Radiant Heat Panel installation

[Greta's Human]

I've got my new snake (Obtained February 15, butter pastel ball python, she's 3 months old and 108g--I haven't got a length on her yet as I don't want to stress her by overhandling her so early) in a 15 gallon tank with CHE for now. She's very happy and I have probably more temperature readers than I need to ensure redundancy (probe type), as well as a thermostat, multiple hides and a humidity of 55-60%. Her warm end fluctuates from 87-90F depending on the room temperature (my house temperature drops at night so her enclosure drops slightly too) and her cool end is 78-80F. She's eaten f/t rat pinkies for me three times and seems happy and we'll be moving up to f/t rat fuzzies for her next feed as long as the fuzzies aren't too big (the ones at my local reptile shop have been about 19g lately which is 17% of her weight).

I've also got a really nice front opening 40BR Zilla terrarium that I'm working on turning into a bioactive for her when she outgrows the 15 gallon. I want to use radiant heat panels in the new terrarium, but I don't understand how they attach so I'm not sure if it's compatible. Could someone show me photos of how it actually attaches? I've seen photos from the bottom (inside the setup), but I'm looking for photos of how the screws work from the outside of the setup. Photos from both sides would be best if anyone has the time. I *think* I need to get a piece of PVC or acrylic to lay on top of the terrarium (which has a windowscreen type mesh top and plastic panels to sit in the windowscreen top for humidity) to attach the RHP to, but I'm not positive. I just don't understand how they attach properly to be able to make this happen for her. My roommate has a ball python in a bioactive enclosure that I helped set up, so this isn't my first bioactive enclosure that I've experienced, but when we set that one up we didn't know about radiant heat panels and just used CHE. I think RHP seem like a better option for her permanent enclosure, though, if I'm understanding correctly.

Thank you so much for helping me with this. I've googled but I can find a lot of photos of how to make DIY RHP and how they look inside the setup, but not many that really help me understand the attachment points.

[wnateg]

I'd have a piece of plywood cut to the right dimensions to replace the screen top, then you can drill the RHP to that easily. For ventilation, you can cut a hole in the plywood and use a return air grille, those plastic 2" circular vents, or just drill a series of holes, depending on your handiness.

[Craiga 01453]

I'd have a piece of plywood cut to the right dimensions to replace the screen top, then you can drill the RHP to that easily. For ventilation, you can cut a hole in the plywood and use a return air grille, those plastic 2" circular vents, or just drill a series of holes, depending on your handiness.

I second this. Just one thing to add, make sure the plywood is treated so that it won't warp over time due to humidity in the enclosure.

[Greta's Human]

If I use plywood, I'm going to have a hard time getting enough light in there for live plants (the light will obviously be on a timer and only be during daylight hours, never at night). I'm hoping to use something transparent like a frame made of PVC (so that light can get through the holes) or a sheet of acrylic. I assumed, possibly incorrectly, that this would be okay because enclosures are often made of PVC and acrylic and these would help with humidity. Would the RHP melt the PVC or acrylic? Would it be better to make a frame out of 1x1 wood to hang the RHP from so that I could have better light?

[wnateg]

I second this. Just one thing to add, make sure the plywood is treated so that it won't warp over time due to humidity in the enclosure.

Yea, you could coat it with a drylok or something to prevent that and make it look better. I just would not use acrylic, that's susceptible to melting.

[Craiga 01453]

If I use plywood, I'm going to have a hard time getting enough light in there for live plants (the light will obviously be on a timer and only be during daylight hours, never at night). I'm hoping to use something transparent like a frame made of PVC (so that light can get through the holes) or a sheet of acrylic. I assumed, possibly incorrectly, that this would be okay because enclosures are often made of PVC and acrylic and these would help with humidity. Would the RHP melt the PVC or acrylic? Would it be better to make a frame out of 1x1 wood to hang the RHP from so that I could have better light?

That's a good point, sorry I forgot about it being bioactive.

Building a frame and then using acrylic as a "window" sounds like your best bet. You could also place a screen window within that for your lamp.
I'm just brainstorming, so if my ideas aren't good please don't be afraid to tell me, hahahha. You won't hurt my feelings.

[Greta's Human]

Hmmm... Would a glass panel get shattered by the upwards heat from an RHP? I'm just trying to understand how the RHP itself works and what parts get how hot and how it attaches. I'm pretty good at working out what will and won't work once I have more info, but the info that I keep finding doesn't have the exact information I'm looking for to understand how the RHP mounts or what its temperature is on the 'nonlens' side. Maybe I could get a custom-cut sheet of glass instead. I'm not so worried about ventilation because the terrarium in question has front vents and vents on the back of the top. Even if I put a piece of glass on top, I'd still have more ventilation than most bin setups.

[Craiga 01453]

Hmmm... Would a glass panel get shattered by the upwards heat from an RHP? I'm just trying to understand how the RHP itself works and what parts get how hot and how it attaches. I'm pretty good at working out what will and won't work once I have more info, but the info that I keep finding doesn't have the exact information I'm looking for to understand how the RHP mounts or what its temperature is on the 'nonlens' side. Maybe I could get a custom-cut sheet of glass instead. I'm not so worried about ventilation because the terrarium in question has front vents and vents on the back of the top. Even if I put a piece of glass on top, I'd still have more ventilation than most bin setups.

Good questions. Unfortunately, I'm the same way you are. I can make it work once I know exactly what I'm working with.
But as for the answers you're looking for I'm not sure, so I'll bow out and let others help you from here.

Good luck!!

[jmcrook]

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.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wnateg]

Hmmm... Would a glass panel get shattered by the upwards heat from an RHP? I'm just trying to understand how the RHP itself works and what parts get how hot and how it attaches. I'm pretty good at working out what will and won't work once I have more info, but the info that I keep finding doesn't have the exact information I'm looking for to understand how the RHP mounts or what its temperature is on the 'nonlens' side. Maybe I could get a custom-cut sheet of glass instead. I'm not so worried about ventilation because the terrarium in question has front vents and vents on the back of the top. Even if I put a piece of glass on top, I'd still have more ventilation than most bin setups.

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.