Questions on rack systems.. Help me out plz.. Rich Z could you help too? thx

I want as much opinions as poss even if they are samiliur. What size is ur rack and what size of tubs. How do you heat it.. pics would be good... as much pics and detailed pics as poss. Also do you use a stat dimer or both? I have heard that if the whole rack is on the same tape and stat that the bottom will always be cooler than the top by as much as 8*C. How can i over come this. I am making a rack with 30"x18"x6" and 18"x14"x6" tubs which will hold a mixture of speices from corns to hognose snakes.

Are 30"x18"x6" tubs good for adult corns... keeping in mind that that is the top messurements and it sort gets smaller at the bottom. thx alot

I haven't used heat tapes for years. Not since I moved down to Florida, anyway. But when I lived in Maryland I used them quite frequently.

I had to use three different heat tapes, each one on it's own thermostat and rheostat (dimmer). That broke up the rack vertically into three separate regions, each with it's own control. Otherwise, as you pointed out, it was pretty darn difficult to keep a uniform temperature top to bottom on a rack.

One alternative to using multiple tapes is to circulate the air in the area where the rack sits. Remember that the ambient temperature of the air itself will be warmer near the ceiling than it is near the floor, so if you use a moderately sized fan sitting on the floor and pointing upwards, this will help to equalize the temperatures in the room. The warmer the air is around the heat tapes, the warmer the total temperature will be within the cage.

Not that I am in Florida and only working with a single species of snake (Corn Snakes, of course!), I just control the temperatures in the rooms themselves and do not do anything else for temperature moderation. Each room has it's own combination air cleaner and circulator that draws air in at floor level and blows it up towards the ceiling. There is still a slight difference in temps from top to bottom of the racks, but I use this to advantage by moving the snakes themselves to the level that they seem to prefer. Remember that they are all individuals and some will be more comfortable than others at a particular temperarture. Kind of like my wife and I being in the same room and she'll feel cold and I will feel too hot. This goes for animals as well. So if an animal seems uncomfortable, move the cage to a different spot and see if that is more to it's liking.

Another thing: Minimum/maximum thermometers are invaluable! unless you want to physically monitor the temperatures at a given spot at 3 am, use these to tell you how low it actually got during the wee morning hours, and how high the temps got during the day. Also, the new temperature sensor guns are worth their weight in gold, so buy one when you get the chance. You'll wonder how you ever lived without one before.

Rich Z said:

I haven't used heat tapes for years. Not since I moved down to Florida, anyway. But when I lived in Maryland I used them quite frequently.

I had to use three different heat tapes, each one on it's own thermostat and rheostat (dimmer). That broke up the rack vertically into three separate regions, each with it's own control. Otherwise, as you pointed out, it was pretty darn difficult to keep a uniform temperature top to bottom on a rack.

One alternative to using multiple tapes is to circulate the air in the area where the rack sits. Remember that the ambient temperature of the air itself will be warmer near the ceiling than it is near the floor, so if you use a moderately sized fan sitting on the floor and pointing upwards, this will help to equalize the temperatures in the room. The warmer the air is around the heat tapes, the warmer the total temperature will be within the cage.

Not that I am in Florida and only working with a single species of snake (Corn Snakes, of course!), I just control the temperatures in the rooms themselves and do not do anything else for temperature moderation. Each room has it's own combination air cleaner and circulator that draws air in at floor level and blows it up towards the ceiling. There is still a slight difference in temps from top to bottom of the racks, but I use this to advantage by moving the snakes themselves to the level that they seem to prefer. Remember that they are all individuals and some will be more comfortable than others at a particular temperarture. Kind of like my wife and I being in the same room and she'll feel cold and I will feel too hot. This goes for animals as well. So if an animal seems uncomfortable, move the cage to a different spot and see if that is more to it's liking.

Another thing: Minimum/maximum thermometers are invaluable! unless you want to physically monitor the temperatures at a given spot at 3 am, use these to tell you how low it actually got during the wee morning hours, and how high the temps got during the day. Also, the new temperature sensor guns are worth their weight in gold, so buy one when you get the chance. You'll wonder how you ever lived without one before.

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Thx for the reply Rich . Any change of a few pics of your setups and the layout inside the tubs. If its not to much to ask , cuz u r a busy man at this time of year. thx again