how to heat melamine enclosures?????

[Matt]

ok, i need to build some new enclosures and have been tossing and turning about how to heat them
how does everyone heat their melamine (or similar) enclosures?

options:
heat panels.....way to expensive (since I am building alot)
lights.....arboreal snakes can burn themselves, or do people like the hardwear cloth as a cage around them?
other options?

i want to get some ideas of what people use and what they prefer....pics are great, or just describe the setup...
thanks all

[asphyxia]

Matt

I use the Exo Terra heat wave, pluged into the reostat that i built from a post found here.. hmm i forgot whos at the moment any ways i am very pleased with my results some pice in the gallery

Brian

[jason h]

another option would be to order some heat tape from the states (bean farm i heard is a good source) you can buy it by the foot and its easy to wire up to a dimmer so you can ajust the temps.

[asphyxia]

Jason, Matt,

I was going to go down that road untill i learned that that heat tape was not CSA approved. which would mean that if a fire was caused by the tape, the insurance would not cover the losses so I decided to take the heat pad route.

Also, Jeff is selling some heat pads in the store at a reasionable costs.

Matt, I bet you could use 1 large heat pad to heat two cages 30x18x18

Brian

[Matt]

I have always used lights in the past, that way you get the heat and the light. im a little worried about using heat pads or panels because i like to see in the enclosures and that would mean i would have to light it another way

i would like the enclosures to be stakable without putting a light on top. Its just frusterating me a bit
thanks for the responses!

[jason h]

for lighting you can pic up at canadian tire has 18" floresance (made by globe) for 7.99 they work great and are cheaper to run than incandesents i use them mounted inside the enclosure they are covered and dont get hot enough to hurt your snake

[asphyxia]

"Great Minds Think alike"

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/985cage_building_nin_use_1_071.jpg

[Matt]

sounds good, but dont the fixtures for the lights cost like $30-$40
jason, is that $7.99 for the bulb?
thx

[asphyxia]

24.95 @ homedepot for the one shown

[jason h]

nope the globe ones are the fixture and the bulb,you just gotta look for them cause they usually hide em way below or way above the 30-40 dollar ones (Im a bargon shopper)(can afford more snakes that way)!!!

[Matt]

sweet, thanks jason... not a bad price,
(i need like 8-10 enclosures), so its gonna get up there, but thats a really good price
thx guys
p.s your enclosure looks great brian

[asphyxia]

Thanks Matt, if you need them I have step-by-step pics
I can email ya

Good luck
Brian

[Matt]

ya, that'd be great thanks, always looking for new ideas
reptilescanada@hotmail.com

thanks!!

[asphyxia]

ok Matt there at work i will send tomorrow I
just sent some to NUNO aswell

[Matt]

thanks brian!

[Lovely Monica]

Hey,

Hey we ordered like 200 ft of heat tape from the Bean farm and they heat our Melamine Cages. Easy to put the tape and the wireing together. Expensive but worth it. ;)

Good Luck...

Monica

[Doug & Deb]

If you want to heat the tanks the cheapest way we have found is the eves trough heating line that is available at home depot. You can get it in different lengths and is very inexpensive to run. You will have to hook up a dimmer switch in order to adjust the temperature. We use the silver duct tape to adhere it to the tank and that way the tape heats as well and gives you a bigger heat surface. You can also put ceramic tiles on top of the tape so you have a large heated surface (this is something we are currently trying). Hope this info helped and if you have anymore questions just email us @ ddgrills@rogers.com

[Lisa]

Another thing you might try is the rope light.

[Matt]

so, does heat tape, actually heat through melamine?
I had a probe on my heat tape the other day and it only heated up to about 96 degrees....does this heat actually transfer through the melamine ofr enough of a hot spot?
...or maybe my heat tape isnt heating up enough?

thanks all

[dead bob]

My heat tape will reach over 130f. This will be more than adequate to heat through melamine. I recently just finished an enclosure made out of 5/8 inch plywood. I routed out 1/4 inch of wood for the heat tape because I was also concerned about the heat getting through so that left me with 3/8 inch of wood left. With a layer of repti-bark for substrate, I am getting constant temps of 90f right over the tape. Remember that if you dont use a heavy layer of substrate and only use newspaper or paper towels, you will definitley need a dimmer to control the heat as it will heat the wood to well over 100f. The repti-bark is dissipating the heat nicely in my enclosure.

Also, invest in an infra-red thermometer. The stick on the wall or probe type thermometers will not accurately guage the temps of your substrate or the heat tape. They are made more specifically for ambiant air temps. With an infra-red thermometer, its just point and click and you have your temp instantly. Radio Shack just had theirs on sale for around $30US and I have no complaints with it, it works very well.

One other thing to consider, if you can, is to dedicate a room just to your herps. I have added a large radiant heater to my herp room to keep the ambiant air temp around 84f. This way you can keep all your cages at a good temp and only have to provide individual hot spots. This will save you money in the long run over having several different heat sources in all your enclosures.

[Matt]

thanks, does this mean that since my tape is only reaching about 96, i have a weak connection or hooked it up poorly?
thanks

[dead bob]

It's possible. Make sure that when you hook up the connectors, you use a pair of pliers and really snug them down. The copper strip is coat in plastic and you need to make sure you make a good connection through it. My heat tape and all my UTH's, which are basically covered heat tape, all reach over 130f, so your's should too. If you can, melting the plastic away and soldering the wire directly to the copper strip will give you the best connection. Just throw some electrical tape over the bare connection afterwards.

Heres a link to the thermometer (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F007%5F013%5F003%5F000&product%5Fid=22%2D325) I have and it is still on sale for $29.99 US. Dont know if they ship to Canada but it would be worth checking out. This is the cheapest price I have seen for these types of thermometers and they work great.

[Matt]

thanks bob!!!

[dead bob]

;)

[dead bob]

Oh, forgot one thing about the thermometer. Cheap 'ol Radioshack doesnt include a battery so if you order the thermometer, order a battery too...lol