Radiant Heat Panels vs. UTHs

So, I was looking at custom enclosures for my boa when she gets older, and in general for the two boas I'm looking at getting in the next couple years. All together I would be ordering a minimum of 3. Possibly 4 to start out with.

But I wanted to get some information or feedback on whether having RHPs installed would be better than having UTHs installed? If I have one RHP installed in the hot side, would that be sufficient to heat the entire enclosure? And how does that differ from belly heat? Will an RHP suffice and allow my snakes to digest properly, etc? I don't know much about RHPs really, and before shelling out almost 3X the cost of an UTH, I wanted to know if it would be enough?

If anyone can offer insight, that would be great. I'm looking at ordering from Boaphile Plastics, and will definitely have this conversation with the owner before buying too.

I will also probably be getting racks from him with flexwatt already installed. I'm loving that. :) I have a few more questions about thermostats and monitoring the heat in racks, but I'll post a separate thread for that. :P

I have 4 Boaphile cages and all are heated with RHP's from Pro-heat. I couldn't be happier with them. Give Bob a call, he will review your set up and recommend the correct RHP. He is an awesome guy to do business with and has top notch products.
I am heating for 2 IJCP's, a BRB and a Corn...each have different needs and all are met nicely with the Boaphile/Pro-heat combo.
If you use a light in the cage it will bump the temperature up a degree or two.

Check out Animal plastics, they are far more likely to respond if you email or call them. Plus I think that their cages are better.

Either UTH's or RHP will do the job just fine. A RHP will let you use any amount/type if substrate while a UTH requires a thin layer of substrate. Paper works best.

Wether 1 RHP will work or not depends on a few things. 1st your room temperature, second the size of the enclosure, and lastly how big of a RHP you get.

As I said either will work. Which one is better depends on a few things. I have both in my Plastic cages. 1 RHP to maintain the cool side/ambiant temps, and a strip of flexwatt to provide a hot side.

Thank you so much guys! I am looking at getting 6' Boaphiles, so I was trying to determine the best way to heat them. I live in Florida, so my ambient temps in the house are usually between 76-78 degrees. It's also usually rather humid. It's not really difficult to keep the tanks I have now at 50%, especially with bi weekly mistings.

As for substrate, I use aspen shavings and probably will continue to do so. At least with the boas. Like I said, I'm switching the Balls to racks and I will probably switch them on to newspaper or paper towels.

If you want to use aspen then I would say go with one large or two smaller RHP. if you are set on Boaphiles that's fine but I personally wouldn't ever buy one; but that's just my opinion.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

If you want to use aspen then I would say go with one large or two smaller RHP. if you are set on Boaphiles that's fine but I personally wouldn't ever buy one; but that's just my opinion.

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Thank you! :D The thing I liked about Boaphiles over Animal Plastics is that they come already assembled. I have very little assembly skill. lol. The price is about the same too. I'll keep looking around, but so far Boaphile has jumped out at me as the right fit.

Just curious, what do you like about Animal Plastics? Why do they stick out to you as better quality? (This may sway my decision.)

First off AP cages are really easy to put together. 6 pieces that are labeled. All you do is screw them together.

AP cages are made from 1/2" PVC while Boaphiles are made from 1/8" thick PVC Plastic. This thickness holds heat in better and makes them stronger. Boaphile cages use a process called chemical welding to bond the sides together. These chemical welds are known to crack. I have seen many people with cracked Boaphiles.

It is very difficult to contact Jeff at Boaphile. Ali from AP is prompt and always answers your questions.

Once again if you want to get a Boaphile I'm sure it will be fine, but as you said they are pretty much the same price. I feel that with AP you get more for your money.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

First off AP cages are really easy to put together. 6 pieces that are labeled. All you do is screw them together.

AP cages are made from 1/2" PVC while Boaphiles are made from 1/8" thick PVC Plastic. This thickness holds heat in better and makes them stronger. Boaphile cages use a process called chemical welding to bond the sides together. These chemical welds are known to crack. I have seen many people with cracked Boaphiles.

It is very difficult to contact Jeff at Boaphile. Ali from AP is prompt and always answers your questions.

Once again if you want to get a Boaphile I'm sure it will be fine, but as you said they are pretty much the same price. I feel that with AP you get more for your money.

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I totally agree. I will never order from Boaphile again. I ordered my rack from him November 16 and he said at that time that we were looking at a 4-5 week lead time. It has now been 8 weeks, I still don't have my rack, and he won't respond to my calls. And for the record, I'm not calling like every 5min - I've called him 3 times in the last 5 days. No response - and no rack. :mad:

AP is great, but I have a pvc cage for my GTP from Jim at pvccages.com and I LOVE it! I'll order my boas' cages from him from now on. If you look there, he only has 4' cages on his website, but he'll do custom orders if you want something bigger. And he uses the 1/2 inch pvc. He will also give you the option of ordering it pre-assembled. :gj:

Wow! Well that certainly does make a difference. Perhaps I will avoid Boaphiles after all. Yikes Evanstar! That's horrible. I hope you get your rack soon.

Do they install the RHPs and other heat sources directly into the enclosures at AP like Jeff does at Boaphile? It would make things easier on me. But after those horror stories I think I'll be going the AP or PVC route now regardless. I would be furious if I spent 500-600 or more per enclosure and they cracked, or worse I couldn't get in touch with the seller to find out where the heck they were!

I'm really glad I asked now. Thank you both!

AP doesn't normally offer instillation of RHP's but they say that their cages are fully customizable so I would call/email them and ask. Ali will be more than happy to help you out. Even if they won't instal the RHP they should at least drill the holes do all you have to do is screw them in. I've gotten extra screw holes put in mine before. Hope this helps.

I also live in Florida, and I am frequently in the Tampa area so worst case I might be able to help you out. :)

When I ordered my ap cage Ali did say they will install a RHP if I had it shipped to them. So they will do it they just won't sell them.


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I won't be ordering them for a while yet, but when I'm ready for them I will contact her for sure. Thank you for all the input. And really? That's awesome! I don't really know any herpers in my area, nor did I realize there were any here on BP! :D Everyone I know pretty much looks at me like I'm crazy when I start rambling about my snakes. :P But definitely, if I need some help I will see if you're available.

Cool, and yeah there's a handful of people who are from the Tampa Bay area here on BP.net. I'm an Engineering student at UCF but my family lives in Clearwater.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Cool, and yeah there's a handful of people who are from the Tampa Bay area here on BP.net. I'm an Engineering student at UCF but my family lives in Clearwater.

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Very cool. I'm an Integrative Animal Bio (aka: Pre-Vet) student at USF. I've been up to UCF a couple times. I hate all the tolls in Orlando though. You wouldn't happen to hit up Repticon Tampa would you? :)

(Perhaps we should move this conversation to PM as it no longer directly relates to the topic.)

AP is great and you'll be happy there. But if you choose to look at PVCcages.com you can order your cage "as put together" as you want. Jim will pre-assemble it (chemically welded - fabulous!) and he'll install the RHP for you too - and he sells them so no shipping to the cage maker. He'll also install a light if you choose. Basically, he can make it "plug and play." I am sooo happy with my pvc cage from him! My future racks and boa cages will always come from him!

And thank you - I hope I get my rack soon too. I am trying to be positive - lots of people have said the Boaphile operates like this and they've still gotten their rack ok. So here's hoping....

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Cool, and yeah there's a handful of people who are from the Tampa Bay area here on BP.net. I'm an Engineering student at UCF but my family lives in Clearwater.

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2 :sweeet: on studying engineering. I'm a senior at UH studying mechanical. Sorry for getting off topic.

I would love to invest in some plastic caging, but the pricing just kills me. Knowing me, I'll probably find a PVC dealer locally and do a DIY minus the precision cutting.

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

AP is great and you'll be happy there. But if you choose to look at PVCcages.com you can order your cage "as put together" as you want. Jim will pre-assemble it (chemically welded - fabulous!) and he'll install the RHP for you too - and he sells them so no shipping to the cage maker. He'll also install a light if you choose. Basically, he can make it "plug and play." I am sooo happy with my pvc cage from him! My future racks and boa cages will always come from him!

And thank you - I hope I get my rack soon too. I am trying to be positive - lots of people have said the Boaphile operates like this and they've still gotten their rack ok. So here's hoping....

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I've heard of a guy who ordered a Boaphile cage. Got no confirmation or anything. 10 weeks later a cage showed up... I don't play those types of games.

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Originally Posted by cmz1234

2 :sweeet: on studying engineering. I'm a senior at UH studying mechanical. Sorry for getting off topic.

I would love to invest in some plastic caging, but the pricing just kills me. Knowing me, I'll probably find a PVC dealer locally and do a DIY minus the precision cutting.

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I build robots as another hobby. I have found that this website has everything:

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Check out their raw materials section.

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Originally Posted by WarriorPrincess90

Very cool. I'm an Integrative Animal Bio (aka: Pre-Vet) student at USF. I've been up to UCF a couple times. I hate all the tolls in Orlando though. You wouldn't happen to hit up Repticon Tampa would you? :)

(Perhaps we should move this conversation to PM as it no longer directly relates to the topic.)

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Sure we can go PM. I actually don't know when Repticon Tampa is.