thinking of getting the animal plastics t8

I am thinking about getting the animal plastics t8. I was wondering if anyone has one? Pros cons? How are you heating it? Is the heat tape enough for that size cage? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time.

Scott

I have 4, they are great. I am using the flexwatt heat tape sold by AP. They hold heat and humidity very well I highly recommend them.

I can post some pictures or answer any questions that you have about them.

hi, i have the T10's,, there a few inches taller than the T8's. i heat it with flexwatt. you can get flexwatt in diferent sizes. an 11" piece of flexwatt (controled by a thermostat) ran from front of cage to back would work well.
spooky

Aaron pics would be awesome. Spooky when you say front to back where at? Middle of one side or all the way at the end? Thanks again.

The standard place to put the heat tape is on the right side, AP cuts out a slot for your thermostat probe on that side.

Ok, some of these pictures are of my T12 but the only difference between a T12 and a T8 is the height of the cage ( The T8 is 1 foot tall and the T12 is 2 feet tall)

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/c22733cf.jpg

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/334ccf69.jpg

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/photo2-1.jpg

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/photo1-1.jpg

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/8c8a7fb7.jpg

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/2c04fa33.jpg

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/3f1e76f3.jpg

I have more pictures, and can take more if there is anything in particular that you want to see. Feel free to ask questions

Do u have your probe inside under your substrate? And did u attach it some how?

no, there is a a slot on the bottom of the cage (on the outside, that the probe sits in. the Flexwatt is then taped to the bottom of the cage (still on the outside) over where the probe slot is.

Thanks for the picks and your setup look awesome

One last question I think. what temp do you keep the inside floor of the cage over the flexwatt ?

I don't have mine yet, Won't until March 5th to 13nth. BUT I got a very quick and very nice reply from Lori. AP seems the way to go.. You hear nothing but good stuff about them! So you can't go wrong! *knocks on wood....*

Aaron, Thanks for the info! Have you ever had any issues with excess humidity (I'm in Florida, too)? Thanks, Deb V.

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Originally Posted by scottcovell

One last question I think. what temp do you keep the inside floor of the cage over the flexwatt ?

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Between 88 and 92 degrees over the flexwatt. My thermostat is set to 100 right now to achieve a floor temperature of 91 degrees. The air temperature in the cage should be between 78 and 82 degrees.

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Originally Posted by GoFride

Aaron, Thanks for the info! Have you ever had any issues with excess humidity (I'm in Florida, too)? Thanks, Deb V.

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my humidity stays right around 60% without misting. The only issue comes if I mist too much during shed, the cage holds in in so well that I occasionally have to let it "air out" but nothing serous.

By the way I grew up in Pinellas

I apologize for the blurry pics (damn ipad camera) but here is my T8 at the moment with the sliding glass doors.

Temp wise my cool side acu-rite for reads 80 ambiant/ 81 hide, warm side acu-rite reads 82 ambiant/ 94-96 under hide. Using my infrared thermometer I have a steady 81-83 cool side hide floor and 91-93 warm side hide floor. I am using corrugated wrap from uline for bedding. I use 2 bowls to keep the humidity around 55% I only have to mist once every 2-3 days. I try to keep the room above 40% humidity right now since its winter.

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/...b0684325PM.jpg
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/...b0684332PM.jpg
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/...b0684245PM.jpg
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/...b0684230PM.jpg
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/...b0684204PM.jpg
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/...b0684202PM.jpg
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/...n1973245PM.jpg

And my hydro-farm thermostats are set to 85f for the 80 watt RHP and 104 for the flexwatt.

I keep my room at a steady 70-72 degrees.

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Originally Posted by jdouglas

And my hydro-farm thermostats are set to 85f for the 80 watt RHP and 104 for the flexwatt.

I keep my room at a steady 70-72 degrees.

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Your rhp what brand is it and where is it located with the cage? I live in northeast Ohio cold in the winter and we run ac in the summer but I try to keep the house at 72 all year.

The best place for the RHP is dead center of the top of the inside of the cage.

Pro Products and Reptile basics are both great sources of RHP's

Reptile basics this is where I got my RHP and my flexwatt with cables. Along with my scale, and feeding tongs.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/heating

In the following image you can see where my cool side acu-rite is installed, my RHP, and my AP installed light.

I would get better pictures but hes cruising his cage now since the lights are all off except my computer monitor and I don't want to annoy him again.

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/...b0684149PM.jpg

We just detail cleaned it tonight and I should have taken pics of the probes and everything, but I think Aaron has you covered on those pics. I pretty much followed his setup when I setup mine.

Thanks where is the thermostat probe for the rhp?

Hot glued to the floor in the center directly below the RHP. I tried my best to get it dead center with the RHP center.

So flexwatt thermostat probe under cage in slot. (hot glued in only on the cable)
RHP thermostat probe center floor of cage (hot glued down in 3 points of the cable)
warm side thermometer probe under warm hide under corrugated wrap (screwed to floor)
cool side thermometer probe under cool hide under the wrap (screwed to the floor)

Aaron and jdouglas thanks for the help and tips. I really appreciate it.

T-8's baby

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...e/P1050174.jpg

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

T-8's baby

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...e/P1050174.jpg

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I'm so jealous! :taz:

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

T-8's baby

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...e/P1050174.jpg

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Very nice, I'll be there one day:D

Jdouglas, looks like you've done a great job with that enclosure ( you other guys also). Just wondering what that is you use to line the bottom??? Looks really good.

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Originally Posted by Vince407

Jdouglas, looks like you've done a great job with that enclosure ( you other guys also). Just wondering what that is you use to line the bottom??? Looks really good.

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it is called Corrugates wrap. Basically it is half of a sheet of cardboard.

I use it as well now, you can buy it online in large rolls for pretty cheap.

Just google "corrugated wrap" and you will fine a few good sellers in the first few links.

Definitely looks like poops are easier to spot and clean up with the corrugate, and I get that at work for really cheap. Unfortunately I have two bags of aspen and one bag of cypress to use up and it looks like it will take years! Time for another snake.

Thanks Serpent Merchant.

I have been using 2 seperate sheets of it. One for the warm side and one for the cold side. Because he has not messed up both sides yet. So it makes it really easy to just replace one side and not have to re do the whole cage.

It makes it really simple since he seems to only mess up his warm side about every 3-5 days. And yes its very easy to spot as long as you don't spill any water on it.

I curl up the sides to prevent him from getting anything into the corners. But by doing this it seems he was able to get under it. So I just made it so the deco weighs down the corners.