Heating your rack system?

What is generally the easiest most cost efficient and safe way to keep your ball pythons warm while kept inside a rack system..? Thanks in advance for your input. Asking because I have a 950 gram male in a 30 gal tank right now with a heat lamp (which obviously wont work with a rack system) and I am suppose to pick up two females tomorrow one at 1000 grams and the other at 1500 grams.. Tanks aren't practical at this point so I would like any suggestions. Thankyou

Heat tape / flexwatt are probably the most popular forms of heating racks. Heat cable is used every now and then but not very often. Some people opt for heating the entire room but thats only efficient for larger collections.

Yes. Flexwatt heat tape is the most efficient to an extent.
As long as your room temp runs at least 75 degrees, flexwatt works great. It doesn't do such a great job in a room with lowered temps. It will run at a much higher temp to achieve the set temp when the room is cold.

For example, it could take the flexwatt to run at 130 degrees to reach a 90 degree hot spot in the tub in a cold room. That isn't safe or efficient. Flexwatt isn't designed to run over ~100 degrees, so you're risking flexwatt malfunction at that point.

Another option is just heating the entire room as the previous poster said.

i though heat tapes are safe up to 110f? i need 98-100 to maintain a 90-93f hotspot is my rack gonna catch on fire lol

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Originally Posted by threezero

i though heat tapes are safe up to 110f? i need 98-100 to maintain a 90-93f hotspot is my rack gonna catch on fire lol

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I wrote an approximate temp. (~100)
But I am pretty sure Rich from Reptile Basics mentioned the max safe temp is 105.
Either 100 or 105, you should still be fine.
If you're really worried, you can just lower your temps 1-2 degrees. That way your snakes will still be within a good hotspot range as well as a safer flexwatt temp.

There usually is a bit of tolerance in such specs to accommodate for inaccuracy of thermometers but at or near 100ºF is the max operational temp of most flexwatt. The question in my mind has two answers. The most convent is clearly flexwatt but I would not say the safest.

Flexwatt is a great product but it does get quite hot, I always run a max temp test to see (carefully monitored) what the max is I stopped my flexwatt in the 160º range and it was still climbing at that point. Not safe maxed out at all, it is hot enough to actually do damage to itself why the manufacturer states it must always be regulated. I would not use flexwatt with out a failsafe ever. It also is as safe as the person doing the wiring. If someone with knowledge and skill does it it is safer than someone whom has never done it before. In Canada if you are a business to be legal it must be done by an electrician this starts to question the convenience a lot.

For safety there are a number of lower density heaters on the market that have restricted voltage and or wattage they simply do not get super hot ever. Ultratherm, intellitemp, exoterra rainforest are a few I know of. (I dislike the exoterras but...) I have exoterra and ultratherms they in the same max temp tests both hit around 100º and stopped and held this for ages. This would be the safest even in the event of a T-stat failure there is not much worry as 100ºF is not going to cause permeant harm to the snakes and not going to damage the UTH or rack. This IMO is the safest but not very easy. If 100ºF is not hot enough to hold correct temps the room is too cool.

Thanks guys for all your input!!! I ended up buying a 14' length of 50w 110v heat wire by zoo med and taped it underneath a plastic tub, which I have my male spider and female normal in right now... Seems to be nice and warm, I think it's working great for the most part. Not to mention that already after only 4 hours or so the two seem to be "locked up" or at least getting there. The two are at separate ends of the tub with the end of their tales are wrapped around eachother :). As for the other female normal I have she is in the tank the spider was in for now... I bought my first three tubs today at Wal-Mart and im trying out this heat wire before I buy any more of it. so far it seems to be working good. If all works out and I really want to get into this breeding craze I may build my own rack system using this wire or just buy a rack that comes heated... Thanks guys! Nice to know I can ask questions here without getting bashed!

Remember that its always recommended to use a thermostat with your heat source. If you dont not only can your snakes be burned but its also a fire hazard. If you do go on to build a rack I recommend staying away from the zoomed wire, its not that great. Flexwatt would be easier to work with, just remember to keep it on a thermostat.

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Originally Posted by jball1125

Remember that its always recommended to use a thermostat with your heat source. If you dont not only can your snakes be burned but its also a fire hazard. If you do go on to build a rack I recommend staying away from the zoomed wire, its not that great. Flexwatt would be easier to work with, just remember to keep it on a thermostat.

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Thanks man, ill look into a thermostat tomorrow.

I would recommend a failsafe as well as the zoo med pads get far too hot to be safe. Especially on a rack, they have very high chances of a probe pulling free of the heat.

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I usually place the probe on the middle shelf and the failsafe on the top as it usually is the hottest one.