RHP questions for cold room and T8

[Coluber42]

In this case, the whol cage is sitting on top of a piece of closed-cell foam (you can't see it, but if you look closely you'll see that it isn't sitting directly on top of the two tables). The side panels are canvas with a couple of layers of fleece sandwiched in between like batting and sewn together at the edges. There are sewn - on pieces of Velcro on the panels, and stick-on Velcro on the sides of the cage. The back, which you can't see, has a similar panel Velcro'd to it, with the addition of another piece of foam sandwiched between the cage and the panel and held in place because the panel is Velcro'd all around. The top piece is the thickest, with more foam encased between the layers of fleece batting. The front overhang helps limit heat loss through the gap between the sliding doors by trapping the warm air at the top.
Since the sides are separate pieces, I can easily open them partway or remove them completely if I need more airflow to control humidity in the warmer months; you can see the ventilation holes on the right side of the photo. There are also sliding PVC panels under the "quilt" ("quilt" in quotes because they aren't actually quilted, but I dunno what else to call them) panels that open and close the vent holes as needed.

The foam I used is really nothing special; it was just stuff I had lying around, same as the other materials. If I were going to buy materials I might use different foam, but I don't think it makes that huge of a difference. Actually the canvas was leftover from making a bunch of seat cushions, so at least it coordinates.

The whole thing has a false bottom, which is made from an under-bed storage bin cut down to around 4" in height (that's what determined the dimensions of the footprint), so I can use a UTH that is actually inside the main enclosure so there's less heat loss through the bottom, but the snake can't get at it and it can't be peed on. The RHP is mounted on the underside of an upper platform, which gets it closer to the ground, results in less heat loss through the ceiling, and also makes an additional hot spot above it (and there's an air gap plus some other insulation so the upper platform doesn't get too hot). Actually, the "upstairs" hot spot is only really a hot spot in the winter; in the summer, the RHP doesn't run enough for it to be much warmer than downstairs.
Lastly, the doors are acrylic, not glass, because acrylic retains heat just a bit better.