Went to Plastic

I am really having a lot of troubles keeping Salinas humidity up and she is in a shed right now. I went and bought a 24x16x6 Rubbermain tub with a locking lid. I have a 11"x12" piece of flexwatt I got from Matt (very good person to do business with of course). I know this isn't huge for a BP enclosure, but Salina is still a small snake. I have a Rheostat thermostat(I know its not the best but its all I have for now), and a digital thermometer/humidity guage.

Here goes my questions.
1. Is that piece of flexwatt big enough (ambient temp in the house is always at least 75 degrees)?
2. How many holes should I make with the solder gun?
3. Can I tape the flexwatt under the rubbermaid and place it on wood without it being a fire hazrd?
4. With the flexwatt taped to the Rubbermaid, can I use paper for substrate right now?
5. Am I missing anything?

Ha, I tried this earlier and my daughter's kitty turned my computer off...little bugger.

1. yes
2. about two inches apart all the way around and about an inch from the top. You can add more as needed to lower the humidity.
3. yes, as long as you have it regulated with a working rheostat, but a thermostat would be better. Make sure it's not plywood though. Melamine and laminated compressed wood is best for heat. You can also put a plastic cutting board between the tub and the shelf (or whatever it's on). Also, make sure you are using aluminum tape.
4. yes
5. not that I can think of.

Matt @ MGReptiles will help you with any concrete answers you might need on this. He's really good.

Thank you, I think I am all done. The humidity was wicked low in her cage for the past two days so I had to make this cage quick. I am so glad I already had some flexwatt on hand. She is in a shed right now and I am just horrifried of eye caps and such. We have no herp vets for hundreds of miles, so I really depend on you guys to help me out. I think her cage is good, I didn't use any electrical tape on the wiring, but I have every thing blocked off with plactic or the metal tape Matt sent me. I used the metal clips, the put the plastic clamps over that. I don't have the flexwatt approved crimping tools, but in the Air Force we can fix/destroy anything with a Leatherman (I once took a radiator out of a bus with one, steel-belted hoses and all). I am no expert on flexwatt, but I have a fair bit of electrical experience. I think I did a good job. I will be watching her temps very close the next few days. I did however get an annoying little burn with the soldering gun, it was my first time using one.

Can I use duct tape to keep the flexwatt on a little better?

One trick with the flexwatt is to use the heavy duty alumunium foil (for the BBQ) To keep the heat from sinking into the wood or possibly scorching it. I've not tried it, but it might be worth a shot.

If you're that concerned about the humidity for Salina, just throw a humid hide in the enclosure. They really work great. I've never had a problem with sheds even if my humidity dropped.

That's something I should have thought of. I just bought a whole bunch of plastic containers. I can make her a humid hide with paper towels in no time. I also scammed my self some plexi glass today to line her cage with and put the flexwatt underneath of that.

You are gonna fall in love with tubs LOL they are soooo easy to maintain. Just melt in some holes around the sides and on the top. You can always easily add more or temporarily cover some as the seasons change and the environment in the room the tub is in changes. The nice thing with them being so cheap is you can move up in size as your snake grows without breaking the bank and then clean and save the old tub for the next little one. Malachi is now happily living in what was once Rionach's baby tub LOL.

I use that thick BBQ grade aluminium foil to protect the surfaces I have my tubs on until I get a rack. It saves the worry of any scorching (you shouldn't get any but I'm a freak worry wort myself LOL) plus since I put it shiney side up it reflects the heat up to the tub instead of wasting it seeping down into the wooden surfaces. Adam gave me this idea....thank you Adam! LOL I just buy the Reynolds Wrap Heavy Duty Aluminium Foil, 18 inches wide x 8 1/2 yards long so you get about 37 1/2 square feet of it for around $2.25.


~~Jo~~