heating 4x2x2s

Hat are you guys heating your 4x2x2 melamine cages with. I got a sweet deal on 2 of them on craigslist today and I have them setup with 75w heat lights dry running right now and the heat is holding steady at 83* the humidity is a nice 55% and I'm worried going to a 90-100w light will eat alllll of the humidity. Cage has a nice sized dog dish for a water bowl and about 2" of woodchips for substrate.


Suggestions?

I use radiant heat panels to heat my 4x2x2 and 4x2x1 pvc cages.

I just built a 6x2x2 cage for my adult BCI and I was wondering about radiant heat as well. I found Kane heat mats too they are made for livestock sometimes they're called pig blankets. I can't decide between the two. Mostly because of thermostat probe placement since both radiant panels and kane heat mats are to be placed inside the cage. How do you place your probe wh00hoo69?

I used ultratherms for my boa cages. Sealed to the floor and then tiled down. Selaed with hot glue to keep water/pee out.

Drilled holes under the UTH for ventilation and then hot glued thermostat probe to one of the Ultratherms so they can not move it.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...nk/tankUTH.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...anktile003.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...lesdone002.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...k/100_1664.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14.../t-stat002.jpg

What are you going to house in it? I use heat tape for most of my cages and I use rhp on some of them but ive come to relize that retics tend to find ways to yank them out of the ceiling and pull all the cords out and everything. My burms never go near them or bother with them but the retics do all the time

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Originally Posted by Bruce1984

I just built a 6x2x2 cage for my adult BCI and I was wondering about radiant heat as well. I found Kane heat mats too they are made for livestock sometimes they're called pig blankets. I can't decide between the two. Mostly because of thermostat probe placement since both radiant panels and kane heat mats are to be placed inside the cage. How do you place your probe wh00hoo69?

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I drill a hole in the back for the probe and run it down the back / inside until about 1/2" away from the ground. I then bend the probe outwards towards the front. I secure the probe cord to the back using plastic and screws. I hope this makes sense. I do not currently have any pictures of the setup. It works great though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Denial

What are you going to house in it? I use heat tape for most of my cages and I use rhp on some of them but ive come to relize that retics tend to find ways to yank them out of the ceiling and pull all the cords out and everything. My burms never go near them or bother with them but the retics do all the time

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yeah im housing retics. I got an awesome deal on a 2.3 set, and have decided to stick with my 'tics. Thankfully for now they are all under 4' :D but i know not for long. Thanks for craigslist i now have 6 4x2x2s and 4 2x2x2 storange stands, all black, all in great condition to make a nice display wall in my living room. I just need to know how to heat the darn things. Ive heard RHP and CHEs so far, i know the bottom is too think for flexxwat and i know not to put it into the cage. Right now im doing a try run with i believe a 100w zoo med re bulb and its holding nice at 88-92* (depending on if the ac is on or not) and 55-60% humidity. I also am misting the cage every morning. humidity cycle goes 70% at 10am and at 930 the next morning it is around 53-57%. Which i dont think is all bad, and i dont mind the bright red glow, but it would be nice to not have the red glow and maybe put in some kind of strip light most likely UVBs because i have a bunch of surplus from when i used to keep chams and im sure a little bit of UVB wouldnt hurt them...even though they arent out in the day lol

im rambling sorry.

anyways, basically i have 6 4x2x2s, all for retics, and im still trying to figure out how to heat them.



plus i have a few boas and morphed het burms for sale too :)

Look at the picture a description I listed. This method works well with ultratherms. I do this to all cages this size.

Just lay the heat tape on the bottom and cover it with a flooring. Some people use rhp for retics but ive had nothing but problems with them using for retics. Retics are to curious. Oskar even pulls his flourescant lighting off the roof of his cage.

I have a quick question or two

I was wondering, If you put the heat pad, heat tape, or whatever, inside the enclosure, do you HAVE to tile the rest of it? or can you just put the heat pad in there, tape it down, tape the thermostat probe down, and then cover it with paper towels/newspaper?