Hi Ginger,

I believe heat cable is typically used in a rack system with regards to snakes. It can be purchased at a hardware store, and many people will install it in a routered groove in their rack shelves. Animal Plastics uses this method for their racks.

The main concern with heat cable is that it can get very hot and can potentially burn your snake or the rack that it's in. However, I believe it can safely be used with a reliable thermostat... or better yet, a backup thermostat.

There may also be problems with "hot spots" that a thermostat won't be able to detect, but I haven't had any problems with the heat cable in my AP rack.