Heat tape is just not getting that warm.

I have 3" heat tape for my rack and I don't know if it is going to cut it. The cypress mulch is still damp so that is keeping things cooler.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What is the temperature and you are taking it UNDER the mulch, correct?

Temp under the mulch is around 75. The mulch is still pretty cool and moist. The ambient temp in my room is 71 degrees.

Is this a slow process as it will gradually warm things up?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There are no animals in there yet. I'm thinking of waiting a few days until it warms up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just don't know how the one spot is going to get into the high eighties.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Adjust thermostat until temp under substrate is where you want it to be. Naturally you're going to have to set the thermostat higher to achieve the proper temperature in the tubs. But I don't think 3" tape in a 71 degree room is going to cut it. IMO that's too cool for a rack system.

Right now under the mulch is reading 78 degrees. It is slowly climbing. I think the moist cypress mulch is keeping things a lot cooler.

I can move the rack to the other bedroom that is kept at 75 degrees but I kind of wanted the snakes in my bedroom so they get more attention.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What is the tstat set at currently?

Where is the probe for it mounted?

Many racks do not keep a warm enough ambient temp is cool rooms. The heat tape is not going to get the ambient temps to rise so you may want to move it to that warmer room now.

BTW, your snakes don't really want attention and a less travelled area will be perfect for them.

I just set it up and didn't even set up the thermostat. I don't have any animals in it at the moment. I have the heat tape cranking along and the temp just hit 81 degrees under the mulch.

What is the lowest ambient temp of the tub that is healthy for a ball python? I currently keep mine at 80 degrees with a 90 degree hot spot on the mulch and he is doing great.

I don't want to warehouse them, I want them to get used to me handling them.

I have more heat tape, but I'm thinking it might gradually warm up.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I bumped my thermostat on my air conditioner to a balmy 73 degrees. Let's see if that makes a difference.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What if I went with 11 inch heat tape under the tub? It's going to be controlled with a thermostat and I can hook it up to a dimmer. What do you think?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Gotcha!

Its is usually said to keep it near 80 but I have seen some here with large collections that keep them cooler without any issues. I personally don't like to let my snake room get cooler than 75.

I might order some larger heat tape to warm things up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tbowman

Adjust thermostat until temp under substrate is where you want it to be. Naturally you're going to have to set the thermostat higher to achieve the proper temperature in the tubs. But I don't think 3" tape in a 71 degree room is going to cut it. IMO that's too cool for a rack system.

---

I keep my room temp in the low 70s and have no problem with heat tape not getting warm enough.

What watt heat tape is it? What tubs are you using and what is the temp directly on the heat tape?

Heat tape is made to heat a surface, not ambient.

As of this morning the ambient temp in the tub is 76 degrees.
I'm using 32 quart sterilite tubs and 3 inch flexwatt?

I'm going to order 6 inch flexwatt and I think that should put me where I want to be or should I just get the 11 inch? What do you think?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Temp of the substrate on be hot side is 80 degrees


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also, if you're housing in a rack you really don't need a lot of cypress mulch at all. I would move the cypress mulch away from on top of the heat tape. That will make the tape and your temperatures more efficient. Where is the probe to the thermostat sitting? The cypress mulch in a rack is going to make your humidity skyrocket! Just use paper towels for the area over the heat tape.

I didn't set a thermostat up yet because I'm trying to see if it even can get up to temp. I'm going to try one rack with paper towels and compare


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok I set up a tub with a few sheets of paper towels. I'm off to work but let's see how warm it gets by the time I get home.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, ok. You can use the cypress but I would use very little to none. How do you know the heat tape isn't getting warm enough if you don't have it connected? I don't get what you are saying?

I have a digital thermometer hooked up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm going to borrow a alcohol thermometer to compare


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm thinking if I got a 12 inch piece of heat tape and put it under a third of the tub it should heat things up. I can hook it up to a dimmer and a thermostat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Heat tape is made to heat a surface, not ambient.

---

I've heard of people using flexwatt to heat their homes and that it was first created as a residential heating element. Although all the talk about it not heating anything but the surface seems to contradict that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tbowman

I've heard of people using flexwatt to heat their homes and that it was first created as a residential heating element. Although all the talk about it not heating anything but the surface seems to contradict that.

---

Sort of, it was designed to provide under-floor heating in a very small room such as a bathroom. It also requires a lot of insulation under the heating element and a floor with a decent amount of thermal mass, such as ceramic tile. Once the floor warms up, which can take a while, it constantly radiates heat up into the room. A thin plastic tub OTOH doesn't hold heat well, once the source is removed it cools quickly, and tubs aren't well insulated. PVC shelves don't insulate well either.

OP, for a tub you don't need to fill the whole thing with cypress mulch unless you're keeping something like Brazilian Rainbow boa babies that require 90% humidity or higher.

If low humidity is a problem put the cypress in the front few inches of the tub on the cool side and use newspaper for the rest. This is what I do in the winter months as my house humidity runs about 10%, and then I just dampen the cypress every night. It acts like a natural sponge and dries slowly over the next day.

^--- that right there

I'm thinking a large surface area constantly radiating heat will up the tub temperature to 80 degrees


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Billy29

I'm thinking a large surface area constantly radiating heat will up the tub temperature to 80 degrees

---

You don't want to much of the tub floor heated. Speaking from experience and knowledge of reading about others with racks I really doubt you will be able to keep the tub bottom at the right temp and the ambient temp at 80.

So what are my options here?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Move it to the other room that stays 75. But the winter could bring issues.

Put it in a small room with a small heater. This is what most of us with snake rooms do. I like oil filled heaters

Put it in a closet. This may or may not need a small heater as well.

Insulate it really well and hope it holds the heat.

Ok so I just got home and the rack is holding a temp of about 75 degrees with a hot spot of 82 degrees. I'm wondering if I double up with another piece of heat tape will that do it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Im sorry if I missed this, but do you have a temp gun at all? What is the exact reading on the heat tape, not the air above it? Even in a 70 deg room the heat tape itself should be able to heat up to a 90 degree hot spot, but a 3 or 4" piece wont do much for the ambients. Taking hot spot temps with a digital probe thermometer can be misleading, imo those are best for ambient temps.

This issue is why I avoid racks with small heat tape. 11" tape works much better for larger sized tubs.

I'm off by 4 degrees so I I'm going to see what doubling up does.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm ordering a few pieces of 11 or 12 inch heat tape. I'm sure this would solve the problem


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't own a temp gun, I think it will be my next purchase.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good call. When people have dedicated snake rooms with high ambient temps it seems that smaller heat tape works much better. For everyone else larger tape usually seems like the way to go from what I see.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Billy29

I don't own a temp gun, I think it will be my next purchase.

---

You need that before you go throwing more heat tape onto the rack.

Can you get these at Lowes or Home Depot?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How is a ambient temp of 76.5 degrees?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Billy29

How is a ambient temp of 76.5 degrees?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

The ambient temp has nothing to do with the heat tape. The heat tape is a hot spot only. The ambient temp would have to be much lower then 70 before the heat tape couldn't get to temp. 11" heat tape with 32 qt tubs? That would cover half the bottom. I asked earlier what is the heat tape watt and what is the temp on the heat tape. You have to have a heat gun to setup thermostats. A heat gun as far as I am concerned should be the first thing purchased before you even get a snake.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bondo

The ambient temp has nothing to do with the heat tape. The heat tape is a hot spot only. The ambient temp would have to be much lower then 70 before the heat tape couldn't get to temp. 11" heat tape with 32 qt tubs? That would cover half the bottom. I asked earlier what is the heat tape watt and what is the temp on the heat tape. You have to have a heat gun to setup thermostats. A heat gun as far as I am concerned should be the first thing purchased before you even get a snake.

---

Exactly. This is what I was saying in my previous post. You might actually have sufficient temps on the hot spot. An ambient temp in the mid 70s is fine. Either there is a connection error on the tape, or you need to replace the tape. Even in a cold room heat tape should be able to generate a significantly high hot spot. Get the temp gun before anything else.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Billy29

Can you get these at Lowes or Home Depot?

---

Yes. If you search their web sites look for "infrared thermometer".

I have several different models, mainly because there's one in every room that has a rack or stack, plus another for the QT room. Doing comparisons I did find the cheapest one offered at Lowes ( http://www.lowes.com/pd_73790-56005-...ed+thermometer ) reads 4*F lower than all of the others. It can be recalibrated, I found directions online, but for now I just account for the inaccuracy.

When I looked at heat guns at home depot it had specs showing temp deviations +/- 5 deg. I think the Pro exotics temp gun I have is +/- 1 or 2 deg. Still any temp gun will get you much better info than a prob thermometer.

Just want to clear things up. I do not have one snake in this rack as they are all hanging out comfortably in terrariums hooked up to thermostats getting the proper care.

I'm going to Lowes right now to pick up a temp gun.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok here is the verdict with the infrared temperature gun.
I made one tub have a single strip of 3" flexwatt tape. The other tub has two strips of 3" flexwatt tape.

Heat tape measures 95 degrees

Single strip tub
Hot side = 85 degrees
Cool side = 76 degrees

Double strip tub
Hot side = 88 degrees
Cool side = 78 degrees


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Billy29

Ok here is the verdict with the infrared temperature gun.
I made one tub have a single strip of 3" flexwatt tape. The other tub has two strips of 3" flexwatt tape.

Heat tape measures 95 degrees

Single strip tub
Hot side = 85 degrees
Cool side = 76 degrees

Double strip tub
Hot side = 88 degrees
Cool side = 78 degrees


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

Are the temps directly on the tub surface?

On the paper towel, should I measure the tub itself?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

On the double strip tub the tub surface measures

Hot side = 94
Cool side = 77

Single strip tub measures

Hot side = 93
Cool side =77


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk