Animal Plastics and Flexwatt

[greenmonkey51]

I'm looking for a cage for the new boa. I like AP but I dont know how well their belly heat works. Also is there any special you have to do with flexwatt if you put it on one of their cages.

[monkeywrench133]

Email Matt at MG Reptiles, I think he's the one who supplies them with the flexwatt they use in their cages. At the very least, I know that he uses AP pretty much exclusively for his collection.

matt@mgreptiles.com

[elevatethis]

They use heat cable, and heat cable has worked well for me personally. A lot of other people on here use flexwatt as their first choice. Unfortunately, I don't think you would want to put a piece of flexwatt inside the cage, nor would it be effective being on the bottom as the plastic is quite thick.

The built in heating that AP provides, when controlled by a good thermostat, is very effective.

[BD1]

I second the belly heat option in the Animal Plastics cage. I have not had any problems with it at all. I also have a CHE over the cool side to keep the ambient temps up.

[jotay]

My belly heat works good also, no problems.

You can option w/ AP and have belly heat run on both ends, cool and hot.
seperate pcs. of cable to hook up to seperate T-stats which could lessen the need for a light or CHE.

I wish I had done it on my T-11. I know the next AP I buy will be set up like that.

[BD1]

My belly heat works good also, no problems.

You can option w/ AP and have belly heat run on both ends, cool and hot.
seperate pcs. of cable to hook up to seperate T-stats which could lessen the need for a light or CHE.

I wish I had done it on my T-11. I know the next AP I buy will be set up like that.

Aww, wish I had known that, I would have prefered that rather than using the CHE and drying up the humidity so much. Oh well, but I am thinking of changing over to a Pro Heat Radiant Panel on a thermostat for the cool side soon. From what I've read, it should work as well as the Flexwatt, if not better, due to the thickness of the AP plastic.

[justcage]

You cant go wrong with a panel from Bob, heck of a nice guy and an excellent product!

[elevatethis]

Aww, wish I had known that, I would have prefered that rather than using the CHE and drying up the humidity so much. Oh well, but I am thinking of changing over to a Pro Heat Radiant Panel on a thermostat for the cool side soon. From what I've read, it should work as well as the Flexwatt, if not better, due to the thickness of the AP plastic.

I've never used heat panels, but I don't think the heat would efficiently transfer through the plastic. The whole reason why the belly heat works is because the cable is routered into the bottom panel of the cage. Placing most any heat source below 1/2" think plastic is not going to do a whole lot, if anything, for the inside of the cage.

Have you checked out the internal heat shroud option? You could use a CHE inside the cage within the shroud.

But seriously, the belly heat cable works really well in the Terrestrial cages, you shouldn't have to go through all this trouble.

[monkeywrench133]

Elevate, I think you're misunderstanding. Radiant heat panels attach to the inside ceiling of the cage and radiat heat downward, so they're not heating through anything. I know many giant python keepers use them because belly heat is often impractical considering the construction requirements of a big boid cage. In other words, the flooring in a cage built for a 20+ft python is just too thick to heat through. Radiant heat panels are a more expensive way to heat, but I've never heard anything negative about them, especially the ones from Pro-Products.

[elevatethis]

Oh, I was responding to this, posted by BD1:

I am thinking of changing over to a Pro Heat Radiant Panel on a thermostat for the cool side soon. From what I've read, it should work as well as the Flexwatt, if not better, due to the thickness of the AP plastic.