Question about ARS racks...

[DutchHerp]

How about heat supplied from the back or sides by flexwatt?
AP does this and I just saw a thread on a rack that had this kind of heat and the front of his tubs were at 80F...

[Skiploder]

How about heat supplied from the back or sides by flexwatt?
AP does this and I just saw a thread on a rack that had this kind of heat and the front of his tubs were at 80F...

I believe on AP's website they recommend back heat only in rooms heated over 75 degrees.

I have a Boaphile sweater box rack that is heated with back heat. The front stays at roughly the ambient room temperature.

My Boaphile ball room racks are heated on the bottom and on alternating sides. Again, the front part of the tub is roughly ambient room temp.

Regarding this thread you read - what did the poster claim his ambient room temp was?

[DutchHerp]

I believe on AP's website they recommend back heat only in rooms heated over 75 degrees.

Note though that that is for BACK heat. For their iris racks they now have "dual side radiant" which actually heats the air. This to me seems like a better way of heating the entire tub.
Also, AP racks are made of 1/2" PVC, so the tub will be insulated by that and the actual plastic the tub is made of.
Apart from me having an RHP in my cage, there doesn't seem to be a reason for the temperatures in the front of the tub to be just a tad over room temps.
However, the adult racks I'm look at are ~33" deep; this would cause a great temperature gradient.
I sent an e-mail to AP regarding this heating issue...

Regarding this thread you read - what did the poster claim his ambient room temp was?

I don't think this was stated...

[m00kfu]

If you need your cool end temps up around 80 degrees, you will need to keep the room over 76 degrees even with an RBI or an AP rack.

I disagree. With a little bit of work and money it's pretty easy to keep the temps up where you need them. I built a rack similar to the Visions at one point. Picked up some 1" insulating foam board from home depot and enclosed it on three sides. Belly heat supplied by Flexwatt set to 95 degrees with the thermostat. In a 70 degree room the ambient temperature in the tub stayed right between 80-82 degrees.

How about heat supplied from the back or sides by flexwatt?
AP does this and I just saw a thread on a rack that had this kind of heat and the front of his tubs were at 80F...

Link?

[DutchHerp]

I would want to buy a rack but AP has 1/2" PVC; great insulating properties.

And yay I found the link

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...highlight=rack

It's all on the first page

[m00kfu]

I heat the room to around 75 and the flexwatt ups it to about 80 on the cool side.

There's your answer.

As long as you've got access to some insulating materials you should be fine with just about any rack you choose.

[Skiploder]

I disagree. With a little bit of work and money it's pretty easy to keep the temps up where you need them. I built a rack similar to the Visions at one point. Picked up some 1" insulating foam board from home depot and enclosed it on three sides. Belly heat supplied by Flexwatt set to 95 degrees with the thermostat. In a 70 degree room the ambient temperature in the tub stayed right between 80-82 degrees.



Link?

Now if were talking about modifying them by adding insulation - that's a different story.

On most rack systems, even the "enclosed" ones, there is too much space between to the tubs and the sides and the back. The tubs and the 1/4" and 1/2" plastics do a poor job of preventing heat loss.

At one point I draped the back and sides of my FB in reflectix. Coupled with the 11" heat panels, it kept the ambient nice and toasty.

However for the stock out of the box racks - they barely heat the cool end over ambient.

[DutchHerp]

I have found that by covering the glass doors on my AP cage with a blanket at night keeps the inside temperature a few degrees higher...
Would the same work for a rack?

I'll be moving back to the Netherlands in two years and temps can get pretty low down there.

Of course with other snakes apart from BPs the temps can get pretty low.

What rack would keep the inside temperature the highest compared to other rack systems? Anybody got experience with different ones?

[Skiploder]

Note though that that is for BACK heat. For their iris racks they now have "dual side radiant" which actually heats the air. This to me seems like a better way of heating the entire tub.
Also, AP racks are made of 1/2" PVC, so the tub will be insulated by that and the actual plastic the tub is made of.
Apart from me having an RHP in my cage, there doesn't seem to be a reason for the temperatures in the front of the tub to be just a tad over room temps.
However, the adult racks I'm look at are ~33" deep; this would cause a great temperature gradient.
I sent an e-mail to AP regarding this heating issue...




I don't think this was stated...

Again - the boaphiles have belly heat and alternating side heat and they don't heat the entire tub.

You have radiant heat panels in your cages - right? You install the panel in the roof and place the probe for your stat on the floor. The panel is radiating heat over a space of 12" to 18". In the process of heating the probe, the panel is also raising the ambient heat in the cage.

If you are using flexwatt - you are most likely placing the probe either on top of the flexwatt or in the tub within less that 1/2" from the heat tape. You are heating a spot on the bottom of the tub. Even if you have back heat or side heat, you are still heating within a minimal distance of the source.

A RHP or a heat lamp/ heatemitter is radiating heat from above to a fixed point over a greater distance. The result is a more beneficial boost to the ambient temp in the enclosure.

[Skiploder]

I have found that by covering the glass doors on my AP cage with a blanket at night keeps the inside temperature a few degrees higher...
Would the same work for a rack?

I'll be moving back to the Netherlands in two years and temps can get pretty low down there.

Of course with other snakes apart from BPs the temps can get pretty low.

What rack would keep the inside temperature the highest compared to other rack systems? Anybody got experience with different ones?

As Chris mentioned - you can add insulation to the rack to help keep any heat dispersed into the tub in.

I have/have had several brands of racks in my snake room. The difference between them in terms if limiting heat loss is minimal.

A closed in rack like a Boaphile/RBI/Jason's Jungle, etc. is nominally easier to insulate to improve heat loss.

ARS and Freedom Breeders with the standard grated tops lose alot of heat. When Lindy offered the modular top system it improved the out of the box performance. My FB with the almost solid top keeps heat in about as well as any other rack I have.