Questions for a new rack.

I will be working on a new 32qt rack soon and I have a couple of questions.

#1. What size flexwatt do you think would be right for that size tub? I was thinking 4" or I was thinking 2 rows of 3" on each level. The temp of the room is about 70.

#2. I know with belly heat after time the tubs sliding in and out can wear the flexwatt out. If I recessed the flexwatt I wanted to put plexiglass over it to protect it more. Would putting the plexiglass over it prevent most of the heat coming through?

Thank you all for your advice.

4 inch is usually fine (assuming a room temp is about 80) and yes plexy will hinder the heat from the flexwatt. I would just recess it myself.

My freedom breeder has metal "shelves" in the back that has flexwatt inside that is is insulated on the bottom so most of the heat will heat up the metal panel evenly and protects the flexwatt. If u look on YouTube Ralph Davis has a few videos where he shows this on his racks. The design works very well. But as stated recessed is easy to do and also works very well

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

4 inch is usually fine (assuming a room temp is about 80) and yes plexy will hinder the heat from the flexwatt. I would just recess it myself.

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Room temp is not 80 it is only about 70. It is down in my basement and I also have a heater running to keep it at that right now.

Racks do not work well in anything less than 78ºF I know mine is in a room that is 70ºF from experience I can tell you it is a serious PAIN and very costly to get everything correct at this temp. I cannot recommend strongly enough to just heat the room up to 80 and simplify your life! I am in a very old place and it just is not cost effective to do this (2 x 1800 oil heaters to hold 78-82 in this room they rarely shut off. Very expensive)

If you like me can't I'd first recommend against the rack it is too inefficient to handle these temps. I'd look at custom enclosures like boaphile or visions. If that isn't an option 4 inch will not work and I'd suggest 11 you will need a secondary heat source and I'd look at the 17 lower wattage tape it does not get as hot. The rapid heating of the 11 inch I'd really suggest against on/off type t-stats and go with proportional ones, you will need one (at least) for hot and cool elements. I found that there was so much variation between top to bottom I have the 11 inch on two separate probes bottom half and top half (that is three if you are keeping track I use a herpstat pro) I have a insulated rack top bottom and sides with 1/2 inch blue or pink foam. The last thing is as the tub is sitting on 27 inches of heating you really really should use a failsafe t-stat (on/off type) because if a probe moves or the t-stat fails there is no escape from the heat for the snakes.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Racks do not work well in anything less than 78ºF I know mine is in a room that is 70ºF from experience I can tell you it is a serious PAIN and very costly to get everything correct at this temp. I cannot recommend strongly enough to just heat the room up to 80 and simplify your life! I am in a very old place and it just is not cost effective to do this (2 x 1800 oil heaters to hold 78-82 in this room they rarely shut off. Very expensive)

If you like me can't I'd first recommend against the rack it is too inefficient to handle these temps. I'd look at custom enclosures like boaphile or visions. If that isn't an option 4 inch will not work and I'd suggest 11 you will need a secondary heat source and I'd look at the 17 lower wattage tape it does not get as hot. The rapid heating of the 11 inch I'd really suggest against on/off type t-stats and go with proportional ones, you will need one (at least) for hot and cool elements. I found that there was so much variation between top to bottom I have the 11 inch on two separate probes bottom half and top half (that is three if you are keeping track I use a herpstat pro) I have a insulated rack top bottom and sides with 1/2 inch blue or pink foam. The last thing is as the tub is sitting on 27 inches of heating you really really should use a failsafe t-stat (on/off type) because if a probe moves or the t-stat fails there is no escape from the heat for the snakes.

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Ya 80 is not an option there. Its in the basement and if I have the little heater turned off it gets to about 65 I am working on insulating in the area to keep in the heat. I will say this I have a small rack that I made using 12qt tube and I know I am going to have to reconfigure them to belly heat they have back heat right now. They are keeping the hotspot at between 87 to 91 and I have two 3" strips thats 1 per row and it keeps the temp stable I am thinking that 11" on belly heat would be too much for a 28 to 32qt rack.

Plan on something to keep the ambient temp up. 78-85 range I have wondered of 4 ich flexwatt run along the side (mounted vertically) would be enough. It might be worth an experiment. It too will need a t-stat to control it and to my mind a fail safe becomes much more important when using hot and cool end heat. If just using hot end if a t-stat fails you might have some time before the animals are seriously harmed as they can get off the hot area and hug the cool end. With dual heaters there is not much time at all.

My room temps range from 66 to 69 during the winter. I was recently told that I shouldn't keep snakes in that room because of the risk of RI. Well, five years later using tanks, racks and stand alone tubs, all is well. You just need to think it through and find your best setup.

I am building a 41 quart rack and am still deciding whether to use 4" or 11" flexwatt for belly heat. This will be the greatest distance from front to back of any rack I have so I may have to use a heat source in front as well as back. The smaller tubs get residual heat in front from the 4" in the back. I put a towel over the front of the rack which keeps some of the heat in and I have a solid back, not pegboard.

It can work. I would try different setups without the snakes first. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by JohnNJ

My room temps range from 66 to 69 during the winter. I was recently told that I shouldn't keep snakes in that room because of the risk of RI. Well, five years later using tanks, racks and stand alone tubs, all is well. You just need to think it through and find your best setup.

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My room temp as well are around the upper 60's, but the rack temps are fine being around 89-92 on the hot side.

Ambient air temps play a critical role in thermal regulation. The lung runs down past the heart, liver and the major arteries and veins. When the air in the lung is too cold or warm the blood temperature changes and then drops the temps of everything else. Warming the ventral muscles can only do so much to re heat or cool the core temps. There is some debate about if there is need of a hot spot at all but very little about the need for ambient temps. It is not the room temp that is important but the air temps in the enclosure but the simplest method of controlling the ambient temps is to regulate the room. It can be done with other means I am doing so but it requires care. I believe you will have a hard time finding any care sheet suggesting that 66-69ºF cool ambient or surface (often the same thing) is acceptable. Most state the lowest safe temp (and not for a long period of time) is 75º and that is very very low.

My guess is that the ambient temp was not 66-69 but was warmer. That is a huge advantage of tanks they hold and distribute heat 1000 times better than tubs.

Just to clarify, I never said the ambient temps in the tubs or tanks was 66-69. I said the room temp is 66-69 and it most certainly is in the winter. Sometimes lower.

I have found ways to increase the ambient temps in the enclosures using various heat sources and insulation. There's lots of good info on this site.

The point I was trying to make is that no one should be discouraged from keeping snakes because they can't heat an entire room to 80+ degrees. It would be easier but not everyone can do it.

I did not mean to be discouraging and in fact my room is tonight 67ºF and my racks temps are 90/80 and 83 ambient. It can be done it just isn't easy and that the simple answer is just to heat the room there is a reason why 90% of racks are in 80ºF rooms it is just simplicity. I would venture a guess you balanced a tank too so you didn't mist twice a day I know my tanks I rarely mist at all. I mist the rack more same thing it can be done it just isn't as easy as other options.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

I did not mean to be discouraging and in fact my room is tonight 67ºF and my racks temps are 90/80 and 83 ambient. It can be done it just isn't easy and that the simple answer is just to heat the room there is a reason why 90% of racks are in 80ºF rooms it is just simplicity. I would venture a guess you balanced a tank too so you didn't mist twice a day I know my tanks I rarely mist at all. I mist the rack more same thing it can be done it just isn't as easy as other options.

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I found the oppisite. When I had my male pastel in a tank before I got my female it was super hard to keep the temps up and I was misting 3 to 4 times a day. Now that I have them in the rack I am maybe misting once a day if that and my temps in the back are a solid 87 to 90 all the time. I just know that I am going to have to get them in bigger tubs within the next few months and I am working on getting more insulation in the room that they are in to get the heat in the room up a little.

glass vs a tub glass holds heat better if you heat both the glass with massive thermal mass will hold and spread heat out evenly and for longer. In room temps of 60 -70 that is a huge advantage.
Humidity is just a product of correct ventilation and water mass. It isn't easy but absolutely can be done. I just checked my records I used to mist my last upright tank (water is more accurate actually) every 3 weeks it held 30% over the room (my room average is 30% and it held 60%. All with out reducing air flow and ventilation. It just isn't as easy. The simple fact you have had problems proves the point. Cool rooms are a pain.

I still find tubs harder to deal with in my room temps, they loose heat unbelievably quickly. If the power goes out they will maintain in my rack for 20 min or less the last enclosure I have holds safe temps for 4 hours. The two tanks I use hold for 2-3 hours. I find the rack the most difficult to heat and maintain then the tanks then the purchased custom enclosures and my custom designed enclosures last. The rack blows in cool conditions it looses heat like crazy it is insulated but still needs proper ventilation and that causes the temps to tank. That it turn means secondary heating and by pass vents (air runs behind heat sources before entering the tubs) When the power fails it looses 8º in 15 min the other enclosures loose 8º in an hour and 15 min.