need some ideas on building a terrarium

im thinking about building my 3ft long bp a cage. right now i have a 30l store bought tank for her and she doesnt have much room to move around. i want the new one to be about 4ftx2ftx2ft. i was going to build it out of plywood and have plexiglass on the front and screen on the top. it would open on the front. i have a few concerns. what should i use for the bottom so that i can use the heating pad? also how hard would it be to heat something that big and what would be the best way of doing so? any ideas or suggestions on the best way of doing it would be greatly appreciated :)

On the bottom of the tank, use a thinner piece of 'paneling-type' material called luaun...it is 1/8" thick, & is sold in 4x8 sheets at Home Depot/Lowes, etc...however, MAKE SURE IT IS NOT CEDAR...sometimes, they construct it our of cedar chips...

ALSO, make sure you use an adequate sealer, i.e. Thompson's sealer to treat the inside of your enclosure with, or you will lose ALL humidity...DON'T forget to allow the pre-treated wood to cure for 4-6 weeks to eliminate the possibility of injury to your BP

In my experience, ball pythons do not do well in large cages. I have had some in cages go off food, or become aggressive, from stress. Once switched to smaller enclosures, I use tubs, they start eating again.

I would recommend not making the entire top screen. That is the best way to lose all of your humidity. Instead, I would put vents like these...(http://www.cagesbydesign.com/c-51-ad...age-vents.aspx) in the sides and back. You will have better humidity and temperature control.

I would personally put the heating pad inside of the enclosure on the plywood bottom and then cover the whole bottom of the cage with ceramic tiles. They conduct heat well and they will be easy to lift out of the enclosure to clean and sanitize. Obviously you should not adhere them down or grout them...lol.

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Originally Posted by lmartelli77

I would recommend not making the entire top screen. That is the best way to lose all of your humidity. Instead, I would put vents like these...(http://www.cagesbydesign.com/c-51-ad...age-vents.aspx) in the sides and back. You will have better humidity and temperature control.

I would personally put the heating pad inside of the enclosure on the plywood bottom and then cover the whole bottom of the cage with ceramic tiles. They conduct heat well and they will be easy to lift out of the enclosure to clean and sanitize. Obviously you should not adhere them down or grout them...lol.

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One of the reasons I was going to do screen on the top was to put my lamps on it for heat. I would cover the open parts with foil. I planned on putting some vents in the back and sides. I never thought of the tile idea. I think I will use that one. What are some other good ways to heat the whole thing? I think it would take more than one lamp to do so.

If you want to go with a solid top instead of the screen, you can mount a Radiant Heat Panel to the inside top. Here is a link....http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels

They are a little pricey at first, but last damn near forever unlike heat lamps or ceramic heat emitters. I use these in my display cages and they are awesome. If you email Rich at Reptile Basics with your cage dimensions he will tell you exactly what size RHP you need. He is a great guy to deal with.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lmartelli77

If you want to go with a solid top instead of the screen, you can mount a Radiant Heat Panel to the inside top. Here is a link....http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels

They are a little pricey at first, but last damn near forever unlike heat lamps or ceramic heat emitters. I use these in my display cages and they are awesome. If you email Rich at Reptile Basics with your cage dimensions he will tell you exactly what size RHP you need. He is a great guy to deal with.

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awesome i like that idea. do you hook it up to a thermostat?

Yup....you use a thermostat on it just like any other heating element. I glue my probe directly to the RHP.

okay cool. i will have to buy another thermostat. I will be using the one i have on my heating pad like I am now. What temp do you set it on with it being right on the element?

I can double check when I get home from work, but I'm pretty sure it is set around 130 degrees or so. My cage is 22" high and the RHP keeps the ambient temperature on the warm side around 88 and at 80 on the cool side. I also have a heating pad on the warm side, which keeps the floor temperature at a steady 92 degrees.

awesome, thanks. mine will be 24" high so that will be almost perfect.

I would never recommend having any heat source the animal has access to hotter than 95ºF ever!!!

I would suggest a few alterations first the height. Two feet is hard to get correct ambient temps with and hard to keep at a reasonable level of humidity. I might also suggest a PVC bottom it is easier to clean and more efficient to heat through eliminating the RHP unless you use it for ambient air temps.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

I would never recommend having any heat source the animal has access to hotter than 95ºF ever!!!

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So are you saying that RHP's are unsafe??? I'm pretty sure the manufacturers of them would disagree. A lot of people use them and I have never heard of one snake getting burnt from one.

That is how radiant heat panels work. They are hotter on the surface so they can project the heat down to the bottom of the cage...therefore raising ambient temps. They are safe because they are basically flush with the top of the enclosure and the animal cannot rest its body on it.

I do agree that PVC would be easier to clean if you can find some to use on your cage. It can be somewhat hard to come by and kinda pricey though.

No but RHP are not designed for terrestrial use usually they are used with arboreal where the gradient is vertical not horizontal and the face of the panel is not hotter than the hottest of the safe range. 120 inside where a snake has direct access is not advised by anyone I have ever seen or heard of.

Gotcha...I can certainly see your concern, but I imagine that Rich at Reptile Basics would have said something when I explained to him how I intended on using the RHP.

Here are some pics of one i just built not to long ago.I can`t tell you how it works yet because i am still working on it and getting things i need to get it perfect.I`ve still got some kinks to work out like heating and humidity, but it came out pretty good.
The ceramic tile idea is good i think i`m gonna try that for the floor.I just have bare plywood right now.

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/...AwNjUuanBn.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/...AwNjQuanBn.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/...AwNjYuanBn.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/...AwNTkuanBn.jpg

What did you stain/paint yours with?the inside?

looks nice so far. i built mine a few months ago and it is 4'x'2x'2' with glass in the doors
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Eragon-s-home...