Okay so here is what I have. I just built a 6 foot tall snake rack for ball pythons. It holds 11 tubs and is completely enclosed except the front, where the tubs slide out. I am using 6 foot of 11 inch flexwatt for back heat. It is taped to the back panel. I am also using a herpstat intro thermostat and have the probe taped directly to the heat tape.

I have had everything plugged in for about 15 hours now. The thermostat says that the desired temperature is 105 degrees F. But it is sitting at 89.7 and has been for hours. Before you freak out, it isn't set to make the snakes 105 degrees. Just the tape. As we speak the tape is at 89.7 and the hot part of the tub is at 76. Could I have faulty heat tape? I did a lot of research online before starting and read how you have to be careful with flexwatt because it gets so hot. I barely feel any heat when touching the tape.

I have checked all of my wire connections and everything seems good. I left a 1 inch gap running down the sides on the inside of the enclosure. Do you think I should run more heat tape down the sides towards the back? If there is a way around this I would prefer not to. Maybe I misunderstood heat tape, but I thought it should get above 90 degrees pretty easy. When I set it up using the 11 inch heat tape I actually thought that I would have to drill holes in the front of the tubs to get the temperature right.

Any help or suggestions would be really appreciated. Right now I have 7 snakes, in 7 fish tanks, with 7 heat pads just sitting in my room. This is taking up way to much space. I am really looking forward to moving them all into the rack... if I can get the temperatures right.

Thank you,

Colby