Custom cage help.

[Shylock]

Hello, I am in the process of making my own enclosure for my little boa. Nothing fancy, just a 160 qt. (40 gallon) rubber made tub. I drilled 20 air holes into the sides and 5 into the top with a drill bit the width of a sharpie marker. I want to make sure this will provide enough ventalation, or perhaps too much? I was also wondering the best way to heat the inside. I want to use a heat pad but am concerned about it getting too hot and melting the plastic or burning my snake. I have heard human heat pads work better than reptile ones (I have had problems with them over-heating), but if I were to adhere it to the outside bottom of my tub, will it be a hazard? What is the best way to go about heating?
This setup is just for a few months until I can make a nice custom wood one with plexi-glass and all the nice stuff. So for now, any sugestions for my plastic snake abode would be appreciated. Thank you!

[Heidi]

I have used a human heating pad and it worked better then the stick-on pads. Nothing will adhere to that plastic though, maybe foil tape would since that stuff seems so sticky. Whatever you use will still have to be controlled with a thermostat or dimmer.

As far as ventillation all you can do is trial and error. Remember it is easier to add holes then to take them away, even though you can cover them up if need be. Always count on a good weeks of testing temperature and humidity (ventilation) before you plan on putting a snake in there.

[Shylock]

Thanks Heidi. When you use a human heat pad, do you actually put it in with the snake? I have a dimmer (yay!), but I am just paranoid about it getting too hot. And do you use the heat pads with the auto turn off?

[Heidi]

No, no auto-turn off. Do not put it in with the snake. It can't get wet. Put it under the tub and hook it to the dimmer and keep an eye on the temps and adjust as necessary. When you use a dimmer it does have to be adjusted with the ambient temps of the room it is in.

[LS84]

Human heat pads should only be used as a temporary or back up heat source. They arent meant to be on constantly like your snake needs. The reptile heat pads are fine but ALL heat sources need to be on dimmer or thermostats anyway. I use reptitherms and they are all on dimmers. If you dim them to the correct temp for a snake, it will not burn the plastic. Any heating device can overheat, even a human heat pad, which is not meant for being smushed between the botten of a tank and a hard surface like a reptile heat pad is. If it is on a thermostat, it will shut off before it can overheat and do any damage.

[LS84]

also, dimmers just adjust the amount of heat, so if it gets hotter in the room, yes they can overheat. A thermostat will shut it off if it reaches a temp you dont want it to reach, no matter how hot or cold it is in the room itself. I think thermostats are a safer choice definately. Also, as far as reptitherms and other reptile heat pads that have a sticky backing, I never stick them on the cages because then can can never be removed to use again on another tank if need be. I just use them by placing them underneath the tanks and they heat just fine without sticking them on. This way i can adjust their positions, move them around and use them for different cages if I need to.