How to set up a PVC cage (AP T8) With Pictures!

Hello all, new to the site and the bp world. This thread has been extremely informative and helpful! I haven't gotten my first bp yet but am planning on picking one up in the next few weeks at a local show and wanted to get the cage secured before purchasing. Im pretty sure I've decided on a T8 but had a quick question. I live in Chicago and in the winter months my house temp drops to around 66/67 every night and part of the day. Knowing that would you recommend RHPs as well as the flexwatt? If so, do I just turn off or lower the RHPs in the summertime?


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Originally Posted by Kjewell89

Hello all, new to the site and the bp world. This thread has been extremely informative and helpful! I haven't gotten my first bp yet but am planning on picking one up in the next few weeks at a local show and wanted to get the cage secured before purchasing. Im pretty sure I've decided on a T8 but had a quick question. I live in Chicago and in the winter months my house temp drops to around 66/67 every night and part of the day. Knowing that would you recommend RHPs as well as the flexwatt? If so, do I just turn off or lower the RHPs in the summertime?


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Just like the heat tape the radiant heat panel will need to be controlled by a thermostat. The thermostat will keep the RHP at the proper temperature year round.

You can always add a RHP later if you need one. Installing a RHP is very easy, all you have to do is drill a small hole in the back of the cage for the power cord to pass through, and then screw the panel to the ceiling of the cage.

To start out with I would get a T8 with heat tape and 2x fluorescent light fixtures. These will add some heat to the cage. Have them on 12 hours a day. You will need a good thermostat to control the heat tape. I would recommend the herpstat 1. Later on you can get a RHP and a second herpstat 1 if needed.

If you want to just get everything setup from the start then instead of getting 2 herpstat 1's you can get a single herpstat 2. A herpstat 2 has two separate thermostats in one unit.

Thanks! I'll probably do the herpstat 2 just to be prepared


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can you put a RHP in a rack as well? Looking at a RBI 4 tub rack and am curious if you can do this safely. I assume if you can it would go on the bottom as heat rises or would you just put it in an empty tub? Would either method be a fire hazard?
Thanks

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Originally Posted by brettster

can you put a RHP in a rack as well? Looking at a RBI 4 tub rack and am curious if you can do this safely. I assume if you can it would go on the bottom as heat rises or would you just put it in an empty tub? Would either method be a fire hazard?
Thanks

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A RHP wouldn't work in a rack. It would only heat a single tub, and it would prevent you from being able to pull the tubs out of the rack.

The best way to heat a rack is with heat tape and if necessary a space heater.

I apologize in advance if this has been answered before..

Would you all recommend the t8 for a full grown female bp? Mine is still a baby but I want to educate myself in advance for when the time comes for her to live in a bigger enclosure.

I noticed a couple people mention something about the t3, but I can't seem to find a solid thread or pictures of a full grown bp in that specific enclosure.

I did see a comment made about how I could just own 2 and put them in a t8 with the divider. However, it is very unlikely that I will not be buying more, as much as I'd like to start a collection. It's not practical right now especially since the majority of people around me are skeptical about the BABY i have now, and with school and work and etc etc it's just not a good idea :(

Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks :)

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Originally Posted by sopa

Would you all recommend the t8 for a full grown female bp? Mine is still a baby but I want to educate myself in advance for when the time comes for her to live in a bigger enclosure.

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Yes, you can definitely have one female in a T8 very easily.

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Another question...I started adding the cage and supplies last night to purchase but then got to thinking.....how can you see the snakes at night if you only have the florescent lights? I am guessing you need the 8 in screen cut out X2 to use with divider???

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Originally Posted by BrandyL1193

can you see the snakes at night if you only have the florescent lights

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The florescent lights are plenty bright enough to see what's going on in there.

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Originally Posted by Rob

The florescent lights are plenty bright enough to see what's going on in there.

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So you can leave these on at night and it wont affect the sleep cycle??

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Originally Posted by BrandyL1193

So you can leave these on at night and it wont affect the sleep cycle??

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I keep mine on 24/7 with no issues.

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Originally Posted by BrandyL1193

Another question...I started adding the cage and supplies last night to purchase but then got to thinking.....how can you see the snakes at night if you only have the florescent lights? I am guessing you need the 8 in screen cut out X2 to use with divider???

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No screens required, the fluorescent lights are installed inside the cage. AP installs a single light in the center of the cage:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...5.jpg~original

When dividing the cage that mounting position won't work so you need 2 lights:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...d.jpg~original

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...2.jpg~original

I have my lights on 12 hours a day, then turn them off for 12 hours. I have my timers set so the lights are on from 10 AM - 10 PM. If I need to see inside the cages after 10 PM I jut manually turn on the lights.

Okay so there is my question......I am a night owl and my snake only comes out at night...I like to sit and watch him move around....but wont be able to do that if the lights are off 12 hours at night.....currently I use a blue light on top of his exo terra.....

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And I dont want to disrupt his day/night cycle.....so is it true I could leave them on at night?

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Originally Posted by BrandyL1193

Okay so there is my question......I am a night owl and my snake only comes out at night...I like to sit and watch him move around....but wont be able to do that if the lights are off 12 hours at night.....currently I use a blue light on top of his exo terra.....

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If you want to watch them at night you can always install LED lights that you can change the color. BPs dont see the color red so if you want to observe them, you can change the color and enjoy. Here's the link to the thread: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=210139

Keeping a normal light on all day/night might stress out the animal. Also, snakes "see" green and yellow pretty well so there's a possibility that that can also see blue. However, they cannot see the color red.

Here's the light study just in case you're interested: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=208992



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Originally Posted by Mr. Misha

Yes, you can definitely have one female in a T8 very easily.

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thank you very much!! :gj: this thread has been so helpful. :D

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Originally Posted by BrandyL1193

Okay so there is my question......I am a night owl and my snake only comes out at night...I like to sit and watch him move around....but wont be able to do that if the lights are off 12 hours at night.....currently I use a blue light on top of his exo terra.....

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It really doesn't matter what 12 hours the lights are on, as long as they are on 12 and off 12. If you wanted you could have the lights on from 3 PM - 3 AM or any other 12 hour interval.

I've messed around with day/night cycles and found that it really isn't necessary for BP's. Most people keep them in dark tubs 24/7. I wouldn't recommend leaving the lights on 24/7 but anything else is fine. I know some people whip just turn the lights on when they want to view the snake, and the rest of the tome keep the cage dark.

Hello Aaron,

Which one of the reptile basics heat panels would you recommend for the T8?

Thanks for your help

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Originally Posted by BrandyL1193

And I dont want to disrupt his day/night cycle.....so is it true I could leave them on at night?

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Just buy a stick on LED strip blue/red or multi color one that changes and install it, drill a hole for code to get through and stick on top and your set!

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Originally Posted by mvptext1

Hello Aaron,

Which one of the reptile basics heat panels would you recommend for the T8?

Thanks for your help

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Im not Aaron, but i'd suggest getting an 80 watt RHP for a T8. You can use the 40 watt on each side if you decide to split the cage in two.

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Originally Posted by Mr. Misha

Im not Aaron, but i'd suggest getting an 80 watt RHP for a T8. You can use the 40 watt on each side if you decide to split the cage in two.

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Thank you for that insight Mr. Misha. I've been trying to price out a T8 will all the "extras" I would need and that helps. I may just end up going with heat tape, but I've heard lots of good things about the heat panels, so I may give that a shot.

Thanks

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Originally Posted by mvptext1

Thank you for that insight Mr. Misha. I've been trying to price out a T8 will all the "extras" I would need and that helps. I may just end up going with heat tape, but I've heard lots of good things about the heat panels, so I may give that a shot.

Thanks

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No worries. I personally use the RHPs to keep up the ambient heat in the terrarium and the heat tape for the hot spot. The whole setup is a little pricey but worth the money.

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Since I'm more of an Amazon Prime guy, this is the table I ended up getting for my T8.

http://amzn.com/B0015TRJCM

Same size as the cage, fits perfect.

So I have my T8 and my lesser set up in it. I currently have the divider down with several hides on each side. My question is, can I leave the fluorescents on all night or will that disturb his day/night pattern? I need something to keep ambient temp up. If both lights are off temps drop to low 70s. With one light it stays steady around 78/79


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Originally Posted by Kjewell89

So I have my T8 and my lesser set up in it. I currently have the divider down with several hides on each side. My question is, can I leave the fluorescents on all night or will that disturb his day/night pattern? I need something to keep ambient temp up. If both lights are off temps drop to low 70s. With one light it stays steady around 78/79


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As long as you have a good dark hide inside the cage you should be fine. I would start by running them for 16-20 hours a day then reassessing.

Ok. And ya I have 2 good dark hides


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kjewell89

So I have my T8 and my lesser set up in it. I currently have the divider down with several hides on each side. My question is, can I leave the fluorescents on all night or will that disturb his day/night pattern? I need something to keep ambient temp up. If both lights are off temps drop to low 70s. With one light it stays steady around 78/79


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You can run a small, 40 watt, RHP (radient heat pannel) and it should be plenty to keep the ambient heat up.

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I am considering this setup for my BP. I have a question I did noit see answered here (sorry if I missed it).

I know it has been suggested to use the divider for babies and removing it when they get bigger. WHat I am confused about is I live in the mountains in montana and come winter it get fairly chilly in the house. So I will need the RHP and I assume to put the heating underneath as well. I also read that the best placement for the RHP is center MUCH earlier in this thread. So if radiant heat is installed center and/or lighting, how do you use the divider until they are big enough to use all the space?

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Originally Posted by moorea

I am considering this setup for my BP. I have a question I did noit see answered here (sorry if I missed it).

I know it has been suggested to use the divider for babies and removing it when they get bigger. WHat I am confused about is I live in the mountains in montana and come winter it get fairly chilly in the house. So I will need the RHP and I assume to put the heating underneath as well. I also read that the best placement for the RHP is center MUCH earlier in this thread. So if radiant heat is installed center and/or lighting, how do you use the divider until they are big enough to use all the space?

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You have to have 2 RHP's when using a divider, 1 for each side of the cage. You can then center each within its side of the cage.

Same goes for light fixtures.

I wasn't even close to getting my ambient temps where they needed to be using flexwatt underneath.

Life become much easier when I decided to get a RHP. Now the flexwatt is set much lower to maintain the hotspot, and
my ambient temp is perfect and never fluctuates.

I live in chicago, and don't think the flexwatt would have been near enough in the winter anyway.

I am LOVING my LED lights and the AP T8! They were easy to assemble and simple to install!

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/11/pa3eseze.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/11/rybunu3y.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/11/tuby4ebu.jpg

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Originally Posted by BrandyL1193

I am LOVING my LED lights and the AP T8! They were easy to assemble and simple to install!

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The whole setup looks awesome. Congrats! [emoji216]

Thanks for all the help!

Quick question....... I didnt seal the sides going up......is that mandatory? If I dont do it will it cause problems?

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Originally Posted by BrandyL1193

Quick question....... I didnt seal the sides going up......is that mandatory? If I dont do it will it cause problems?

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No, it's not mandatory. You mainly want to seal the bottom since if there's any water spills, it's not going to leak out. Also, it makes sure that any faeces won't get stuck in the cracks.

Final product.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/18/budesahy.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/18/jehu7emu.jpg

I don't have any T8s yet, but I'm saving up to get one for my future boa. Thanks for the great write up!

In the process of setting up an undivided T10 (3" taller than the T8) with the ap flexwatt and single fluorescent lighting. Also have a 40 watt RHP arriving this week. Will run the flex and the RHP with a herpstat 2. Flex probe attached under cage in groove. Questions are:

1. Is it normal to have to set my herpstat around 102 to achieve 90 on cage floor with no substrate?

2. When RHP arrives, should I install it over hot side or center of cage?

3. Where's the best location to place RHP probe?

I do plan on using an inch or so of aspen so I don't want to crank up the flex too much and my floor get too hot in case she burrows. That's why I'm installing the heat panel to help with heat and ambient temps. Room temps are fairly cool year round ranging from 72 summer to 66 winter.

Any helpful suggestion on this set up please.

Got my 3rd enclosure from Animal Plastics (T10) and noticed that the bottom now has three different cuttouts for probes. Thought this was pretty awesome! http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...1e541cc000.jpg

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I really like this.

First of all, thank you for this thread. It's fantastic and I'm going to upgrade my BP's home as a result. We're picking up a second BP at a reptile expo on January 17th, and I need to order SOON so it will be set up properly, safely, and on time for the new arrival!

I am a new owner, so I would greatly appreciate if any experienced BP owners could chime in with their thoughts about my possible setup:

The Cage: Animal Plastics T8 w/Divider (or the PVCCages version found at http://pvccages.com/?wpsc-product=48...quick-assembly ...though I will probably go with whoever can get me the quickest turnaround time due to the sliiiight time crunch)
Heat: 2x RHPs, one for each half of the cage (house temps average at around 65-68 in winter and 72-78 in summer - Portland OR). If I go with AP, it will be Pro-Line brand RHPs, but if I go with PVCCages, they can preinstall 2x 40watt panels which is pretty handy. (Link to PVC's panels: http://pvccages.com/?wpsc-product=ra...-reptile-cages )
Thermostat: Herpstat 4 (4 total probes so I can do 1 temp/1 humidity probe per compartment)
Lighting: 1 "White" LED OR Fluorescent fixture light for daytime + 1 "Red" LED light/strip for nighttime viewing for each half of the cage. The lighting will be hooked up to timers for a 12h day/12h night "cycle".

I believe that covers all of the "infrastructure" parts. Of course, I'll be adding hides, water bowls, substrate (we currently use aspen), etc., too :P

What do you veterans think? :)

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Originally Posted by eggrolled

First of all, thank you for this thread. It's fantastic and I'm going to upgrade my BP's home as a result. We're picking up a second BP at a reptile expo on January 17th, and I need to order SOON so it will be set up properly, safely, and on time for the new arrival!

I am a new owner, so I would greatly appreciate if any experienced BP owners could chime in with their thoughts about my possible setup:

The Cage: Animal Plastics T8 w/Divider (or the PVCCages version found at http://pvccages.com/?wpsc-product=48...quick-assembly ...though I will probably go with whoever can get me the quickest turnaround time due to the sliiiight time crunch)
Heat: 2x RHPs, one for each half of the cage (house temps average at around 65-68 in winter and 72-78 in summer - Portland OR). If I go with AP, it will be Pro-Line brand RHPs, but if I go with PVCCages, they can preinstall 2x 40watt panels which is pretty handy. (Link to PVC's panels: http://pvccages.com/?wpsc-product=ra...-reptile-cages )
Thermostat: Herpstat 4 (4 total probes so I can do 1 temp/1 humidity probe per compartment)
Lighting: 1 "White" LED OR Fluorescent fixture light for daytime + 1 "Red" LED light/strip for nighttime viewing for each half of the cage. The lighting will be hooked up to timers for a 12h day/12h night "cycle".

I believe that covers all of the "infrastructure" parts. Of course, I'll be adding hides, water bowls, substrate (we currently use aspen), etc., too :P

What do you veterans think? :)

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Are you going to be running a flexwatt or anything for belly heat?

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Originally Posted by michaelt

Are you going to be running a flexwatt or anything for belly heat?

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I wasn't sure if I needed flexwatt as well as the two RHPs. The main post of this thread made it sound like it was a choose one or the other kind of situation. I was under the impression that a 40watt RHP for each half of the cage (each half is basically 24x24x12) would provide enough heat when coupled with a Thermostat. Am I mistaken?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eggrolled

I wasn't sure if I needed flexwatt as well as the two RHPs. The main post of this thread made it sound like it was a choose one or the other kind of situation. I was under the impression that a 40watt RHP for each half of the cage (each half is basically 24x24x12) would provide enough heat when coupled with a Thermostat. Am I mistaken?

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You can do both but it's unnecessary. If you're going to do a RHP in each half of the enclosure, that should be more than plenty.

Also, if you have a lot more questions i'd suggest starting a new thread.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by eggrolled

I wasn't sure if I needed flexwatt as well as the two RHPs. The main post of this thread made it sound like it was a choose one or the other kind of situation. I was under the impression that a 40watt RHP for each half of the cage (each half is basically 24x24x12) would provide enough heat when coupled with a Thermostat. Am I mistaken?

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The way I just set my T-8 up well currently setting up, I have 40w RHP on each side to keep ambient temps to 80 and going to use flexwatt in the middle to provide the hotspot for both sides since belly heat is good for bp's. so right there is 3/4 herpstat4 probes used.. i really dont think you need to get herpstat humidity probes in each side as long as u have a thermometer/humidity digital gauge in each side, i believe the humidity probe that herpstat sells is for controlling a fogger or such(i could be mistaken on that). the t-8 i just got Wednesday had 3 slots cut in the bottom for probe positioning for the flexwatt. this is how i setup the top of my enclosure

http://i.imgur.com/F7IoSte.jpg

Thanks for your comments guys, I went ahead and made a new thread so as to not clutter up this one: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-setup-please-)

Awesome thread. Helped me out tremendously

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This thread was a big help but I have one problem. How can I safely make sure the accurite thermometer actually stays in place? One of my snakes knocks that thing off the nail every night.

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Originally Posted by ProjectMKUltra5

This thread was a big help but I have one problem. How can I safely make sure the accurite thermometer actually stays in place? One of my snakes knocks that thing off the nail every night.

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I personally use a rounded screw so that way not only can I adjust it so the thermometer fits super tight, if it does come off, the BP won't hurt itself against it.

Looking at getting one of these,

http://www.herphouses.com/shop/cage-...2-single-door/

but in the 36x24x16 size - it comes with RHP and LED's and I plan on putting a UTH as well - all controlled by a thermostat.

My question is I plan on getting the 16" because I want to put decorations and fake foilage in, with the RHP affect the decorations at all?

Thanks