building a rack

hey guys buliding my first rack i dont know where i cant find a flexwatt system so i was thinkin about useing belly heaters could i just use the ones that you can buy at any petco the (under cage heater) just a bigger one to keep the heat up or do i need to use somethin else

You can use flex watt for belly too! Look at this RBI page:
http://www.reptilebasics.com/Heating-p-1-c-248.html.
Rich sells the tape and also has a couple of other goodies you might like too! He is a wealth of knowledge on heating, so giving him a call is worth it as well. He'll hook you up and answer any questions you might have! Good luck!!

Rich is awesome at reptile basics. He will wire the flexwatt for you. If you are using flexwatt you absolutely NEED a thermostat. He sells them also.

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Originally Posted by Drew420

hey guys buliding my first rack i dont know where i cant find a flexwatt system so i was thinkin about useing belly heaters could i just use the ones that you can buy at any petco the (under cage heater) just a bigger one to keep the heat up or do i need to use something else

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First you can wire your whole rack with flex watt for what one UTH from zoomed or T-rex will cost you.

go to http://www.reptilebasics.com/
Get you some flex watt of the right size what ever it is that you need and a good proportional thermostat. Do it right the first time and it will save you money/time/problems in the long run.

Drew here is how I have my adult and my juvi racks wired and taped down

http://www.wildmorphs.com/uploads/Morphs/rackwire.JPG

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

and a good proportional thermostat. Do it right the first time and it will save you money/time/problems in the long run.

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I couldn't agree more. For several years I used an el-cheapo ZooMed 500R thermostat. While it did it's job ok, temps would vary up to several degrees and I always was a little worried in the back of my head. I got a Herpstat a few years back and it's been the best money I've spent on my collection. In retrospect I wish I would have just bit the bullet from the get go and bought a high quality t-stat right off the bat.

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Originally Posted by blueapplepaste

I couldn't agree more. For several years I used an el-cheapo ZooMed 500R thermostat. While it did it's job ok, temps would vary up to several degrees and I always was a little worried in the back of my head. I got a Herpstat a few years back and it's been the best money I've spent on my collection. In retrospect I wish I would have just bit the bullet from the get go and bought a high quality t-stat right off the bat.

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I wouldn't be with out mine I sleep better knowing my animals are controlled by helix

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

I wouldn't be with out mine I sleep better knowing my animals are controlled by helix

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Totally agree. Dimmers, retrostats, etc all work but I trust my helix too! Sleep without worries is worth my $$$$$

come to think of it, a light dimmer would work if i hooked it up to the flexwatt then just put them probe on the flexxwat and turned the dimmer till i got the right heat lol. I wont do that I'm getting ranco but I'll make one just for a back up..

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Originally Posted by Hotshot

come to think of it, a light dimmer would work if i hooked it up to the flexwatt then just put them probe on the flexxwat and turned the dimmer till i got the right heat lol. I wont do that I'm getting ranco but I'll make one just for a back up..

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Two of my racks are rigged up with dimmers and they work fine. The only problem is that the night drop is my hand.