Enclosure Heating Ideas

[Sparky85]

Hey Peeps
I have a bit of a question regarding ways to heat my carpet python enclosures. For the record, I have a murray-darling carpet and a coastal carpet. Both enclosures consist of a melamime box, roughly 1500mmW x 600mmH x 600mmD. Currently I have been using 40W blue incandescent globes controlled by a thermostat, to heat the enclosures. It has come to my attention this weekend that Bunnings no longer stocks the Philips brand globes I usually buy. I have been waiting for this to happen as I know incandescent lights are being phased out.

My problem now is finding an alternative way to heat enclosures of this size as well as being a little more efficient. I am thinking heat mats or heat cord, but im not sure exactly how to set it up or how to know what wattage/size to select? I was possibly thinking to cut out a section of the floor, replace it with a large tile and stick the heat mat to the bottom? Would this raise the ambient temperature of the enclosure enough? During the day time, I could also run a light in the enclosure to help raise the temp.

Probably a dumb question since I have had my pythons for 14 and 9 years respectively. But I just have not had to think about it until now.

Cheers

 

[cagey]

I use heat panels in my enclosures and they work very well, there is one brand that does not need a cover. For arboreal snakes I use a heat gradient from top to bottom of the enclosure.

 

[Wokka]

Any heating via radiant heat , where the heat travels thru the air is less efficient than conductive heat where the animal contacts a heated surface. It is also easier to provide a temperature gradient using a conductive heat source. It is unusual that the ambient temperature can be too low, but I suppose in extreme conditions that could be the case. in Australia the problem is normally in providing a low enough ambient temperature in Summer to allow the animal to thermoregulate, so dont worry if the air is cool as long as there is access to the required "hot" temperature.