Extra Heat for my rack.....let me know what you think!

Hey guys, I am preparing for my first breeding season and my first winter with my rack. We keep our house around 72 in the winter and my tubs are usually about 3 degrees warmer at the coolest end. When its 78 it my house the tubs are usually about 82. So, during the winter, if the house is 72, the tubs will most likely be 75-76. I refuse to use a space heater due safety concerns so I decided to use lamps.

My rack is melamine on the sides and pegboard on the back. The only open area is the front 18" of my 41q Sterilite tubs. My back heat is 92-93* so that should keep the back half fairly warm. I decided to try the lamps in the pic. I am going to drill holes in the clamps and screw them in so there is no chance one of the lamps could fall down or fall in toward the tub and melt the plastic/burn the snakes. My plan is to put 25 watt red bulbs in on a timer to keep the cool end at 80-82 during the day. At night, I figured 75-76 would be ok, especially during breeding season. I positioned the clamps about 2 inches in front of the tubs and about 2 inches off to the side. I just want them to act as a small, safe heat source. My rack belly heat is on a Helix and my incubator is on a Herpstat. I have a brand new Rep 500R I was thinking about setting at 80 for the lamps too. Let me know what you think and if you see any problems or have any tips. Thanks!

http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/q...4/RackHeat.jpg

I'd install belly heat to go with the back heat and do away with expensive dangerous lamps.

My bad, its not back heat, its belly heat. The back has 3" flexwatt bellyheat about 8 inches from the back of the tub. I am not worried about the back half......with my Helix set at 95*, I think the back half will stay well heated. I just don't want the front half to be 75-76*.

As far as dangerous lamps, not really sure how dangerous they are. The lamps are on the side and a couple inches in front of the tubs. With a 25w red bulb, I think the heat they give off is minimal. Basically enough to heat up the immediate area about 4*.

Here is a shot from the front.


http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/q.../HeatRack2.jpg

u could look into a space heater, i found a site call everyspaceheater.com, if i had to get one they offer a low proflie model, looks nice and provides all the functions you would need.

sorry i didnt see that you said u refuse to use a space heater

I can't see a 25 watt bulb throwing much heat and I wonder if any will get through the tubs sidewalls when the temps in the room get down below 72ish.

Those cheap lamps have plastic instead of ceramic bases to screw the bulbs into and are a risk if left on for extended periods of times, although admittedly with a 25watt bulb probably not much of a risk.

If my rack had to endure cold temps every year I'd have 11x12 inch piece on the hot end and a 3inch strip for the cool end.
I use a space heater and keep the entire room about 78.

The room will be 72-73 so the temp inside the tubs should be at least 75. The lamps would run for about 12 hours and like you said, the risk of anything on a 25 watt bulb is very minimal. The lamps give off some heat which should be enough to get the temp up in the front (cool end) of the tub a little. If the back part (hot side) is 90+, I figured as the BP got closer to the cool end, it would go down a few degrees per foot. I was hoping the lamps would "trap" the heat in a sense.

I am starting to think I may just turn the heat up in my house to 75 during the day (so the tubs would be at 78-79 day temp cool end) and 72-73 at night (so the night temps would be 75-76. It may just be easier all the way around. Thanks for the advice.

have you used a temp gun to see what the actual temps are inside the tub. instead of looking at what the thermostat says. i would add an extra piece in front to get the temps up. and keep it around 80 for the cool end

Yes, I have used a temp gun and I don't trust it too much (I know a lot of people love theirs). I put my digital thermometers inside the tubs so I do know the temps inside too (they are outside in the pic). I am thinking about running a strip of 3" flexwatt down the side of the rack in the front (cool end). Looking at the whole thing now, the clamp lamps look kind of tacky and like Snakesrewl said, not sure how "safe" they are either.

I don't even know how my temps will be once winter rolls around anyways, I just know they will be in the mid to high 70's on the cool end since the house thermostat will be set at 73*.

if u get the good lamps that are metal and ceramic you should be ok. until i figure out a better way to keep them warm im using a red light and it works fine. it got cold for a few days and left it on high for 3 days straight and everything was fine.

do what the poster said above or throw some back heat in there with your belly heat. i would definitely put at-least 1/4" pip insulation on it. that will raise your temps a few degrees by itself!

My solution, which is simpler, much cheaper, and safer:

1 heating blanket, draped over the side of the rack.

safer? heck no... just what i want, a heating blanket on 24/7 :rolleyes:

They are designed to be safe for human use during the night, while you sleep. Check the blanket periodically for any changes that indicate it's wearing out. Since it's not being compressed or exposed to rough handling, it should hold up much better and be safer than one that's being used nightly for the purpose it was created for.

I've had 0 issues with mine. I use it on my quarantine rack, since it isn't in my snake room (snake room is kept at 80).
It has a dial to change the settings, and automatic shutoff if it overheats. It was under 30 bucks.
It warms the entire side of the rack, raising the interior temperatures into the appropriate range, even when room temperatures drop below 70F.

lamps are way more dangerous than a electric space heater.

with the added belley heat have you consider tarps/drop cloths/ blankets ?

Something thick can normally hold heat in really well

I don't think id worry about temp being 75 degrees during breeding season..... if they got a hot spot and need it, they will use it.

Last year confirmed for me that lowering temps for breeding is completely unnecessary for ball pythons. I had the same or better fertility compared with cooling.

Thanks for the replies guys. I have recently been considering a space heater on a timer to go off from 6am to 6pm but man, I get nervous thinking about nobody being home when it is on.

I have definetly decided against the heat lamps. If I do add the flexwatt down the inside side of the tub, it will be 3" and I was going to put it about 6 inches from the front.

Winged Wolf, my rack is melamine (you can see the pic on my first post obviously) so do you think a heat blanket would really do anything? Do you mean just drape it on the outside side? I do like the blanket idea considering they are safe for adults/kids, and they do get used and abused. I had one when I was a kid and put that thing through hell......it still held up and heated well. I don't see how it could overheat my racks either, especially if I set it on a timer to be on 12 hours a day.......hmmmm.

My house thermostat will be set around 73* so the tub should be 75* or so. Do you think that will be ok for day and night all winter? My hot spot is 93* or so right now and I planned on keeping it that way 24/7 in the rack all winter.

I keep my snakes in the un-used dinning room and hang a blanket to make the space smaller so the space heater is only heating a 7 x 12 area.
Keeps the heat trapped in the area of the snakes and not all over the house.