Boaphile Heating

[laceybailey]

Hey guys,
I'm sure this has been a topic before but hey, lets talk about it again. ;P

I am going to get the boaphile 421d and have questions on heating. I have tried to contact him to ask personally but am still waiting to hear back so i would like your opinions.

Right now I do not own any boaphile cages. So the cage won't be stacked. But in the future if i like the cages i will start to stack them. With that being said, I don't know if I need heat tape AND a RHP. I've heard so many mixed feelings and would like to see what everyone thinks. It would be lifted off the floor, on an inside wall. But the issue is that my house gets really cold in the winter and really hot in the summer (utah weather and my house doesn't heat up or cool down too easy.) So i want to get something that will work year-round.

Question is... should i get flexwatt and heat panel installed? Also, what wattage of RHP should i look into?

THANKS!

[alessia55]

I have 2 boaphiles, and only have flexwatt on them. They came assembled with the flexwatt already installed. Attached to thermostats, both cages get heated perfectly.

[laceybailey]

Do you have any issues with really cold rooms that they may be in?

[alessia55]

Originally Posted by laceybailey

Do you have any issues with really cold rooms that they may be in?

They are both in a room that has A/C (I live in south Florida, so you can imagine how much we crank up the A/C inside). Regardless, I have no issues heating the cages with just the flexwatt & thermostat.

[laceybailey]

A question regarding the flexwatt.. what size, first of all do you recommend? and also do you have a hot spot? i have been trying to figure that out. If i just did the heat tape on the bottom how would i create the higher heat on the one side? sorry if that's a dumb question, i've just imagined the heat tape would run along the whole cage

[alessia55]

Originally Posted by laceybailey

A question regarding the flexwatt.. what size, first of all do you recommend? and also do you have a hot spot? i have been trying to figure that out. If i just did the heat tape on the bottom how would i create the higher heat on the one side? sorry if that's a dumb question, i've just imagined the heat tape would run along the whole cage

I bought the flexwatt from boaphile, already installed on the cage. It runs on a little under half of the cage, I think. I spoke with a rep of boaphile and they were able to set me up with the right size of flexwatt, etc.

[laceybailey]

Maybe I should just call instead of sending the email. I sent an email a few days ago and no response. Are you happy with your set up?

[alessia55]

Originally Posted by laceybailey

Maybe I should just call instead of sending the email. I sent an email a few days ago and no response. Are you happy with your set up?

Very much so.

[laceybailey]

awh! so pretty! i'm very jealous! i want to get my order in ASAP so mine can look as good as that!! great job!

[Theweinz]

If your room gets into the mid-60s, you may want to use both. I have a stack of 4 Boaphiles and I have RHPs in all of them. Having them stacked helps to maintain the temp, there is some bleed off heat that goes into the cage above. In the winter my room gets into the upper 60s, but I did not want to use both RPH and flex watt. Instead I purchased an oil heater (Walmart) and it brings the ambient temp up to 75 in the room. With such a base temp the RHPs do a great job, every cage has a 10 degree heat gradient. The heater does not cost much to buy or run. I would consider one. Also, call Jeff directly. He will be glad to get you set up. I like my boaphile cages, more importantly, my snakes love them!

[Gungirl]

If you have a proper size RHP you wouldn't need flexwatt. Although if you use flexwatt you may still need additional heat. I use Radiant heat in all my vivs and I don't need any other heat source. My house is normally 60-65f months out of the year.