Heat Panels

Who uses them? Pros? Cons?
You obviously dont get belly heat... Seems like a very good way to control ambient temps though.
What are your thoughts?

Heat panels rock.. though a bit on the expensive side, set up in the proper way.. depending on species you can get "belly heat" from them the radient heat will warm the floor of the cage. They are the ideal heat source for arboreal animals. IMO they are the most natural type of heat you can give your herp and they dont dry the air as much as ceramic heat emitters or light bulbs

Heat panels ae an excellent source of heat. They are like said before the most natural form of heat for a basking animal. The only problem is that the majority of snakes donot bask. This is just my opinion but I would go with flexwatt.....UNless you using it for greens or what not..
-Matt Graybeal

Thanks for the input guys... I will be putting my BCI in a 5x2x3 wooden enclosure and Ive been thinking that heat panels would be a better way to heat it then a lamp or and UTH (which would have to go through the wood).

I was just about to ask about these... I've been building a cage for like over a month now (slooooow going... lol) and I'm still trying to figure out how to heat it through plywood. I have a 1" space under the floor of my cage, would a heat panel under there be enough to penetrate through the wood without having to drill holes or anything? Anybody have links to places that sell heat panels?

http://www.pro-products.com
http://www.beanfarm.com/heating/1.html

Lindsay, you can suspend them from the ceiling inside of your enclosure. That way you dont have to worry about it going through wood.

Thanks for the links KLG.

It wouldn't be worth heating a cage that large with heat panels IMO. Last time I looked at them, they were pretty expensive. I'd personally only use them for something arboreal.

For terrestrial herps, heat pads are almost always better.

Just curious Godfather, how do you heat your wooden enclosures? Does the UTH work well enough THROUGH the plywood?

I have a space for a Lamp, but would much prefer somthing that isnt going to toast my humidity...

We use the heat panels in our 8' & 10' cages for big retics. They work very well for providing basking spots in these cages.

They're much better used for creating basking temps as opposed to ambient temps.

K

I have a red bulb attached to the ceilings for basking, and most heat needs. And I have a human heat pad inside the cage set to low or medium, depending on the heat needed. No, they never touch the bulbs. The heat pad is under newspaper, never gets too warm, and is water proof.

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The heat pad is under newspaper, never gets too warm, and is water proof.

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I'd wondered if anyone does that...

Thanks for the ideas and input everyone, much appreciated...

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Originally Posted by The_Godfather

The heat pad is under newspaper, never gets too warm, and is water proof.

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Where'd you get a waterproof heating pad? Maybe that would solve my wooden cage heating problems...

the only water proof heat pads i know of are kane heat mats .. which are just as expensive as heat panels.

It is possible to use flexwatt inside of a wooden cage. You do have to take certin steps to do it safley though. I have use them in 8 footers and makes an excellent basking sopt as usual. I covered the flexwatt with the right size of lexan and used half dome acrylic balls throudhout the bottom to provide stablility. Also yo have to seal the lexan and make sure it is watertight.

oh and you can use UTH's under wood caging depening on the thickness of the wood..

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Originally Posted by justcage

It is possible to use flexwatt inside of a wooden cage. You do have to take certin steps to do it safley though. I have use them in 8 footers and makes an excellent basking sopt as usual. I covered the flexwatt with the right size of lexan and used half dome acrylic balls throudhout the bottom to provide stablility. Also yo have to seal the lexan and make sure it is watertight.

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This is possble , But I wanted to also add that with set up where you completly seal in the heat tape that a very reliable thermostat be used to regulate the tape

I actually agree with Robert on that one.. Proportional woul dbe the best choice for this application...

I always use small fans that are build into the system to move the air around. this works great to move the air as well as insure that the panels or lights are creating more even temps and not just hot spots in the terrariums and vivariums i build.

would the panel be able to be managed in this way also?

also, why would one want the hide temps to be above 90 degree F?
I know the ambient temps are high as is the humidity in the natural habitat for royals but their burrows and termite mounds rarely exceed 87 d F. that's one of the coolest things about a termite mound, their actually engineered to allow air movement, bringing in fresh air from out side.

anyway, i think the panels are better from what i've heard as a problem with under the tank heat could be really hard on the snakes. besides, it's not normal for the ground to be hot like the air.

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Originally Posted by Deven

also, why would one want the hide temps to be above 90 degree F?

I know the ambient temps are high as is the humidity in the natural habitat for royals but their burrows and termite mounds rarely exceed 87 d F.

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They have access to natural basking areas in the wild that are greater than 87 degrees. In captivity giving them a place to feel secure while they bask reduces their level of stress (especially when a cage is in a "high traffice" area.

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Originally Posted by Deven

that's one of the coolest things about a termite mound, their actually engineered to allow air movement, bringing in fresh air from out side.

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Exactly, that's why I like Freedom Breeder rack systems. They allow large amounts of fresh air to flow into and out of the enclosure.

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Originally Posted by Deven

anyway, i think the panels are better from what i've heard as a problem with under the tank heat could be really hard on the snakes. besides, it's not normal for the ground to be hot like the air.

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Anyone who's ever been field herping knows that the best place to find snakes on a cool night is a hot black topped road. Many snakes bask on rocks or ground that has been heated by radiant energy from the sun. This is natures UTH and works very well for snakes in captivity. I'm not sure what problems you've heard of associated with UTH, but many many healthy snakes are kept on UTH (especially ball pythons) with no ill effects.

-adam

the reason i don't really like undertank heat for basking is that most of my enclosures are naturalistic and thus, basking is done by laogen lights on timers and the UTH is, if used, only for the substrate heat to get the nitrogen cycle started and help keep the humidty and evaporation in time with plant resperation. In a ball python tank, i would rather create a model were by the basking area were spread out over a larger surface and make the light and heat emitters provide the right temps, and the lower end of the heat spectrum just warms that lower substrates, burrow and such. I hope this made sense, it's much better as i'm a kenetic teacher...