Flexwatt or Heat tape for indoor enclosure

borjawil

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Been sometime since Ive had a tort, but not new to the reptile world. Looking at building a redfoot enclosure for a hatchling. Enclosure will be 20x33 for now. Building a plexiglass tub on a stand (top, bottom and sides made of plexi). Will have a UVB light overhead. 75w unless thats not enough, though my understanding was UVB lights arent measured in watts? Correct me if Im wrong. Rather than have an overhead CHE or heat lamp (red is what I have in my supplies), I wanted to use flexwatt as Ive used it for various enclosures for geckos, balls, etc.

From my research seems others have a hard time keeping the temps about 80 degrees F with just flexwatt and resort to having a top on it, but then run into air flow issues. Wanted some advice from those who have used it successfully. What issues did you run into, fixes for issues, and the area of the bottom of the enclosure you covered. Depending on the reptile, ive covered 1/3-3/4 of the bottom of an enclosure.

Other idea is to run a smaller heat lamp bulb over the large one I have (about 6" in diameter). Sources for smaller bulbs? thinking 75/100W should be sufficient at approx 8-10" above substrate.
 

Yvonne G

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Air flow really isn't an issue. There is plenty of air exchange when you open the enclosure to feed, change water, etc. In my totally enclosed Vision cages there's plenty of heat from the fluorescent UVB tube light and the babies sit under it when they're finished eating. But just in case that turns out to not be warm enough, I have a radiant heat panel as a roof over the hiding place with a temperature sensor that tells it to go on and off. So I don't have experience with the heat tape situation, sorry.
 

Len B

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I've used both flexwatt and self regulating heat tape for tortoises. I encased them between 2 ceramic tiles and sealed with silicone caulk to make them water proof.If needed I use lamp dimmers to reduce the wattage to achieve the wanted temperature..If using flex watt I didn't use the connectors made for it, I stapled the electric supply to the flexwatt and then soldered them together to secure it permanently.The heat from the tape is dispursed throughtout the surface of the tile with little varience of temps. Also amy heat sorce from above will affect the temps produced by either self regulating heat tape or flexwatt, so it may take some time to get everything wfere you want it.
 

Cheryl Hills

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I plan on using the heat tape for my sulcata night shed. Can I put it on the plywood then cover with tiles? Of course, I will seal the edges. Or should I put ceramic tiles under it also? I was just going to sandwich it between two pieces of plywood and seal the edges, but, I think tile will work better.
 

6strings

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I plan on using the heat tape for my sulcata night shed. Can I put it on the plywood then cover with tiles? Of course, I will seal the edges. Or should I put ceramic tiles under it also? I was just going to sandwich it between two pieces of plywood and seal the edges, but, I think tile will work better.

Tile would be better than plywood. With tile, you can seal the edges with silicone and be moisture safe. Tile also transfers heat better. Keep in mind that the air temp in the enclosure will dictate the effectiveness of the heat tape. Is this for floor heat? A lamp dimmer would give you more control. A lamp dimmer connected to an ON/OFF thermostat would give you even better control. Heater plugs into dimmer, dimmer plugs into ON/OFF controller (thermostat).
 
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