under tank heaters????

[boosted_dodge]

I know this has probably been talked about before, but I have been searching and gathering information on the ideal set up for a ball python and can't find the answer I'm looking for.

Will an under tank heater work with MDF? I built an enclosure for the snake that is 24"x12"x12" and used 3/4" mdf for most of it which was probably to thick, but I had lots of it laying around from building speaker boxes. or, would it be ok to put the heat pad on the inside of the enclosure, with a sheet of plastic and have the substrate right on top of that?

[joey]

you might try a human heating pad under a nice piece of thin slate and then put the substrate over that.

just an ideeer. :)

good luck!

[boosted_dodge]

thanks joey, i appreciate the advice. I've never had a snake before.

[mykee]

I woudl not go with the heat source in the enclosure. If it gets wet, and it will, you'll be in for a weenie roast in what used to be your living room, or a hair-raising experience.
I don't think that heat would permeate 3/4" MDF, as it is much denser than melamine, and the temps that you would need to get through it would be dangerous to use. Since you already built the cage, and heating it was an afterthought, you might have gotten yourself into a pickle.