Cage set up

If I have an RHP and temps are adequate is there a need for belly heat?
I was looking at purchasing a pvc enclosure and asked the person if there was a location to install heat tape. They replied and said their cage was designed to use RHP and belly heat was not needed.
I may be doing more than needed, but my bp set up is using both floor heat and ambient air heat, both on TSTATS of course!!!
I'm asking this question in regards to a boa set up I'm working on.
Thanks in advance for all suggestions.

Belly heat is not needed for a bp if ambient temps are kept. Plenty of people forego lighting and heat in favor of heating the room to around 84.

Im not sure about Boas, but in my PVC enclosures, I only use RHPs and it works out well for me. My ambient temps are set up around 85.

If your warm and cool side temps are appropriate you do not need any belly heat. Take all heat measurements at the level of where the snake lives. Snakes don't breathe the air that is at the top or middle of the tank. Most large PVC enclosures for boas/retics/burms use RHPs as the sole source of heat. Think nature. Sun warms the earth, snake soaks up warmth. As long as the microenvironment around the animal allows thermoregulation you are in good shape.

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Originally Posted by Mr. Misha

Im not sure about Boas, but in my PVC enclosures, I only use RHPs and it works out well for me. My ambient temps are set up around 85.

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My bad I thought post was about a bp

RHP will heat them from both sides, they get heat they pull in from the surface, and the radiant heat from above. At the same time, the RHP will heat up a cage to proper air temps as long as other factors allow it. Such as....Room temp, cage is on a inside wall, size of cage, cage is black or white, PVC door or glass, objects in the cage. All these things can be factors on heating a cage with only a RHP. I myself use only a RHP in mine. I can reach temps within the average range pretty easy. You have to properly check ambient air temps by hanging a probe and blocking it from the RHP with paper or something. Your setup will be different than other peoples. Many people do use only a RHP from what I understand. Just make sure it's regulated with the thermostat.

Depending on your ambient room temps both may be needed. I have a PVC isolation enclosure for sick snakes (fortunately it's currently empty) that has both an RHP and UTH installed. It's in my bedroom, not the herp room, so I can tend to any sick snakes after the others and then walk straight to my shower.

In the winter my herp room is kept in the mid-70's while the rest of the house can drop down as low as 60*F. The RHP alone just can't keep up with heating the whole PVC enclosure when the house is that cool. So, in the winter I provide belly heat on a UTH that is located under the RHP, and the RHP helps raise the ambient in the enclosure. During warmer weather only one device for heat is needed should a critter need to use the isolation enclosure.

At least you'll already have the RHP installed and working, so if you get the enclosure as we go into the warm weather, keep an eye on it if you let your house cool off over the winter. If you have to add a UTH you can do it then, it's just as easy to do as on a glass tank.

Finding the correct wattage RHP for your enclosure, and taking temps at the correct location is key. If you are taking the temp just under the RHP, you aren't going to have an accurate readout for what the hot spot temps are at the floor of the enclosure. Using a thermostat and an infrared gun to manipulate the devices into getting to your correct temps takes some time but should yield good results once you have everything set.

Thanks guys!!

I'm using my RHP only but I do have heat tape under my PVC cage also. I turn it on if needed also. I don't like heat tape but if it's needed, it is there to use.

The big this is measuring the air temp. This should not be influenced by any heat source. RHPs emit IR radiation, this is how they heat exactly the same way as the sun does. The issue is taking air temps with out reading the heat waves from the RHP. Often these must be blocked as Skeletor mentioned. You can just set up something temporally take the reading and then return it to the way it was.

A UTH and RHP is over kill generally they are both radiant heat sources and both heat basically the same way. If you need to increase the air temps you could either add lighting (fluorescent light tubes add a fair bit of ambient temps and LED fixtures add more than you might expect.) The other method is much like the sun, add something dark matte and heavy to the enclosure. The RHP will heat this up (disproportionally than white, glossy, and light) much like a black chair in the sun. This can be used to slightly adjust the ambient air temps if needed.

Kitedemon. I want to look into adding a light to my cage. Do you have a brand, a pic, bulb info, color, controller ? How it's mounted etc. Also, do the lights burn off humidity and can you control them with a VE-200 ? So many questions. I like the idea of having a light. I do not like heat tape on my cage. I don't care for taping stuff on, the foil tape peels off in a week and the heat tape falls off. I like solid mounted hardware. My cage has a long LED light clipped in it but I only use it to clean the cage.

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Originally Posted by Skeletor

Kitedemon. I want to look into adding a light to my cage. Do you have a brand, a pic, bulb info, color, controller ? How it's mounted etc. Also, do the lights burn off humidity and can you control them with a VE-200 ? So many questions. I like the idea of having a light. I do not like heat tape on my cage. I don't care for taping stuff on, the foil tape peels off in a week and the heat tape falls off. I like solid mounted hardware. My cage has a long LED light clipped in it but I only use it to clean the cage.

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I use LED lighting in my snake enclosure. It puts off no heat and doesn't soak up humidity. I get them from Lowes for about $40. It comes with 3' of LED light string and a remote. It has a rainbow of color of which I only use white and red. Very easy to install!!http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...60e9d98fc1.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...b97651ebe0.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...2979a7dc4b.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...757d4d783e.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...36ec2e8692.jpg

I just use a shielded FL for day time and a blue 'tube' led for night.

FL fixture... http://www.rona.ca/en/18-in-fluorescent-fixture

Something like this for led.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/18-30-42-57-6...item2ecf0d7e53

I just use screws to mount it just like any other application.

Yes they do change the Relative Humidity. (relative to temperature if the air temps change it MUST change) They increase the air temp and because of that they change the saturation point (increasing it) and that means you need less RH% to get a good shed. Any heat source that heats air will change the RH.

No you cannot regulate it with a proportional stat it flickers and goes foolish. The range of ambient air temp is dramatic (74ºF-86ºF easily some say wider that this) you don't really need a stat to hit inside a 10ºF spread. I just use a timer, I change it 3 or 4 times a year as the room temps changes with seasonal shifts.