problems with heat lights/mats

[Razon]

hey guys ive recently tried to go out and buy my tiger some newer heating gear but ive hit a dead end sort of... I went and bought a compact top heat light, a 36inch long heat mat and have quickly realised that im unable to use the light as i have a solid wooden enclosure....so i took that back and just got a ceramic light fitting and im just going to put my UVB 5.0 light bulb in it, is the best way to "hang" one of these just using cup hooks? or what have you guys used? the second problem i have is the large heat mat...how am i able to heat the bottom of my enclosure using one of these when the wood is over a inch thick? if i put it on the bottom on the outside of the enclosure wont it be to heavy and cause a fire hazard? are you able to fit these on the inside of your tank without burning your snake? if so how have you guys done it? i had someone suggest putting slate or a rock over the heat mat but its quite a long one... would it just be easier for me to go about building a new enclosure? so i can sort these problems out on the way and not have to try and improvise with a already existing tank? reason why i have such a long heat mat also is being i keep my tiger snake in a 6foot enclosure and i really dont want to have him in a smaller enclosure as i feel he likes to cruise around and not always be kept in a small enclosure where he cant straighten out.....

 

[JAS101]

id make a tiled pad , that way it duznt matter how long the heat mat is - u buy the tiles to suit .

 

[Razon]

i was thinking of making a tile mat, but then wouldnt it be a pain trying to remove the tiles everytime i need to clean the tiles? (while typing this im thinking maybe you could just wipe them clean? maybe a sandstone type of tile would be enough? would the weight of the tiles cause a fire?

 

[JAS101]

i make my tiled heat pads so they are sealed , all they need is a wipe .
i use ply wood as the tiled pad base [ i used 3 ply ] cut it to the size of the pad [ can be made a little bigger if u want]
i used sellys nomore gaps for glueing the heat mat to the wood - and for glueing the tiles to the heat mat. [ sellys nomore gaps can withstand 200c as we used to use it for sealing metal before powdercoating parts ] .

with any heat source a thermostat is recomended , the type of heat mat i use have them built in [ so no need to buy one seperatly]

 

[-Peter]

I wouldn't over do the heating. Stick with a low watt ceramic heat emmitter or heat lamp at one end.

 

[JAS101]

btw what was wrong with the old heating gear?

 

[Razon]

the old heating gear was a flood light fitting and i just used a low watt globe but the problem was that it was made out of plastic and thats not very good at high tempretures, and what the pet shop sold me is only a fitting which hangs so ive got to somehow fix that too the enclosure, and do you think i should have both a heat mat and a UVB globe? or just go for a basking globe with no uv and ditch the heat mat too? the heat mat is a 42watt one so im unsure how hot that will get until i test it i plan on getting a thermostat sometime this week if im able to find one, and thanks JAS if i end up using the heat mat ill use that tile idea so should i keep the heat mat and UVB globe or should i only use one?