new enclosure

[AndrewBobDrew]

Well I am about to get three new normal BP females and maybe a BCI pair. People are always colmplaining about bending down to clean the bottom cages so I am going to make a rack and cage system in one with a rack system on the bottom and then four cages stacked two by two on top of the rack system.

The problem is whether I have to buy multiple thermostats for each cage and tub as how do I know what the temps are in each of them. Do most of you just use one per row or whole rack? Where would be the best probe placement.

If I can only use one then I will probably use a Compu Reptile Mk2 which is a Multiple environmental management unit that includes both humidity and temperature measurement and control within an enclosure. This unit allows the user to set the required temperature and humidity levels to be maintained within the enclosure. The weather station (sensor) will continually measure the conditions and will activate an output for either a heating device such as an electric globe or heating pad, or a humidifier should either of the conditions warrant this. The Compu Reptile has an extensive alarm infrastructure including support of a remote alarm. In addition to the above temperature and humidity outputs the Compu Reptile supports an additional 3 output points that are time driven and user programmable. These can be connected to a basking lamp, a UV Lamp, day/night lamp or any other device desired of the user. The system also supports “off-set” calibration functions as well as having the ability to control a range of conditions as apposed to controlling a single set point and also has a port for data logging.

At the moment I am thinking ultimate setup trying to forget about the bank but do you think a humidifier and light are necessary for snakes such as A BCI, corn or ball or am I just going a bit too far with the ultimate tank thing.

[TekWarren]

From what Matt and others have said and personal practice you could use one tstat as long as you are only using the same types of heat sources. Say 3" flexwatt, you can run multiple strips from one stat but don't run 3" and say 11" flexwatt off the same stat. Following that "rule" you should be fine but keep in mind to be accurate you also want your enclosures to be basically exactly the same if your going that route. It wouldn't be wise to set the temps for one enclosure and then expect a much larger or smaller enclosure to be able to maintain the same temps. With racks its not much of an issue...all the tubs are the same size and you can run heat through it evenly so one stat works fine.

Matt or Adam can shed some bright light on the subject for more in dept details or if I am incorrect on something.

[AndrewBobDrew]

thanks thats what I thought. Do you think that If you use a thermostat for multiple melamine cages that the temps might fluctuate too much between them?