heating a homemade enclosure

[frogman5]

im going to be building a new enclosure here in the next couple weeks i am going to be making it out of melamine most likely and i have all the other stuff figured out except for heating it

i dont know what i should do to head a melamine enclosure

what should i do?

 

[Louie]

Have you considered Radiant heat panels ?. Many seem to use them in wooden and or larger enclosures.

They aren't cheap but heard good things about them.

http://www.helixcontrols.com/RadiantHeaterPanels.htm

Thats just one place but kingsnake classifieds have diff places that sell them.

 

[Toby_H]

What sort of temperatures are you trying to achieve? What level of humidity is ideal?

Consider using an aquarium heater in a container of water. Leaving the container unconvered will add a lot of humidity but will require the container to be toped off frequently... if humidity is not needed you can seal the top (think Saran Wrap) and only top off every few months (as needed).

If you catch the animal laying against the glass you would know that raising the temperature in the enclosure as a whole is desired...

Also knowing the overall size of the enclosure and th etype of animal being housed could help people offer better suggestions...

 

[coura]

What kind of animals are we here talking about?

 

[frogman5]

burmese python and im looking to make the cage either a 7x3 or a 6x3 havent decided yet

im thinking im going to be using a radiant heat panel still a little confused on how those work tho

 

[ExoticEctotherms]

I have radiant heat panels in all of my cages and I love them.

 

[dirtyblacksocks]

flex tape on a rheostat or a radiant heat panel is the best bet in an enclosure that large.

 

[frogman5]

what size and what heat panels do u guys recommend i have heard good things about helix

 

[ExoticEctotherms]

I like the radiant heat panels made by Reptile Basics. Email Rich at www.reptilebasics.com with the dimensions of your enclosure and what species you plan on putting in it and he will recommend the appropriate size panel.

 

[frogman5]

aight will do

and another question im going to be building my cage out of melamine but i need to know if i use melamine covered plywood or melamine covered particle board