Heat Pad and Under Cage Heater or Heat Pad

[thatchicklisa]

I am confused, are a Heat Pad and an Under the Cage Heat Pad or Heater the same thing, or two separate things? If anyone has any pictures that would help as well. Also, what are your personal preferences? I have 2 RTB. One is a 5 foot male ( a rescue! ) and the other is a 3 foot female.

Thanks a bunch!

Lisa

[Tom]

Originally Posted by thatchicklisa

I am confused, are a Heat Pad and an Under the Cage Heat Pad or Heater the same thing, or two separate things?

Hi Lisa,

Heat Pad and an Under the Cage Heat Pad are the same thing.
I use Kane heat mats / pads under all my wood cages.
Here is a picture of a Kane heat mat.


Also CHE stand for ceramic heat emitters.
Here is a picture of a CHE.


Take care
Tom

	Ceramic Heat Emitter Ceramic Heat Emitter: A porcelain heating device that screws into a standard porcelain incandescent socket

[thatchicklisa]

Thank you for clearing that up Tom. Man, those Kane heaters are expensive!

[Tom]

They are expensive but they will outlast any other heat mat out there in my opinion.
I have three 18" X 18" Kane mats that have been on 24/7 for the last 6 + years and they still work just fine.

Take care,
Tom

[thatchicklisa]

Definitely worth the cash in that case. Another question for you or anyone else out there, if ya don't mind.......
The majority of enclosures I am seeing are long, somewhat deep but not very tall at all. The smaller of my two RTB's LOVES to hang out on her piece of driftwood. She slithers all the way to the top and stays there. Now she is still small and is in a 20 gallon tank with plenty of room. I would still like her to be able to have that much room as she grows older and larger, but the enclosures seem to get longer and shorter! I would like a habitat that our Boas would be able to still stretch out and climb in for the remainder of their lives. Any suggestions on enclosures and, would Boas rather be climbing or stretching out by nature?

[Tom]

As boas get older they don't climb very often. It is more important for them to have floor space instead of height.
All my boas are in 4' and 6' long cages that are 20" to 24" tall and 24" deep. Here are a few cages I have made.







I also have some care sheet links on my website.
http://www.mccarthyboas.com/CareSheets.html

Take care
Tom

[thatchicklisa]

Thank you so much for all of the info. Those are really nice enclosures that you made. I especially like the "3 story" one! Have a good night.

Lisa

[AnAcOnDaMaN]

Nice enclosures!

[justcage]

Those cages are awsome....I personally use the flexwatt...but if I had the cash to do all my cages id do the kanes for sure..

[jn3825]

so the kanes work through wood? how about flexwatt? i'm planning on building a cage with oriented strand board then epoxying it. i was thinking of just putting the flexwatt under a piece of acrylic sealed to the floor of the cage but if i can just put it underneath that would be much easier.

[pjmartin]

Kane's actually go inside the cage, so they don't have to go through any wood. The are about the only product safe enough to do that with. Your flexwatt idea would work as well (and would be a lot cheaper, just not as safe).

[schlange]

You put your Kane heat mats inside the cage? I was gonna switch to heat mats rather than CHEs and was wondering about that.

The CHEs seem to dry out the cages to much and I dont like the bulb hanging down into a cage. Also it means the cages need to be taller as they have a minimum of 18 inches of clearance requirements.

I have always heard that heat mats should go under the cage because the snakes will crawl under them and may overheat. Do you secure the kane mat to the cage bottom somehow?

Finally, with no experience on heat mats, what size mat should I get? My rom temps are a constant 76-78 degrees and the cages are 3x2x2 and 5x2x2. The large house boas and the smaller house royal pythons.

Do the Kane mats heat the ambiant temps as well?

	Ceramic Heat Emitter Ceramic Heat Emitter: A porcelain heating device that screws into a standard porcelain incandescent socket

[justcage]

Any bottom heating element will not do much for the air temps. Flexwatt can be used under the wood depending on the thickness. Using is sealed in the cage with lexan or plexi is completly safe. No matter how you use it or what brand a good thermostat must be used!