Cage material selection and heat tape

[frogvet]

Hi,

I am in the beginning stages of planning/building a dual cage for my ball pythons. I am thinking of using 1/2" MDF board because it is cheap and light weight. I am trying to design the cage to be a single unit instead of 2 stacked on top of each other. I would like to use Flexwatt for belly heat and this is what I need help with. My design is basically a box with a shelf in it to divide top and bottom. The front will be a single piece with cut out rectangles for the doors (haven't decided on hinges or sliding yet). Wish I had some fancy graphic for you but I hope you can follow my slapdash descriptions. If i were to secure the heat tape to the bottom of each cage do you have suggestions on what to place over it? I initially thought of putting plexiglass on small risers above the tape but I'm sure there is a better material. Are there any plastic materials that are easy to cut and install? additional consideration must be put into the removal of this piece for flex watt maintenance (if necessary). Would it be reasonable to simply put the tape underneath the bottom of each cage? will heat be sufficiently conducted through 1/2" MDF board? I have considered using melamine for the bottom of each cage but it still doesn't get around this problem. ANY suggestions are much appreciated.

Thank!

[jmcrook]

MDF will be incredibly difficult to keep clean. It's essentially sawdust glued together with formaldehyde. Very absorbent and not very forgiving of damages, sanitizing a porous wood fiber cage would be a nightmare. It will also not be light weight once you assemble a combined two cages out of it. Melamine would be a better option imo, though still not lightweight. Not sure how well heat would be conducted through either of those materials but you could use RHP with either. Hope this is helpful without being discouraging. I use MDF somewhat regularly for making woodcuts and mounting large drawings as an artist/printmaker and based on how it performs I wouldn't recommend it for its ease of cleaning by any means.


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[Sauzo]

No idea about the material but flexwatt can heat through 1/2" easily. My AP cages use 1/2 PVC and I use flexwatt for all of them and it works just fine.

[frogvet]

Yes, I know the MDF isn't sealed in any manner. I was hoping to get around that by sealing it one of two ways, either with a spray/paint product or using adhesive lining that is non absorbent. The reasons I am considering MDF over melamine or PVC (are they the same things?) is that my local hardware stores only have 3/4", which will be heavy compared to 1/2" MDF, and it is more expensive. I may need to bite the bullet and just use those materials but I still come across the same issue of how to provide belly heat. I would love to do RHPs but they are expensive enough that I would just continue using my current separate glass cages with flex watt or buy new stackable cages.

[jclaiborne]

Melamine is essentially heavy particle board with a veneer over it that if sealed correctly protects against damage caused by moisture. PVC is Polyvinyl Chloride (think of sprinkler lines). There is multiple type of PVC, but it is going to cost more than wood.

[frogvet]

No idea about the material but flexwatt can heat through 1/2" easily. My AP cages use 1/2 PVC and I use flexwatt for all of them and it works just fine.

Yah, I can imagine plastic conducts the heat quite well. Im just less sure if it will make its way through melamine or other wood products

[mrhoyo]

Yah, I can imagine plastic conducts the heat quite well. Im just less sure if it will make its way through melamine or other wood products

PVC foam is actually a better insulator than MDF, an R value of around 1 vs 0.5 for 1/2" of each.

I'm in the UK so it might be different but melamine faced MDF and chipboard is available in a variety of thicknesses and 1/2" or 12mm is quite common. It, along with raw MDF, is also available in moisture resistant varieties for use in bathroom furniture.
Foam like Komatex is about as heavy as MDF of the same thickness but is waterproof.
There are also some lightweight boards available which have corrugated paper between MDF skins but these are quite expensive.

If you're planning to use a wood based material I'd definitely recommend a melamine faced board over raw MDF. You can always paint or apply a waterproof sealant to raw MDF but it will end up costing more and taking longer. If you need high humidity or a lot of moisture then plastic is your best option.

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