Can I get by with just a Radiant heat panel?

[Zoe]

I have my bp set up in a 30” exo terra. I have a heat mat, set to 90F against the glass, and a RHP set to 80ish (78-82 depending on room temp). My bp does not burrow, and with the substrate, I don’t think he’s getting much belly heat out of the heat mat. I don’t dare turn up the heat in case he does decide to burrow some day.

So! I am wondering if I can get rid of the heat mat altogether, and just heat the cage with the heat panel. Maybe get a piece of slate rock, elevated, to absorb some rhp heat for him to lie on? And if so, what would I set the ambient temperature at?

And also if so, my rhp is almost the same size as the lid, so it’s not providing a huge range from cool side to warm side. I was relying on the heat mat to give him a warm side. Should I get a small one or can I use vertical levels (higher slate rock for warm, half-buried cave for cool)?

[alittleFREE]

I have my bp set up in a 30” exo terra. I have a heat mat, set to 90F against the glass, and a RHP set to 80ish (78-82 depending on room temp). My bp does not burrow, and with the substrate, I don’t think he’s getting much belly heat out of the heat mat. I don’t dare turn up the heat in case he does decide to burrow some day.

So! I am wondering if I can get rid of the heat mat altogether, and just heat the cage with the heat panel. Maybe get a piece of slate rock, elevated, to absorb some rhp heat for him to lie on? And if so, what would I set the ambient temperature at?

And also if so, my rhp is almost the same size as the lid, so it’s not providing a huge range from cool side to warm side. I was relying on the heat mat to give him a warm side. Should I get a small one or can I use vertical levels (higher slate rock for warm, half-buried cave for cool)?

I don’t see why the levels thing wouldn’t work, as long as you got the temps right and have matching hides. Keep in mind that BPs are nocturnal so they aren’t baskers.... Your snake is unlikely to go sit on a slab of rock unless he’s got a place where he can be sheltered and hidden. They will choose security over warmth.

However, what I do is just push some substrate away under the hide so the glass is exposed and they have that hot spot to lay on for digestion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Craiga 01453]

I have my bp set up in a 30” exo terra. I have a heat mat, set to 90F against the glass, and a RHP set to 80ish (78-82 depending on room temp). My bp does not burrow, and with the substrate, I don’t think he’s getting much belly heat out of the heat mat. I don’t dare turn up the heat in case he does decide to burrow some day.

So! I am wondering if I can get rid of the heat mat altogether, and just heat the cage with the heat panel. Maybe get a piece of slate rock, elevated, to absorb some rhp heat for him to lie on? And if so, what would I set the ambient temperature at?

And also if so, my rhp is almost the same size as the lid, so it’s not providing a huge range from cool side to warm side. I was relying on the heat mat to give him a warm side. Should I get a small one or can I use vertical levels (higher slate rock for warm, half-buried cave for cool)?

Your heat mat should be providing a hot spot to aid in digestion. If you have your heat sources regulated by a thermostat you don't need to worry about your snake burrowing and being burned.

So, if you use the RHP to create an ambient temp of 82ish and your heat mat to create a hot spot of 89-90 then you have a gradient and a hot spot for digestion.

But, it is VERY important to regulate ALL heat sources with a thermostat.

[Zoe]

Thanks - yes, it is regulated with a thermostat, but between the glass and the substrate, he's not getting much heat from it. My concern is that if I turn up the heat pad high enough that it gets all the way to him, it will be too hot right against the glass. The substrate isn't very thick, but it still seems to insulate the heat. Maybe it's better than nothing!

[Spookychief]

My advice is to check the hotspot temps with a temp gun take the animal out of its hide. place the hide back down then check the temps while the hide is still over the spot. Heat pads on glass are known to cause cracks in the glass, so exposing the glass so the animal can rest on it is always unwise. Not only could the animal be cut by the glass if it's cracked by the heat pad but burns could also happen very easily if they lay on the glass. Since it sounds like your heat pad is inside the enclosure, what I would personally do to avoid the risk of cracking the glass, is get a piece of PVC or HDPE sheeting, cut it to be a little larger than the heat pad and place it underneath, then add your temp probe and substrate over it. This will prevent concerns of the glass breaking and PVC and HDPE are very commonly used in reptile enclosures. check temps hourly or at regular intervals and wait for it to stabilize then just adjust your controller as needed.

[Zoe]

My advice is to check the hotspot temps with a temp gun take the animal out of its hide. place the hide back down then check the temps while the hide is still over the spot. Heat pads on glass are known to cause cracks in the glass, so exposing the glass so the animal can rest on it is always unwise. Not only could the animal be cut by the glass if it's cracked by the heat pad but burns could also happen very easily if they lay on the glass. Since it sounds like your heat pad is inside the enclosure, what I would personally do to avoid the risk of cracking the glass, is get a piece of PVC or HDPE sheeting, cut it to be a little larger than the heat pad and place it underneath the heat pad secure it down on the edges with some aluminum tape used in HVAC systems, it adheres really well, just be sure to clean the glass prior to placing it down. then add your temp probe and substrate over it. This will prevent concerns of the glass breaking and PVC and HDPE are very commonly used in reptile enclosures. check temps hourly or at regular intervals and wait for it to stabilize then just adjust your controller as needed.

The heat pad is on the underside of the glass bottom (which I supposed makes no difference for cracking risk).

If I wanted to do away with the heat pad altogether and just a radiant heat panel, would that be acceptable? I would swap out the large RHP with a smaller one, I think, to heat one side to a higher temp. It would simplify things which I like and also I think he would get more access to heat than he is currently, since he's not getting much heat from the heat pad. The substrate surface above it is only a couple degrees higher than the ambiant temp.

[Spookychief]

conventional keeping methods advise the use of a heating pad and honestly, they work well. I would suggest if you suspect that the heat pad isn't working or providing the correct amount of heat then measure the temperature of the hot spot with a temp gun and check that reading. If the temp is in that high 80s range then leave it. Radiant heat panels are great for keeping ambient temps up but they are just not effective enough to provide a hot spot, in my opinion, but that certainly doesn't mean it cant be done.

[ckuhn003]

Radiant heat panels are great for keeping ambient temps up but they are just not effective enough to provide a hot spot, in my opinion, but that certainly doesn't mean it cant be done.

I'm not sure if I 100% agree with this statement but I'll preface it by saying this is only based on what I've researched and a couple weeks of testing out my new AP enclosure which ONLY has an RHP installed. I have my Thermostat probe hanging 2/3 down the wall on the cool side and I have it set to create the ambient temp I'm looking for. This in turn also creates a nice temp gradient where my warm side surface is the high 80s where I want it to be. It's all about giving yourself enough time to play with the Thermostat temps to get the right numbers in each area of your enclosure.

Two things which jumped out at me while reading some of the OPs posts were the RHP measuring the same size as the lid and raising the temp of the heat pad to maximize the heat that the BP will feel. If your RHP is the size of the lid, you probably won't be able to create a temperature gradient unless your only using it to control your cool side and your Thermostat is right underneath it and your using a heating pad for the hot side.

When using a heating pad (or RHP, etc...), you want the absolute bottom surface where a snake 'may' burrow to be no hotter then the range you need it to be. Don't raise the temp thinking the substrate needs to be at that level. A snake will burrow to find the heat he/she needs.

[Craiga 01453]

As long as your heat mat is regulated it's not going to crack the glass. Heat spikes can do that, but temps need to get real high for that to happen. Think of it this way: our bodies are over 98 degrees. Does glass crack if you hold it in your hands for a while? No. So a regulated heat mat won't crack it either.

You should be checking the actual glass surface temps with a temp gun. Then use those readings to adjust your tstat. Move it up a little at a time, check it again and keep going til your reading are 89-90. There will be variance from tank to tank, heat mat to heat mat, etc...so it's a game of trial and error. My tstats are anywhere from 92-96 to get 88-90 hot spots.

[Spookychief]

I'm not sure if I 100% agree with this statement but I'll preface it by saying this is only based on what I've researched and a couple weeks of testing out my new AP enclosure which ONLY has an RHP installed. I have my Thermostat probe hanging 2/3 down the wall on the cool side and I have it set to create the ambient temp I'm looking for. This in turn also creates a nice temp gradient where my warm side surface is the high 80s where I want it to be. It's all about giving yourself enough time to play with the Thermostat temps to get the right numbers in each area of your enclosure.

Two things which jumped out at me while reading some of the OPs posts were the RHP measuring the same size as the lid and raising the temp of the heat pad to maximize the heat that the BP will feel. If your RHP is the size of the lid, you probably won't be able to create a temperature gradient unless your only using it to control your cool side and your Thermostat is right underneath it and your using a heating pad for the hot side.

When using a heating pad (or RHP, etc...), you want the absolute bottom surface where a snake 'may' burrow to be no hotter then the range you need it to be. Don't raise the temp thinking the substrate needs to be at that level. A snake will burrow to find the heat he/she needs.

Ya, I agree with this. RHPs are great products and i personally use them in my setups but i just haven't experimented with them as sole heat sources, which is why I mentioned that it was my just my opinion . People have different methods of keeping snakes so it's always good to hear what people have to offer as advice and hear what they have had success with. There's nothing wrong with experimenting a little bit to see what is effective and what isn't. Cool to hear that RHP's are working well as sole heat sources in AP cages and I wonder how effective they are as sole heat sources in glass setups? I just picked up a normal female and shes in a temporary glass setup while i work on building an enclosure for her so maybe I'll mess around with it a bit and see how the RHP performs by itself, maybe i'll learn something new from it. I know the OP also mentioned that they would change out the large RHP for a smaller one to aid in creating that heat gradient.