Up until this point I've been using large aquariums and infrared lights for my BPs, but it's not a great arrangement because I'm ending up heating up an entire corner of the house, and all the humidity is escape through the screen tops. So....

My dad and I are in the process of designing some snake enclosures and I'd love some advice. I'd like to have three stackable cages, each 48in x 18 x 18. They will have glass on the front and the rest will be wood. He would like to use 5/8 in plywood, would this work? He mentioned that plywood is often made of pine, and I know pine is bad for snakes. Would it still be a problem if the cage is stained and coated in polyurethane?

Also, I won't be using lights to heat (thank goodness) since the cages are stackable. I was thinking of using Big Apple Flexible Heat Rope or some other type of heating cable on ~ 40-50% of the inside to provide a temperature gradient with a thermostat to prevent against overheating. Does anybody have any experience with a set up like this? Or any advice as to alternate heat sources? Neither of us are master electricians, so I don't want to do anything overly elaborate.

Ideally, these cages below are similar to what we'd like mine to look like (I just grabbed these images off of google)