Questions on Belly Heat in AP's T3 cage...

[JLC]

...Or any cage that comes with belly heat installed, I guess.

How well does the installed belly heat work? Does it cover the whole floor of the cage? Or just half or a portion? Can you hook a thermostat up to it? If so, can you attach the probe to the heat source as if it were the flexwat discussed in the other thread?

If the ambient temps in the room are around 75, would the installed heat source be sufficient for maintaining a proper gradient? Or would I need to look for something to supplement it with?

How well does a T3 hold humidity? Do you have to mist daily to maintain minimum levels? (For someone who lives in the desert...)

Sheesh....I had one general question in my head when I started, but once I started typing, they just started spewing out. LOL

I know the tubs are the most effecient way to house a BP, but my hubby wants something that will LOCK. hehe And honestly, I want something that will look nice. Someday when I begin collecting multiple animals, I'll switch over to tubs and racks......but for now, I'm seriously considering a T3 or similar cage. Opinions or comments???

Thanks y'all!!

[bg1906]

How well does the installed belly heat work? Does it cover the whole floor of the cage? Or just half or a portion? Can you hook a thermostat up to it? If so, can you attach the probe to the heat source as if it were the flexwat discussed in the other thread?

It covers about 1/3 to 1/2 of the cage on the left side. It is S-shaped and the supplied heat cable goes into the groove. It has a grove about an inch or so between the coils of the heat cable for the placement of a probe. My probe was a wee bit too big for the groove so I had to lengthen the groove a bit with my drill so that the probe would fit. This is really easy as the cage is made of plastic.

If the ambient temps in the room are around 75, would the installed heat source be sufficient for maintaining a proper gradient? Or would I need to look for something to supplement it with?

The temperature in the room I have my T3 in hovers between 71 - 73 degrees. I've never tried using the belly heat alone but my guess is that it would not be sufficient on it own to heat the entire cage. I use the belly heat in conjunction with a radiant heat panel (Pro Products) and that works very, very well for me. The only thing is the heating of the heat cable is uneven. So if you take spot temp checks of the heat cable with a temp gun along its length, you'll get different temps. Some temps as low as mid/high 80s and some as high as very low 100s. Jamie (Jglass) took AP to task on that on the faunaclassified boards and the owner of AP says that the belly heat is designed to provide an "average" temp so it will be lower in some areas and higher in others, but that the animal will absorb the average temperature of the belly heat. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but so far it works ok for me. The side of my T3 heated by the radiant heat panel stays at a consistent 83 - 84 degrees. While the belly heat side, fluctuates between 88 - 94. It goes through that 88-94 swing constantly where it will be 88 for about 2 to 3 mins, then slowly climb too 93/94 and stay there for about 7-8 mins before slowly going down to 88 again and then the cycle repeats. The entire cycle takes about 10-15 mins to go from 1 extreme to the other both ways. I was very concerned about it at one time, but so far I haven't had any issues, and she's doing extremely well thermoregulating from hot to cool side.

How well does a T3 hold humidity? Do you have to mist daily to maintain minimum levels? (For someone who lives in the desert...)

Yes, they do hold humidity well, but it still depends on the humidity of where you keep your cage. My humidity stayed between 50% - 55% during the warmer months, but since winter has come it would drop down to like 38% - 40%. Winter is naturally drier, so I had to get a room humidifer that works well in upping the humidity to 50% or so. We're having a relatively mild winter so as we've had higher temps lately, my humidity has been a bit higher as well, usually around 43% - 44% before I turn on the humidifer.

Opinions or

Overall the T-3 is a great cage. Very durable, sturdy, and nice looking. It is larger than you may think however, so make sure you have enough room for it. Mine has locking, sliding glass doors as well. I think you'll be pleased.

Hope that helps.

If you want to view pics of mine and my set up, you can view my gallery.

[JLC]

THANK you so much for taking the time to give such a detailed answer! That's just the sort of info I was looking for.

I've already got a spot measured and picked out for it and hope to buy one soon so that I can collect everything I need and get the environment set up and properly regulated before I finally get that precious BP that is out there somewhere waiting for me to find her!

Thanks again!!

[justcage]

You can also use flexwatt with AP caging.. I use AP cages only have have had excellent luck with them. The belly heat they provide works very well and has the ability to get super and I mean super hot.. If you get a good thermostat you will be fine.. I have a T-20 sitting by the door now that needs put together..lol.. Anyone wanna help, that suckers huge!!!

[JLC]

Ooohh, more questions come to mind after looking at your pics:


Do they come with the light inside? Or did you mount that yourself? And I noticed your thermometer is hanging on the side of the cage...is that taped there? Or mounted some other way?

Very nice set-up!

[JLC]

You can also use flexwatt with AP caging.. I use AP cages only have have had excellent luck with them. The belly heat they provide works very well and has the ability to get super and I mean super hot.. If you get a good thermostat you will be fine.. I have a T-20 sitting by the door now that needs put together..lol.. Anyone wanna help, that suckers huge!!!

Thanks Matt! Now that I've pretty much settled on a cage, my next decisions will be what kind of thermostat to buy and what sort of supplemental heat to use...flexwatt or radiant panel?

If you're using the belly heat AND another source to warm the "cool" side of the cage...do you have to buy two different thermostats? Or can you work things out with just one?

[justcage]

Thanks Matt! Now that I've pretty much settled on a cage, my next decisions will be what kind of thermostat to buy and what sort of supplemental heat to use...flexwatt or radiant panel?

If you're using the belly heat AND another source to warm the "cool" side of the cage...do you have to buy two different thermostats? Or can you work things out with just one?

Yes you woud have to have a secondary thermostat to control the heat on the cool(ambient) side. Rancos or Johnson Controls sounds to be your best bet.. I would aso look into heat projectors and emitters before you buy a heat panel

[JLC]

Yes you woud have to have a secondary thermostat to control the heat on the cool(ambient) side. Rancos or Johnson Controls sounds to be your best bet.. I would aso look into heat projectors and emitters before you buy a heat panel

Will do!

[bg1906]

Do they come with the light inside? Or did you mount that yourself? And I noticed your thermometer is hanging on the side of the cage...is that taped there? Or mounted some other way?

Very nice set-up!

Thanks.

You can buy the flourescent light from AP for $20. They have the mounting there for you for the light. I made my own mount for the thermometer by drilling in a tiny screw. The down side to the light is that you have to reach into the enclosure to turn it on/off. It does help having the light though as the enclosure is very dark inside (especially when cleaning). If you are handy or know a handy man, you cave them install the ligth with a outside switch and attach the light switch to the box. That's what I did (my brother is an electrician).

[bg1906]

Yes you woud have to have a secondary thermostat to control the heat on the cool(ambient) side. Rancos or Johnson Controls sounds to be your best bet.. I would aso look into heat projectors and emitters before you buy a heat panel

Yes you will need 2 or you can do like me and just get a Herpstat 2 which can control 2 sources. I also got that from MATT! The heat panel I like because it is safe to the touch, easily mountable inside the cage, and doesn't adversely affect the humidity. I have no experience with heat projectors and emitters, but I like my set up the way it is. Heat Panels may however be a more expensive option. Mine was 79.00 direct from pro-products. I called Bob Pound and he directed me to the size heat panel i needed for the T3.