New to BP's and need advice on belly heat

[ShaiTan Malkier]

I am new to BP's and I have a question about creating belly heat for the BP. The BP will be housed in a 20L aquarium with a screen cover (possibly partially covered for humidity retention). I plan on using Flexwatt for the heat source operated by a Ranco t-stat (as these are what we use at work and I can get them cheap). I also plan on using a DIY humidifier when/if needed (Aquarium air pump and water filled plastic bottle).

My question is what size of flexwatt should I use?
1: Will 1' of 3" or 4" be sufficient for the hot side?
2: Or should I just use 1' of 11" flexwatt?
3: Or would two 1' sections of 3" or 4" flexwatt (spaced a few inches apart) be better for the hot side?

I live in Iowa so winters get pretty cold and we keep our house relatively cool (high 60's at night and low 70's during the day).

Also would maybe putting a 1' section of 3" or 4" on the cool side just to make sure that temps don't fall too low on low side (controlled by it's own t-stat of course).

Any opinions, help or comments are appreciated. As I want to make it's home the best I can.

Thanks in advance.

[trcmustang]

I read that no more than 1/3 of the bottom of the tank should be heated. This gives the snake some room to get away if the heat gets too high.

[starmom]

I think that no matter how much flex watt you choose to go with, ambient temps will be a real pain to achieve...
Do you have your flex watt? If not, you could order it from Rich at RBI and ask him what he might suggest.
Also, have you considered a RHP? They don't dry the air and they totally bump up ambient temps. I live in a cold place and have RBI cages that I also equipped with RHP's since the flex watt was just not doing it for the ambients.

[Argentra]

My 20L tanks have 10-20g sized ZooMed UTHs on them and they're the perfect size. Since they measure 6"x8", you don't want to go too much higher than that for Flexwatt size.

My BP 20long has two UTHs, one on either side, to keep up warm and cool temps properly. It also has a lamp hanging above it with a 40w bulb to boost ambient temps. If you have trouble maintaining cool side temps (unless you keep the room the tank is in at 80), you may need a second heat source for the cool side. Just to let you know.

Also, make sure you foil treat the screen top to keep heat and humidity stable, as well as surround the back and both sides of the tank with insulation.

[ShaiTan Malkier]

Thanks for your inputs. But I think so far I am gonna go with Argentra in using 2 heat sources. 1 on hot side and 1 set at lower temp on cool side. and use some sort of heating element over the tank. Possibly a RHP or low wattage heat lamp.

Again thanks for the input.

Please if anyone else has any opinions let me know. The more info provided makes me less ignorant of possible solutions.

[Darkice]

I live in Nebraska so im dealing with the same temps.
Along with the flexwatt i use a ceramic heater on top of the cages.
I keep all my pets in the basement where it cooler but i have an electric oil filled radiant heater and it keeps the room at 79 degrees.
For more backup i have some heat rope from big apple and i can spool it up and cover with aluminum tape to keep it spaced evenly.
The snakes love the ceramic heaters though. They sit under them all the time.