Some advises regarding wood cage with inside UTH

Hi Everyone,

So I'm building a beautiful new cage from wood (Cabinet) for my BP.

I will heat the cage with this lamp and 40w bulb.

In addition, I would like to add UTH inside the cage (Controlled by t-stats).

I'm thinking to put the UTH between two sheets of PVC to prevent burning of the snake and the cage.

I would like to hear your opinion about that.
And if you have any other tips regarding building the cage please share.

Thank you!

I Would highly, HIGHLY - not recommend putting the UTH inside the enclosure with the snake. It is meant to heat the substrate in the enclosure from the outside, it is not intended for your snake to sit directly ontop of. Is there any way you can install it on the bottom of the enclosure?

Hi

No I cant put it outside the cage.

But what about the pvc/glass idea?

I can put a layer of pvc above the UTH so the snake wont touch it directly

I'd ditch the lamp, build a frame, insulate within the walls, make a nice wood enclosure on the outside, add a nice finish, line the inside with some sort of plastic liner and let the whole thing off gas for a week or two at least, but that's just me. I would not allow moisture to come in contact with wood, it just never seems to end well. Tigerwood flooring makes a nice outside finished look. for putting UTH's inside, you are pretty much outside the manufacturer's recommendations and you do need to have it applied to something with enough thermal mass to disperse the heat well and with enough air circulation around it to reduce the risk of heat encapsulation and a runaway thermal "situation". I use two pieces of thick glass, I have them cut to size at a window shop near me for about $5 a piece. I then use silicone spacers and a herpstat t-stat, with probe between the pains of glass, siliconed to the UTH. I use a heat gun to adjust the temp since the probe is not at the surface. here is a shot of my Aquarium Vivarium combo. this one houses a Brazilion Rainbow Boa below in a bio-active planted system and a planted aquarium above. both enclosures have a 40W LED finnex grow light strand that also provides some heat.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/img_8350.jpg

the UTH below basically sandwiched between two panes of glass that are siliconed together so that no wiggle worms can get wedged. it is not the easiest thing to clean or make for that matter, but just as with a heat panel, it is extremely energy efficient and lasts a long time. I use an inch or so of cypress mulch over it for humidity stability and it seems to breathe enough to not cause over heating.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/img_8200.jpg

Thank you for your answer.

You said to insulate the walls. How do I do that? Can you give me a link please to the product?

You also said to line the insides with plastic liner. What is that and why?

English is not my native language so I'm not that familiar with some of your terms.

Thanks a lot

Radiant heat panel.....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by idomskt

Hi Everyone,

So I'm building a beautiful new cage from wood (Cabinet) for my BP.

I will heat the cage with this lamp and 40w bulb.

In addition, I would like to add UTH inside the cage (Controlled by t-stats).

I'm thinking to put the UTH between two sheets of PVC to prevent burning of the snake and the cage.

I would like to hear your opinion about that.
And if you have any other tips regarding building the cage please share.

Thank you!

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Not 1 thing about this is a good idea. You can buy a professional PVC enclosure for $150, 12"x24"x48". There is a reason that PVC is used and on a expensive Hard wood display enclosure the inside is lined with PVC. It sounds like you need to read the stickies under all our subtitles because nobody can explain every aspect of snake keeping to you point by point. Do some research as your question indicate you haven't the foggiest idea about Husbandry.

I would also ditch the wood idea, it just doesn't do well in a high humidity environment required by a ball python. If you're bent on making it look like a piece of fine furniture then line the inside of each enclosure with something waterproof and seal the seams well.

There are a few brands of heat mats that are designed specifically to be used in the enclosure. Two that come to mind are the Kane heat mat, and the IntelliTemp mat offered by Big Apple Herp. I would use one of them instead of trying to seal a cheap UTH that is not designed for use in the enclosure.

I've been planning to build similar. It would be very easy to build a frame out off 1x4 lumber. Built like a house except the weather proof is inside and the pretty is on the outside. Line the inside with 1/4" pvc sheeting. Running heat tape through an opening left in the 1x4s . Th 3/4" gap between tanks caused by the 1x4 would allow the tape to breath well. Once the inside is made like this you can cover the outside with whatever you would like to make it look nice. Sheet rock it to blend in with the walls except for the glass doors, or use wood of your choice to make it look like furniture. Sort of like building a 2x4 wall, you can put a layer of insulation between the pvc layer inside and te external finish layer. For a 12"x 24"x48" it'll cost about $100-120 for each level of the tank from just a quick search for materials. Mostly due to the high cost of the pvc. The wood framing is cheap. And the outside coverjng is as expensive or cheap as you want to make it.

Kyle


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Thanks for the answers.

So let me get it right. If I will cover the inside walls with PVC sheets (something like that) it should prevent mold and suppose to be ok.

Right?

Am I missing something?

Thank you

you can go much thinner than that. I use shower liner from home depot, it is thinner, cheaper and easier to work with. Or just buy a PVC enclosure and put whatever you like on the outside to pretty it up, basically make a cabinet around it. that is certainly the easiest and maybe even the cheapest way to go. I've converted 40 gallon breeders and 20 longs to enclosures, with quite a bit of work, mainly because I wanted them designed a very specific way that I could not find already available and because I already had a bunch of tanks laying around. making your own enclosures is involved if done right, mainly because of the needed fabrication to make them water tight and relatively vapor tight.

You giving me really helpful advises here. Thank you for that!

I already bought the cabinet and started to work with it so I can't refund it anymore, I already started to work on it and its start to look good!

Can you please give me a link to the shower liner?

I would like to get the one that you will recommend specifically.

Thanks again! Pictures will come soon

Quote:

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Originally Posted by idomskt

You giving me really helpful advises here. Thank you for that!

I already bought the cabinet and started to work with it so I can't refund it anymore, I already started to work on it and its start to look good!

Can you please give me a link to the shower liner?

I would like to get the one that you will recommend specifically.

Thanks again! Pictures will come soon

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Given what you say , I'd also persist with your project , I'm sure you can make it work really well . Just get your research done before deciding . I'd get Googling away on the issues that are a concern .


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Given what you say , I'd also persist with your project , I'm sure you can make it work really well . Just get your research done before deciding . I'd get Googling away on the issues that are a concern .


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Thank you my friend!
It will be great eventually. In the last few days I'm googling a lot regarding the issues. This forum is part of my research and got some really good advises so far.

here's a link to one of my build outs: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums...ks-331408.html

the shower liner is sold in 4'x8' sheets, it's the stuff used to waterproof the walls of showers/tubs.