heating/blacklight/rope light

[fanmaninacan]

Hey

At home Depo i seen this type of rope light..?

is this the same thing as heat rope?????
does it give off heat?
if so how much...

N i might be getting a 4 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet melamine enclosure/...
What would be the right wattage of bulb----my basement, its normally 74F ....any 1 know a good watage to try??...
and what size heat pad shold i use to heat up the cage....(a heat pad that is found everywhere)(zoomed)

Or is there a better way of heating the cage at night...There is only 1 socket for a bulb in the enclosure---
i also was thinking of getting a night bulb(black Bulb) and placeing a floresent light in there....I got a ton of em...(so i would always leave the black light on..n turn off the florsent light of at night...

but it will only drop by like 3F or 5f at night-----because of the overall basement temp....

I can save alot more if i get the florsent fixture---since i already have it..lol

Thanks
T.P

rope lights are lights, but they do give off some warmth, do a search and you should find the old thread. just use a regular human heatpad, just get one thats water proof (I think wal-mart has some for about $14USD). Black lights give off UV rays and are bad for any length of time, use a red bulb instead. If money isn't really an issue get a radient heat panel and a florescent fixture then your done.

[Invictus]

As for the wattage of the bulb, I guess it depends on what you are housing in there. If you want to raise the temp into the high 80s / lower 90s, I'd go with a 100 watt. If you need lower heat, go with a 75.

[fanmaninacan]

Its gonna house a BCI...
R u shure Black light Is bad for snakes?

[Lisa]

We use under tank heaters for that. works great, and nothing inside the cage to hurt the snake.

[Lisa]

Originally posted by fanmaninacan
Its gonna house a BCI...
R u shure Black light Is bad for snakes?

constant exposure to UV is bad for any animal. how often do you hear "use sunscrean to protect yourself from uv rays"?

[Edwin]

Constant exposure to black light also damages the retinas of your snakes (and yours).

[V.hb]

First off, i think it all depends on what your housing.. Most animals will be fine with that nightime room temp. If the enclosure is off the floor, and your room temp is roughly 74-75 degrees, a well insulated enclosure will still hang about 77-78 degrees if its well heated in the daytime.. Just focus on the daytime heat. Get yourself some regular heat lamps and shut them down at night.

[reptile boi]

Isn't melamime a bad thing to use for building an enclosure? If you goto ************* and somewhere on the snakes froum it says that plywood is much better. Any ideas?

[Edwin]

It depends. Melamine is basically dust and glue, and if it is not properly sealed, your enclosure may be ruined. Melamine is also really heavy. On the plus side, melamine is cheap, and comes with laminated sides which are water resistant.

There are many types of plywood. Outdoor plywood for building fences and decks have been treated with chemicals to prevent mold etc. and offgas like crazy, which is harmful to your pets. Furniture grade plywood is suitable for building an enclosure, but you still have to make sure it is properly sealed/painted. Depending on the different grades of plywood you buy, prices will differ.

Hope this helps.