x2 Heat in 421D Overkill?? (Jeff? Order on hold)

[Diego]

Before i get flamed, I have look at EVERY single OLD topic in this section starting from the first post.. and have paid close attention to all the heating topics and flexwat issues. Im not trying to be beat a dead horse, but i still have some questions...

Im going to be ordering a cage stack combo, and will probably be installing the expandable end (who knows i might need it one day). Jeff recommends that you get the x2 heat for the eventual expanded lengh of the tank.... well....if the cage is going to be ran as a 4 footer for quite some time.. and if just 1 pannel of flexwat is 21 1/2" ... then 2 pannels are going to he 43"(hehe no im not a rocket scientist)... thats going to be pretty much the entire lengh of the cage!?! How would the snake properly thermoregulate if the heat is just about the length of the floor?

[Diego]

bump

[denny_rimes]

I would suggest that you either e-mail or call Boaphile Plastics directly. Jeff and Joel have always responded to all of my questions. My personal suggestion would be that if you ultimately plan to expand the cages beyond 4' then order the 2X heat option. If your animals are still pretty small though, a 421D may be too much space for them right now. Perhaps one of the RhinoRaxx might sufficde until its time for a BIG cage. As any boa keeper will tell you, there is no possible way to have too much caging! ;D

[Diego]

I would suggest that you either e-mail or call Boaphile Plastics directly.  Jeff and Joel have always responded to all of my questions.  My personal suggestion would be that if you ultimately plan to expand the cages beyond 4' then order the 2X heat option.  If your animals are still pretty small though, a 421D may be too much space for them right now.  Perhaps one of the RhinoRaxx might sufficde until its time for a BIG cage.  As any boa keeper will tell you, there is no possible way to have too much caging! ;D


I was trying to hold off on the emails to them, but i sent one anyway. Im looking at Jeffs webpage about heating.. and i think it looks like the LENGTH of the flexwatt does not go across the cage.. rather is applied to the DEPTH of the cage (not sure if that came out right)..... so having it like this.. the width of the flexwat is 12 1/2 inches and the depth of the cage is 24 ... so I think my original thought was wrong... it will not stretch 43 inches ACROSS the cage.. but it will stretch 25 inches across when they flexwat is turned... LOL

[bcijoe]

That measurement is lenghtwise, not width. 2x heat inside looks like a plastic sheet covering half the cage, and not the entire section is fully heated. It would be fine. They have the other half of the cage.
Although I only order 2x heat if it is absolutely necessary.. very cold room, direct cold floor..

[Genaroleon]

I think this is how it works.

1 piece of flexwat is 21 1/2 x 12 1/2 .... so lets just say 21Lx12W(or even D as to match the cage) and the cage is 48Lx 24D.

That being said if you put 1 piece of flexwat in.. i believe that the flexwat 21L goes down the 24D of the cage so on the flexwat you have 12W(or D) going across the floor of the cage

SOOO =)

if you are getting x2 heat there will be a larger pannel which is basically 2 pannels?? GOing on this assumption you will now have on the flewat a 24W(or D) going across the floor of the cage(since there are 2 pieces and not 1).. so it only goes half way across the cage

Look closely and what i put as Lengh Width and Depth... I believe this makes perfect sense...

[BoaLover2]

if you are getting expandable end then you could add another heat panel single to the expanded end IMO that would do the trick if ou are adding on

[Diego]

if you are getting expandable end then you could add another heat panel single to the expanded end IMO that would do the trick if ou are adding on

Yes for the add on cages they are going to have heat installed. I wont be using all of them as 8 footers so they will definatley need some sort of heat.. for the most part they will all be used as 4 footers for a while.

hehe all the cages are going to have x1 or x2 heat.. but that takes me back to my earlier post

EDIT: erm i deleted the post you replied to... im going to repost it

[Diego]

Yes i understand,

I dont think im going to be ordering any cages at this time. I definatly want some, but cannot figure out something as simple as the heat.

It does not get too cold here in San Diego, so I want to just get a single pannel installed (even though im getting expandable ends), but i keep saying "what if this 1 pannel does not do the trick" That 1 pannel might heat the spot directly above it up just fine... but im still doubting that it will give the correct ambient temps inside the entire cage... yes it would be easy enough to install additional heat.. but then i would have extra wires running around and im not really looking forward to that.

going with x2 heat will obviously give a larger heating area, but whats the temp gradient going to be like if half the cage is taken up with heat.... how will they thermoregulate... half the cage is going to be the hotspot if you have a large boa in there... that wont give him much room to pick and choose his temps. If the entire heat pannel is kept at 85-90 degress for the hot end,then thats half the floor.

Im sorry HAHAHA if im making this into so much more than it really is. But im not just ordering 1 or 2 cages... im going to be ordering 4 sets of cage stack combos... and with the options I want.. im looking at roughly $6,400 so that does not leave much room for doubt

[Diego]

Yes i understand,

I dont think im going to be ordering any cages at this time. I definatly want some, but cannot figure out something as simple as the heat.

It does not get too cold here in San Diego, so I want to just get a single pannel installed (even though im getting expandable ends), but i keep saying "what if this 1 pannel does not do the trick" That 1 pannel might heat the spot directly above it up just fine... but im still doubting that it will give the correct ambient temps inside the entire cage... yes it would be easy enough to install additional heat.. but then i would have extra wires running around and im not really looking forward to that.

going with x2 heat will obviously give a larger heating area, but whats the temp gradient going to be like if half the cage is taken up with heat.... how will they thermoregulate... half the cage is going to be the hotspot if you have a large boa in there... that wont give him much room to pick and choose his temps. If the entire heat pannel is kept at 85-90 degress for the hot end,then thats half the floor.

Im sorry HAHAHA if im making this into so much more than it really is. But im not just ordering 1 or 2 cages... im going to be ordering 4 sets of cage stack combos... and with the options I want.. im looking at roughly $6,400 so that does not leave much room for doubt


Maby ill just order 1 with single heat and see how that works... whats $300+ anyway.. id much rather spend than than to cough up $6000+ and not be satisfied. At least this way i can test out everything that I need.. and just go from there

[denny_rimes]

Probably a good idea!

[The_Boaphile]

Hey Diego,

This is exactly the perfect sort of thing we would be happy to help you through if you contact us directly. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, we are extremely busy caring for a huge collection of Boa Constrictors, raising thousands of rats to feed those Boas and building the best plastic cages and racks in the world. We do however follow up on email or phone calls directly to us. The forum is something we make an attempt to get to every once in a while but time does not allow us to stay on top of things here like we try to with the phone calls and emails. Many thanks to those who have made wonderful contributions here to try to help you figure out how to set up your cages.

I have a lot of experience building cages/racks and figuring out precisely the very best way to heat all of these units we build. Stacks of cages will heat far differently than single cages will heat. In a stack situation, each cage benefits from the cage it is resting on top of, under or beside. My snake room is kept at 75-77 degrees and so I only use a very small section of Flexwatt to heat my cages. None of my cages are against exterior walls that do not have at least an additional 6" of insulation on them. In a 421D I actually only use a 6" section of the low wattage Flexwatt. The weather we have here in Minnesota is typically about 60 degrees or more cooler than it is in San Diego. If we can figure out how to handle heating here, we can handle the beautiful Heaven like weather you have in Southern CA.

The general rule is install as much heating as is necessary but not more. When setting up expandable cages that will ultimately be connected to another 4' cage, you can use single heat and in the additional cage when it is purchased, you can order those with the double heat turning off the heat in the original cage when connected. Make sense? This may be the wisest way to handle the eventual expansion option. When we sell a 4' cage of any type we always install a 1.5' section because we had too many customers that were trying to heat cages in 65 degree rooms wondering why the single heat would not work. We have detailed information on the site about heating but still folks would order the single heat and wonder why that would not heat their heat loving Blood Python in a room I would need to wear a jacket in. Again, if these good folks would have asked us we would have recommended at least double heat and perhaps a radiant heat panel to do the job required.

Anyhow, there are as many different situations to set up a cage as there are herpers. Figuring out exactly how it would be best for you to heat yours is exactly what I do and do very well. Please give me a call and well hammer out the details OK?

By the way Diego, nobody gets flamed here at the "Boa ThinkTank". It isn't allowed.

(507) 263-2621

Jeff Ronne