Radiant Heat Panel installation

[Greta's Human]

Mounting is simple. Screws go through designated holes in RHP and screw into the surface to be mounted to. No different than screwing sheet rock to a stud for example.

I’d advise against mounting to glass. RHP in a screen top, glass enclosure can surely be done but will take more work and ingenuity to set up properly compared to a plastic or wooden enclosure.


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So if I put a plastic panel on the top that was the same size as the RHP and made a frame to hold it in place on the screentop, would that work? Can an RHP be safely mounted directly on PVC? I really don't understand how the temperature rise on the non-lens side works. They say to put nothing within 6 inches of the lens, which is great, but they don't talk about how the mounting side is heat shielded or anything else.

[Greta's Human]

Can't really use glass, there's no way to attach the RHP.

You can attach the LED lights to the plywood, just like the RHP.

I was under the impression that putting any lights inside of the enclosure was always a no-no. I was thinking of drilling holes through the glass and using bolts through the holes rather than a regular screw.

[wnateg]

I was under the impression that putting any lights inside of the enclosure was always a no-no. I was thinking of drilling holes through the glass and using bolts through the holes rather than a regular screw.

You can put lights inside the enclosure. That's how anyone with a pvc (or any non glass) enclosure does it. Have you ever drilled glass? There's a certain strategy to it.

[Greta's Human]

You can put lights inside the enclosure. That's how anyone with a pvc (or any non glass) enclosure does it. Have you ever drilled glass? There's a certain strategy to it.

It's been awhile since I drilled glass, but I did it years ago. If there's a power tool in existence, I've probably used it at some point. I was raised by an electrician and a general contractor who had their own company and made use of a lot of child labour to get things done (I have five siblings and we helped out a lot).

[CALM Pythons]

RHP’s are used for PVC enclosures so your 40 gal breeder is going to be a project. First of all what size RHP is it? You need to consider the dimensions. The smallest one i have used is 88 watt, 12”x24” but thats to long for a gradient in your setup.. What I would do is buy a Steel Screened lid. If yours has the Breeder Slide lid you cant use that one for my mounting idea so you would need to purchase one. I did this for a quarantine tank years ago.
You put the Screws threw the steel screen holes (remember not the slider screens that are thin like a window screen) and use a Washer ontop for more support. You will mount this all the way to one side of the tank so that you have the cool side without the RHP above it.
The problem your still going to have is that the 40 breeder is only 36” so most of your enclosure is going to be covered by the RHP as you need one large enough to do the job. They are usually used for 4’ enclosures and larger.
The other problem is mounting your Probe for the Tstat to run the RHP. It has to hang 3/4 down to the substrate not touching the floor or anywhere the snake can lay or piss on it..
you can cut a tiny hole (wire cutters) into the screen and hang it down into the tank next to the RHP. Do not use Tape for anything inside the enclosure or over the Screen. Even a Tongue can stick to Tape on the outside of a screen.
Also do not try to put the probe wire over the side lip of the tank and in between the lid thinking that will work. You will bend the wire, it will dry out from the heat and crack and you can cook your snake of the Tstat fails.
In order to keep humidity, buy a piece of plexiglass from Lowes. They sell different sizes. Put this over the part that does NOT have the RHP.
With all this said, Id buy a Animal Plastics enclosure T8 for $165 plus $50 shipping with sliding glass doors, they ship out within 8 weeks of ordering, or of time isnt a concern go with a T10 thats a taller enclosure. I use T12’s myself for Balls, and call it a day.
Ive watched people struggle for 30 plus years of keeping trying to use tanks and Ive always used home built wooden enclosures and now PVC enclosures. I use to take Old Wooden Trunks, take the tops off, turn them on their fronts and get a 1/4” glass sliders for a door in the 1980’s.. A tank is a headache for heat loss and humidity and can be dangerous or deadly with escapes etc... snakes push on lids and end up stuck 1/2 way out. Its horrible.
If your set on a Glass tank, Id go with a 4’Lx18”Dx21”H. Like a 65/75 gallon or something so you can at least get a Temp Gradient with the RHP.
Best of luck.


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[CALM Pythons]

It's been awhile since I drilled glass, but I did it years ago. If there's a power tool in existence, I've probably used it at some point. I was raised by an electrician and a general contractor who had their own company and made use of a lot of child labour to get things done (I have five siblings and we helped out a lot).

Tanks are not the kind of Glass you can drill. Check Youtube. They bust.


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[Greta's Human]

RHP’s are used for PVC enclosures so your 40 gal breeder is going to be a project. First of all what size RHP is it? You need to consider the dimensions. The smallest one i have used is 88 watt, 12”x24” but thats to long for a gradient in your setup.. What I would do is buy a Steel Screened lid. If yours has the Breeder Slide lid you cant use that one for my mounting idea so you would need to purchase one. I did this for a quarantine tank years ago.
You put the Screws threw the steel screen holes (remember not the slider screens that are thin like a window screen) and use a Washer ontop for more support. You will mount this all the way to one side of the tank so that you have the cool side without the RHP above it.
The problem your still going to have is that the 40 breeder is only 36” so most of your enclosure is going to be covered by the RHP as you need one large enough to do the job. They are usually used for 4’ enclosures and larger.
The other problem is mounting your Probe for the Tstat to run the RHP. It has to hang 3/4 down to the substrate not touching the floor or anywhere the snake can lay or piss on it..
you can cut a tiny hole (wire cutters) into the screen and hang it down into the tank next to the RHP. Do not use Tape for anything inside the enclosure or over the Screen. Even a Tongue can stick to Tape on the outside of a screen.
Also do not try to put the probe wire over the side lip of the tank and in between the lid thinking that will work. You will bend the wire, it will dry out from the heat and crack and you can cook your snake of the Tstat fails.
In order to keep humidity, buy a piece of plexiglass from Lowes. They sell different sizes. Put this over the part that does NOT have the RHP.
With all this said, Id buy a Animal Plastics enclosure T8 for $165 plus $50 shipping with sliding glass doors, they ship out within 8 weeks of ordering, or of time isnt a concern go with a T10 thats a taller enclosure. I use T12’s myself for Balls, and call it a day.
Ive watched people struggle for 30 plus years of keeping trying to use tanks and Ive always used home built wooden enclosures and now PVC enclosures. I use to take Old Wooden Trunks, take the tops off, turn them on their fronts and get a 1/4” glass sliders for a door in the 1980’s.. A tank is a headache for heat loss and humidity and can be dangerous or deadly with escapes etc... snakes push on lids and end up stuck 1/2 way out. Its horrible.
If your set on a Glass tank, Id go with a 4’Lx18”Dx21”H. Like a 65/75 gallon or something so you can at least get a Temp Gradient with the RHP.
Best of luck.


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So if I get a sheet of PVC and make a hanger panel for the RHP that would work. I haven't bought the RHP yet, I've only got the terrarium and I'm in the process of designing its layout so I can get started on it over spring break. It's not a slider top, it's an open front. The top pops upwards but I'm planning to add what I'm thinking now will be a Lexan panel (because I *think* based on my research that Lexan will not melt with the RHP unless the RHP is getting above 295F on the backside and if it does that I'm going to have issues no matter what) to make sure that the snake can't pop the top. I'll just add a panel of PVC to insulate the RHP from the Lexan to be sure.

As for fish tanks being undrillable, I'm not sure where you've got that info. I used to be pretty heavily into freshwater aquarium stuff and all my saltwater bros drilled regular Aqueon tanks to make refugiums and sumps. You just have to do an LCD/Polarized lens test to double check but usually at least one side of an aquarium can be drilled. If I'd been drilling glass though it would have been a custom-sized panel, not a tank, to do what I think I can do with Lexan.

[jmcrook]

For all the mods you’ll have to make in order to use an RHP the way you want in this tank, you’d be much better off with a pvc enclosure in my opinion. Not to say your approach can’t be done, will just be a lot of work whereas with a pvc cage you’ll screw the panel to the ceiling and call it a day


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[CALM Pythons]

So if I get a sheet of PVC and make a hanger panel for the RHP that would work. I haven't bought the RHP yet, I've only got the terrarium and I'm in the process of designing its layout so I can get started on it over spring break. It's not a slider top, it's an open front. The top pops upwards but I'm planning to add what I'm thinking now will be a Lexan panel (because I *think* based on my research that Lexan will not melt with the RHP unless the RHP is getting above 295F on the backside and if it does that I'm going to have issues no matter what) to make sure that the snake can't pop the top. I'll just add a panel of PVC to insulate the RHP from the Lexan to be sure.

As for fish tanks being undrillable, I'm not sure where you've got that info. I used to be pretty heavily into freshwater aquarium stuff and all my saltwater bros drilled regular Aqueon tanks to make refugiums and sumps. You just have to do an LCD/Polarized lens test to double check but usually at least one side of an aquarium can be drilled. If I'd been drilling glass though it would have been a custom-sized panel, not a tank, to do what I think I can do with Lexan.

You can do all this and your plan will work, but its going to be a bad design for a reptile, for convenience and you’re going to have to use a smaller radiant heat panel then you would use in the next size enclosure (4’) the snake needs which is a wastes of money.
I dont remember if you gave the dimensions but a 40 gallon breeder is 3 feet long, with that said you’ll need the small RHP (like 50 watt) for the correct dimensions in order to fit over 1/2 of that tank which will be useless if the house gets cold because they cant keep up or for a larger tank or pvc enclosure in the future.
Like I said you can do it, but I only use products that I can transfer to another enclosure size when they grow etc..
Also Ive never kept fish, but I did want to drill a hole because I breed rats and wanted to stick the water bottle nipple through the glass, I watched videos online, looked it up and talked about it on here years ago and it turned out that my tanks are tempered glass. They shatter even when using a glass cutter. You obviously know more than me about this but for mine it couldn’t be done.



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[fadingdaylight]

Best bet, just go with a PVC enclosure. I have one right now and another on the way, both from Reptile Basics. They will pre-install a dimmable LED strip inside the tank for you, and you can easily mount an RHP inside them. I had no experience with this type of thing when I did my first one, but it is super easy. You will have to drill one hole to run the cord through the tank, but otherwise it is just a matter of screwing the panel to the inside of the tank.