another heating question

[mattd1992]

Im currently in the finale stages of building the permanent home of my sub adult corn snake. the question I've been banging around in my head is how to heat it . its made out of wood and i know for a fact a under tank heater under 1/2 inch thick wood won't heat the tank to well . my concern is just puting the uth directly in the tank . fear is that water may spill and well we all know electricity and water don t mix but i don't want to use a heat lamp becouse of the fact that the top of the cage is solid wood and i don't want ugly lamps sitinv on top of a big hole in the top . so is it really safe to just have the utc siting in the cage and not under the tank?

thanks,
matt

and there will be a photo thread made when this cage is done

 

[bitsy]

I use UTHs underneath melamine vivs, so it might be worth setting up a dummy run with a thermostat and seeing how it goes. It's just the floor of the viv/tank that the UTH is designed to heat anyway, so if you can get the floor to the mid-80s then you're in business.

You do need to make sure that the weight of the viv isn't resting on the UTH though. I managed this by making two mats out of cork floor tiles, the same size as the floor. I put one on top of the other then cut out a UTH-sized gap in the top one, slid the UTH into it and put the VIV on top of the Mat+Mat+UTH stack. The weight rests on the mats and the UTH can be slid in and out for checks if necessary. The thermostat probe goes inside the viv, on the floor surface immediately above the UTH.

On the other hand, I do use UTHs inside vivs as well. I cover them with a layer of ceramic wall tiles to spread the heat and the thermostat probe goes directly on top of the tiles. I add extra shielding at the point where the cable meets the mat to prevent contact with spills and poop. Never had a problem in that respect. Spills are unlikely as the water bowl will be at the other end of the viv.

 

[mattd1992]

The viv is on a stand with a hallow area under the viv so that won't be a problem I'm just haveing a really hard time believing that it will heat the botom to 80° as well as heating the rest of the tank suffictly enough since the room the viv is in is around 65° in summer and same winter . Im thinking the in tank method would work the best but insulating the thing from moister is my concern and i don't have access at the moment to ceramic tile so maybe you have another idea to insulate the uth . but hey ill also give mounting it under the tank and see how that goes but that's not my first option

 

[rosewood]

There are heat mats out there specially made to go inside the viv. They are expensive but could be well worth it for you. Another option is heat tape, pretty easy to set up and not too expensive but it must be controlled by a thermostat. The thing I dont like about the use of the uth/tile method is that uth's are suppose to have air flow reaching the bottom so that the mat does not over heat and cause a fire. Having it directly against wood makes me a bit nervous and it is probably something I would never do personally.

When I made my viv's I used 4mm thick glass for the bottoms instead of wood so that I could use the uth's I had no problem. I have also seen people just do one section glass so it is a bit cheaper which is probably what I will do when I make the next one.

 

[knox]

When I build wood enclosures, I use incandescent bulbs in Protective Screens so the snake can't get burned. I have had great success with this. Wiring a light fixture is a piece of cake and only costs about $7 if I recall correctly.

 

[bitsy]

I'm just haveing a really hard time believing that it will heat the botom to 80°

I'm speaking from direct experience, so I suggest that you set it up and give it a try. You might be surprised. If it really doesn't work for you then you can always go with an overhead source instead. At least you'll know if you try.

as well as heating the rest of the tank suffictly

A UTH is designed to heat the surface nearest it, so it will never heat the rest of the tank even if it's inside. A UTH gives Corns belly heat which is great. Having said that, plenty of folks use overhead heat sources if that's what you'd be more comfortable with.

If you're going to give them high climbing equipment or high hides, then an overhead heat source might be the way to go. But it it's just the standard 18-24 inches tall where the Corns will spend all their time on the floor, then a UTH providing a heated floor will be fine. There's no point heating areas of the tank where the snakes won't be.

the room the viv is in is around 65° in summer and same winter

Ambient room temp is a red herring. The snakes aren't out there. As long as you use a thermostat with your heat source, it will always hold the temp on the viv floor steady at whatever you set.

The thing I dont like about the use of the uth/tile method is that uth's are suppose to have air flow reaching the bottom so that the mat does not over heat and cause a fire.

If you take a look at a ceramic wall or floor tile, the backs are textured so that they give the tile adhesive something to key to. They aren't solid and the texturing allows airflow over the top of the UTH. As long as a thermostat is used, it will never get hot enough to cause a fire.