Questions on Belly Heat in AP's T3 cage...

...Or any cage that comes with belly heat installed, I guess. :)

How well does the installed belly heat work? Does it cover the whole floor of the cage? Or just half or a portion? Can you hook a thermostat up to it? If so, can you attach the probe to the heat source as if it were the flexwat discussed in the other thread?

If the ambient temps in the room are around 75, would the installed heat source be sufficient for maintaining a proper gradient? Or would I need to look for something to supplement it with?

How well does a T3 hold humidity? Do you have to mist daily to maintain minimum levels? (For someone who lives in the desert...)

Sheesh....I had one general question in my head when I started, but once I started typing, they just started spewing out. LOL

I know the tubs are the most effecient way to house a BP, but my hubby wants something that will LOCK. hehe And honestly, I want something that will look nice. Someday when I begin collecting multiple animals, I'll switch over to tubs and racks......but for now, I'm seriously considering a T3 or similar cage. Opinions or comments???

Thanks y'all!!

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Originally Posted by JLC

How well does the installed belly heat work? Does it cover the whole floor of the cage? Or just half or a portion? Can you hook a thermostat up to it? If so, can you attach the probe to the heat source as if it were the flexwat discussed in the other thread?

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It covers about 1/3 to 1/2 of the cage on the left side. It is S-shaped and the supplied heat cable goes into the groove. It has a grove about an inch or so between the coils of the heat cable for the placement of a probe. My probe was a wee bit too big for the groove so I had to lengthen the groove a bit with my drill so that the probe would fit. This is really easy as the cage is made of plastic.

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Originally Posted by JLC

If the ambient temps in the room are around 75, would the installed heat source be sufficient for maintaining a proper gradient? Or would I need to look for something to supplement it with?

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The temperature in the room I have my T3 in hovers between 71 - 73 degrees. I've never tried using the belly heat alone but my guess is that it would not be sufficient on it own to heat the entire cage. I use the belly heat in conjunction with a radiant heat panel (Pro Products) and that works very, very well for me. The only thing is the heating of the heat cable is uneven. So if you take spot temp checks of the heat cable with a temp gun along its length, you'll get different temps. Some temps as low as mid/high 80s and some as high as very low 100s. Jamie (Jglass) took AP to task on that on the faunaclassified boards and the owner of AP says that the belly heat is designed to provide an "average" temp so it will be lower in some areas and higher in others, but that the animal will absorb the average temperature of the belly heat. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but so far it works ok for me. The side of my T3 heated by the radiant heat panel stays at a consistent 83 - 84 degrees. While the belly heat side, fluctuates between 88 - 94. It goes through that 88-94 swing constantly where it will be 88 for about 2 to 3 mins, then slowly climb too 93/94 and stay there for about 7-8 mins before slowly going down to 88 again and then the cycle repeats. The entire cycle takes about 10-15 mins to go from 1 extreme to the other both ways. I was very concerned about it at one time, but so far I haven't had any issues, and she's doing extremely well thermoregulating from hot to cool side.

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Originally Posted by JLC

How well does a T3 hold humidity? Do you have to mist daily to maintain minimum levels? (For someone who lives in the desert...)

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Yes, they do hold humidity well, but it still depends on the humidity of where you keep your cage. My humidity stayed between 50% - 55% during the warmer months, but since winter has come it would drop down to like 38% - 40%. Winter is naturally drier, so I had to get a room humidifer that works well in upping the humidity to 50% or so. We're having a relatively mild winter so as we've had higher temps lately, my humidity has been a bit higher as well, usually around 43% - 44% before I turn on the humidifer.

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Originally Posted by JLC

Opinions or

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Overall the T-3 is a great cage. Very durable, sturdy, and nice looking. It is larger than you may think however, so make sure you have enough room for it. Mine has locking, sliding glass doors as well. I think you'll be pleased.

Hope that helps.

If you want to view pics of mine and my set up, you can view my gallery.

THANK you so much for taking the time to give such a detailed answer! That's just the sort of info I was looking for. :D

I've already got a spot measured and picked out for it and hope to buy one soon so that I can collect everything I need and get the environment set up and properly regulated before I finally get that precious BP that is out there somewhere waiting for me to find her! :P

Thanks again!!

You can also use flexwatt with AP caging.. I use AP cages only have have had excellent luck with them. The belly heat they provide works very well and has the ability to get super and I mean super hot.. If you get a good thermostat you will be fine.. I have a T-20 sitting by the door now that needs put together..lol.. Anyone wanna help, that suckers huge!!!

Ooohh, more questions come to mind after looking at your pics:


Do they come with the light inside? Or did you mount that yourself? And I noticed your thermometer is hanging on the side of the cage...is that taped there? Or mounted some other way?

Very nice set-up!

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Originally Posted by justcage

You can also use flexwatt with AP caging.. I use AP cages only have have had excellent luck with them. The belly heat they provide works very well and has the ability to get super and I mean super hot.. If you get a good thermostat you will be fine.. I have a T-20 sitting by the door now that needs put together..lol.. Anyone wanna help, that suckers huge!!!

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Thanks Matt! Now that I've pretty much settled on a cage, my next decisions will be what kind of thermostat to buy and what sort of supplemental heat to use...flexwatt or radiant panel?

If you're using the belly heat AND another source to warm the "cool" side of the cage...do you have to buy two different thermostats? Or can you work things out with just one?

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Originally Posted by JLC

Thanks Matt! Now that I've pretty much settled on a cage, my next decisions will be what kind of thermostat to buy and what sort of supplemental heat to use...flexwatt or radiant panel?

If you're using the belly heat AND another source to warm the "cool" side of the cage...do you have to buy two different thermostats? Or can you work things out with just one?

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Yes you woud have to have a secondary thermostat to control the heat on the cool(ambient) side. Rancos or Johnson Controls sounds to be your best bet.. I would aso look into heat projectors and emitters before you buy a heat panel

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Originally Posted by justcage

Yes you woud have to have a secondary thermostat to control the heat on the cool(ambient) side. Rancos or Johnson Controls sounds to be your best bet.. I would aso look into heat projectors and emitters before you buy a heat panel

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Will do!

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Originally Posted by JLC

Do they come with the light inside? Or did you mount that yourself? And I noticed your thermometer is hanging on the side of the cage...is that taped there? Or mounted some other way?

Very nice set-up!

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Thanks.

You can buy the flourescent light from AP for $20. They have the mounting there for you for the light. I made my own mount for the thermometer by drilling in a tiny screw. The down side to the light is that you have to reach into the enclosure to turn it on/off. It does help having the light though as the enclosure is very dark inside (especially when cleaning). If you are handy or know a handy man, you cave them install the ligth with a outside switch and attach the light switch to the box. That's what I did (my brother is an electrician).

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Originally Posted by justcage

Yes you woud have to have a secondary thermostat to control the heat on the cool(ambient) side. Rancos or Johnson Controls sounds to be your best bet.. I would aso look into heat projectors and emitters before you buy a heat panel

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Yes you will need 2 or you can do like me and just get a Herpstat 2 which can control 2 sources. I also got that from MATT! The heat panel I like because it is safe to the touch, easily mountable inside the cage, and doesn't adversely affect the humidity. I have no experience with heat projectors and emitters, but I like my set up the way it is. Heat Panels may however be a more expensive option. Mine was 79.00 direct from pro-products. I called Bob Pound and he directed me to the size heat panel i needed for the T3.

You guys are so helpful!

~little sigh~ It's looking like my $200-$300 cage is turning into a $400-$500 cage though. Not sure what my husband is going to think of all this. Our cape gopher is so inexpensive to maintain. :upset:

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Originally Posted by bg1906

Yes you will need 2 or you can do like me and just get a Herpstat 2 which can control 2 sources. I also got that from MATT! The heat panel I like because it is safe to the touch, easily mountable inside the cage, and doesn't adversely affect the humidity. I have no experience with heat projectors and emitters, but I like my set up the way it is. Heat Panels may however be a more expensive option. Mine was 79.00 direct from pro-products. I called Bob Pound and he directed me to the size heat panel i needed for the T3.

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Hey man appricate that:) H2 are super nice for sure... Isint Bob a hoot to talk to..lol I spent about 2 hours on the phone with him a few weeks discussing the reptile business in general.. Heck of a nice guy...

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Originally Posted by justcage

Hey man appricate that:) H2 are super nice for sure... Isint Bob a hoot to talk to..lol I spent about 2 hours on the phone with him a few weeks discussing the reptile business in general.. Heck of a nice guy...

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Yes, he's a great guy to talk too. Very knowledgeable too. You can find yourself calling for business and just conversating! LOL

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Originally Posted by JLC

You guys are so helpful!

~little sigh~ It's looking like my $200-$300 cage is turning into a $400-$500 cage though. Not sure what my husband is going to think of all this. Our cape gopher is so inexpensive to maintain. :upset:

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I spent way more on husbandry than I did the snake. Thing is you only have do it 1 time! I believe you get what you pay for and I want to the best I can for the animal. For me, I didn't care about the money. I spend over $1K for everything I bought. It was cool with me. I'm raising a healthy, happy BP and I'm happy!

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Originally Posted by bg1906

I spent way more on husbandry than I did the snake. Thing is you only have do it 1 time! I believe you get what you pay for and I want to the best I can for the animal. For me, I didn't care about the money. I spend over $1K for everything I bought. It was cool with me. I'm raising a healthy, happy BP and I'm happy!

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Well, if it were me alone, I wouldn't much care about the money for husbandry either...so long as I had it to spend. But it's not just me...it's a family to care for and a husband who also has a say in how large amounts of money are spent. Fortunately, he's not a penny-squeezer or anything...he's really great and is going out of his comfort zone to support me with my intense interest in snakes. Still, I may have to get creative and be on the look-out for special deals, rather than just buying everything that looks "perfect" right out of the box. I'll find a way to make it all work and provide the best environment for that bp that's out there waiting for me! :)

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Originally Posted by bg1906

I spent way more on husbandry than I did the snake. Thing is you only have do it 1 time!

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Bryce,

If you average out what you spent over the course of your snakes probable lifetime it works out to about $40.00 a year .... small price to pay to provide your animal with the best possible environment IMO! :D

Awesome work!

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Bryce,

If you average out what you spent over the course of your snakes probable lifetime it works out to about $40.00 a year .... small price to pay to provide your animal with the best possible environment IMO! :D

Awesome work!

-adam

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I never even looked at it that way! LOL

I agree however, the price was a small amount to pay. I truly enjoy owning a snake and she's awesome in every sense of the word...awesome eater, awesome disposition, from awesome breeder...I think you guys understand!

Judy,
I have a T11 which is larger than a T3 and I have the belly heat and had them cut two holes w/screen in each side.
I also had them drill two 1/2" holes, one on each end about 6" up from the floor for me to run T-stat probes in. I ran them in and used thumb gum to seal the holes around the wires.
They didn't offer the lights inside when I got mine ( be 2 yrs in May) but get one cause it's dark in there when you try to check/clean.
I hooked my heat cables up to a Helix 1000 ( about 100.00) slide the probe under the bark on the hot side in his hide. Works great
Needed heat lamps on both sides to maintain proper temps, tho. Got 100watt red heat lights in those and they are hooked up to just the ESU t-stats w/ the dials ( 30.00 each ) and then the good old accurite temp gauge to check out temps got it mounted by the cold hide and ran the sensor over to the hot side to get temps on both sides.
All in all it is great and keeps temps 82-84 cold and 92-94 hot in hides and a general overall temp in cage around 83-86.

I have seen several different ways people have set them up and all seem to work.
You will love AP they are awesome. I won't ever use anything else that's for sure.
I have mine setting on a board then cinder blocks underneath to keep it up off the floor. I sprayed everything black to match the cage.
The guys at AP told ne to set the bottom on something since the heatcable is exposed on the bottom, it helps to direct the heat to the bottom of the cage.

Now that I have a digital camera I have to post some pics of my set up

I have a AP T3 set up for one of my BP's... I ordered it with the belly heat, but wound up replacing it with flex watt. I also have one of the UV florescent lights in it. The flexwatt is hooked up under the cage between the flexwatt and the cage itself. I keep the thermostat set at 105 degrees which keeps the inside on top of the paper about 93 degrees. During the day with the light on the air temp runs 84 and drops to 80 at night when the lights are off. I have the light on a timer so it comes on and goes off automatically at the times I set it for. I do not have any holes in the top of the cage...it is solid. My room stays between 71-73 degrees. I am having no problems with just the flexwatt and the lighting keeping the cage the correct temps. THe cool side runs 82 degrees and humidity is staying right at 60%. Hope this helps!!!!