od the sides of the enclosures and fit the holes with 1/4" plexiglass and then put the Flexwatt on the Plexi. Just make sure you put it on the sides somewhere that the snake cannot be in contact with it for prolonged periods of time.

[Tim_Cranwill]

Or you could router out a space on the bottom of the floor for the tape to sit. That would mess with the integrity of the enclosure a bit though. :)

[BOA68]

I wouldn't recommend putting the tape inside the enlcosure. Is that wut u r suggesting?? I don't know if i would do that on the outside of the tank either because then the flexwatt would be stuck directly to the chipboard instead of the melamine coating. That might be a fire hazard.

[Phrasty]

i had the same prob, what i did though was cut out a space over the heating element and dropped in a 16" ceramic tile. that heated up fairly quickly as well as it held the heat very well. hope that helps.


*edit* oh i forgot. what i did also was to make a little "box" to go in the enclosure (two slats of wood running from front of the enc. to the back) and just cut rabbetts on the insides of the slats so the tile sits in a groove in a way. damn, kinda hard to explain without a diagram...lol well if you can wait a couple days, im working on my enclosure now, ill post pics when im done. lol

[latazyo]

heat tape can not get hot enough to start wood on fire, faulty ELECTRICAL work is what causes fires

there's no reason it can't go on the bottom of the cage and heat through the melamine like mine and millions of others does

[BOA68]

Thats what i ment. When used properly it won't get hot enough, but there is still exposed wood, so if anything does go wrong with the wiring the wood is right there. Whereas with the melamine coating you have a little more protection because it isnt as flamable as the chipboard.

[latazyo]

well put, people put paranoia into other people too much when dealing with this issue

yes, it can get too hot and burn your animal, NO it can't get too hot and burn your house down, yes, an electrical problem can cause the fire

[nlspears]

I use flexwatt "IN" my melamine cage with no issues. I placed the flexwatt under a big piece of tileboard and sealed the edges with silicone. I routed about a quarter inch of the floor for the connections to sit flush.

[Boachic]

I use flexwatt "IN" my melamine cage with no issues. I placed the flexwatt under a big piece of tileboard and sealed the edges with silicone. I routed about a quarter inch of the floor for the connections to sit flush.

nlspears,

How thick is your melamine cage, cause I was thinking the same thing but as someone said on this thread paranoia sets in, cause of what some other prople say, but hey if you have no problem with it, I guess it's ok, I just have to monitor it.

[Justcage]

I agree with the plext and routering. This is really even better than a plactic cage using it underneath the cage. Allows for more control and the element does not have to work as hard to get to the temp syou are looking for. A thermostat is a must is both applications!

[Boachic]

That's great then, cause I'm not clueless anymore, LOL>LOL!! I know exactly what I'm gonna do, I just wasn't sure, if the heat tape would heat the enclosure up? but wait a minute....would it heat up a 6' enclosure? just using the 11" flexwatt heat tape?
Damn, just when I thought I was threw...:( .

[nlspears]

Originally posted by Boachic
nlspears,

How thick is your melamine cage, cause I was thinking the same thing but as someone said on this thread paranoia sets in, cause of what some other prople say, but hey if you have no problem with it, I guess it's ok, I just have to monitor it.

My melamine is .75 in. I assume that is how thick most melamine is sold as.

[nlspears]

I had to use a radient heat panel on the ceiling to get proper temps for my cage, and my cage is 4'. The flex provide a good hot spot for my boa, but alone it doesn't get the ambient to where it need to be, therefore I got the heat panel.

[Boachic]

The radient panels, where is it placed? inside? are they suppose to be covered, like if you added a CHE in so the boa doens't get burned?

Thanks again, & for your patience ;)

[nlspears]

Most radient heat panels aren't hot enough to the touch to burn the snake. I placed mine inside on the ceiling on the same side as the flex. I used a desert ray heat panel from Big Apple Herps. I put foil and a thin piece of foam insulation to deflect the rising heat back into the cage. That is why is looks beveled.

http://www.sn-it.net/picture_library/IMG_0252.JPG

[Boachic]

cool, thanks nlspears, for the pic, I needed to see that.