Building my first HOmemade enclosure.

[mrSocks]

Im building my first homemade enclosure for my new boa. It is made of melamine boards and was wondering if i could put my flex-watt stright on the melamine and not worry about it. It will obviously be controlled by a thermostat so no problomes there. Just wasnt sure if I could lay it on the melamine and not worry about the snake getting burnt or anything.

[ewaldrep]

do you mean on the inside or outside of the enclosure? It should be outside and i have heard that melamine is a pretty good insulator so I would test it to make sure it gets warm enough inside of there. Good luck.

[mrSocks]

On the Inside of the tank. Under his bedding and hide.

[mrSocks]

I was thinking of using a Ultratherm Undertank Heater here. http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultrath...ter-uth-11-x11

[ewaldrep]

it should definitely be outside the enclosure, hence the "under tank heater". If there was a short or power surge, there would be no protection for your snake. That said, check out the DIY forum because I know that there have been several others that have used melamine before and I read at least one thread that broke down the hole process. Sorry that I don't have the link handy but I'm sure you could find it easily.

[kitedemon]

There is only one type of UTH that is safe inside that is a Kane. They are cost prohibitive however. I would suggest not using melamine at all or at least not on the floor. PVC (not expanded) makes the best flooring material I have found easily cleaned and easy to heat through (poor insulator).