Heating question for wood cage

[serpenteye]

For a home-made burm cage, made with wood ect.
What do people usualy use for heating? Overhead lamps?
Ceramic heat thingys??

[remsin76]

yea i want to build a wooden cage but i don't know how i'll be heating it. i usually use a lamp and a heating pad but do i jsut put the heating pa on the bottom of the wood? cause i dont think the heat will effectively heat the terrarium through the wood. thankjs

[Edwin]

I use a ceramic heat emitter (CHE). A lot of people also use heat mats, especially those made by Kane. Other choices are Radiant Heat Panels, or heat tape/heat rope.

Remsin76, you can put the heat mat inside the cage or under the cage, whichever is more effective. Just remember that if you place it under the cage, remember that there needs to be some airflow so that it does not overheat. If you place the heatmat inside the tank, make sure that it does not get hot enough to burn the snake, or to overheat the enclosure.

[Lisa]

We're using heat tape on one (left over from a previous project, waste not want not) and Heatwave 11X17 undertank heaters on the rest of our wooden cages. the heat wave is just like 11" heat tape only prewired (it costs a bit more but it won't void your insurance in canada).

[remsin76]

i never used heat tape before nor have i ever even seen it. can someone tell me about it? regarding controling temp, safety, effectiveness, where to buy, installation?? I appreciate it thanks.

[Auddi01]

i am going to make a wooden cage also, i plan on using carpet as the substrate, if i place the heat pad inside the cage, with the carpet lying on top of it, and i have a thermostat set on 80, will it melt my carpet? ANd will it be safe for my snake?

[Linds]

Heat tape is one of the widest used heating devices both breeders and keepers. It is sold by the foot and very economical. Its as safe as you make it, since you have to wire it yourself. It is not available in Canada due to the fact that it is not CSA approved for the forementioned reason. You can get it from herp supply stores all over the US. I prefer to use <a href="http://www.beanfarm.com">The Bean Farm</a>, they have great customer service and ship super fast. I received mine in 3 business days... that's handsdown the speediest shipping I have received from the States!

[eViL_KaRoT]

I am currently building a wooden cage for my boas. I am going to be using 11"X3' heat tape and a RHP on the top. If you are looking for info on Heat tape, here is a website that you can order it from. Heat tape

[stormyva]

I heat the floor of my 6x2 cage with a king size human heat pad from Walmart and use a 175 Watt CHE hooked up to a rheostat for general heating.
When I built the cage opted to use a 1/8" shower surround material framed out with 2x2's for the floor. It works great.... the thin material allows for excellent heat transfer and the sealed surface of the shower surround material looks good and is very easy to clean. Another advantage is that it is light so using it in the floor instead of melamine or plywood cut several pounds off the wieght of the cage.

(The bulb was only in there for the pic, the fixture now has the CHE with a protective cage around it.)

[Edwin]

Stormyva, thats a really nice interior!

[Invictus]

I looked into CHE's... holy @!#$ they were expensive! The pet store I went to was selling them for around $80! Anyone know of a cheap place for CHE's?

[eViL_KaRoT]

Check out Bigapple herpetological they have some really good prices on CHE's and RHP's. Here is a direct link to the prices on both.

CHE RHP

[Invictus]

Awesome.. thanks Karot. Now here's hoping they ship to Canada....

[Lisa]

I don't like CHE's or overhead heating for ground snakes. but that's just my opinion. I also don't like heating inside the cage, due to safety concerns.

[Edwin]

Invictus, CHEs last much much longer than regular light bulbs, I have had mine for over 3 years and they are still going strong.