Ceramic Heat Emitter vs Radiant Heat Panel

[Tiny Boidae]

I'm going to be building some stackable enclosures that measure, individually, 4'x2'x18" for some P. bairdi (including the male I already have) and maybe a short tail in the bottom one. For the rat snakes at least, I have my heart set on providing a basking shelf underneath the heat source, but with the ceramic heat emitter I don't think this would be practical with the vertical space it would consume. So, I was thinking about using heat panels instead but since it can be a little expensive to equip four cages like this, I want other people's opinions on them first.

What size panel would I need for the dimensions provided? And how do they affect the ambient temperature compared to the ceramic heat emitter? Would I need to cage it or would it be perfectly safe as is? And what brand would you recommend? Or if you have any other piece of advice or suggestions, I'd be open to hearing about it.

[bigsnakegirl785]

I'd do a 40 watt probably, maybe an 80 watt. I have 80 watts in my 4'x2'x2's and they heat great. If you're stacking the enclosures directly on top of each other, you will probably need to set the panels slightly lower so that the bottom one doesn't overheat the top one.

They heat the ambients pretty good, in my T12's they hold heat even if the room temp falls to 70-75F, but my wooden enclosures are like 3' tall so I have to keep the room temp around 80F. I want to install shelves in them, though.

You shouldn't need a cage, no. Just keep in mind if the panels are having to work too hard that it can dry the scales on their back if they have to hug it to keep warm. So keeping the room temp up so they don't have to be on all the time can be important. It shouldn't burn them, though.

[trailblazer295]

I would go with heat panels. More expensive but no risk of snakes being burned. You can get cages for a CHE but like you say height is an issue. A heat panel is only about an inch thick and will provde more even heating over a wider area instead of concentrated heat from a bulb.

[pet_snake_78]

I like heat panels for snakes a lot, they are safe, effective, and space efficient.