Heat cables?

[Jeansie1988]

Hi all,

So my husband is going to start building my red foot enclosure this evening. Right now he is living in a large bin. The enclosure as i have mentioned in other threads is going to be 6ft long by 2 ft wide by 3 ft tall.
I am going to set up like this:
On the cool end i am going to have a plastic bin with a lid (i have seen this in someones's post to keep in the humidity, going to add spaghman moss to it), i was thinking.... heat cables under the substrate?
The hot end i have a t8 uvb light that will go lengthwise. I also have an infra red light (75 wat) there. Now i have heard alot on the forums about the ceramic heaters... well i will change once this one dies out as i just bought it and can't return it.

Now i have probably a couple of questions and once the enclosure is made i will post pictures of it so everyone can make comments....
However my questions are:

1. Has anyone used this pro series heat cable? I have 4.5 m and it's 25wats? do i put it in the cool end under the substrate? do they last long?

2. On the hot end of the enclosure, i have my uvb light and my infra red.... should i just be using this infra red at night if the temps get below 70? I have a 100wat light one but i am not sure if this is too bright for the tortoise?

* I have read about the mercury bulbs but i wasn't really interested in them at this point.


Any ideas to help this lost soul? lol
Much appreciated!

 

[ascott]

Hi..

I would not place a humid hide in a cool location (cool and wet can lead to problems)....now if you are going to have a cool dry end then a hide is great for their sense of security.

If you want to make a humid hide, I would strive for constantly warm and humid...this would be a good place to have heating cables under the substrate (make sure your substrate is no less than 4 inches and preferably closer to 5 or 6).

I have not used a Ceramic Het Emitter, but have and do use the black heat lights...so either is good. Either is good for night hear source as well....if you are going to run a warm humid enclosure as a whole then you will want to make certain that your temp never drops below 80 not even in the night hours...

 

[lynnedit]

What she said.

And... the pro series heat cables are water resistent only.
Look at the Big Apple Herp cables. They are water proof. Must be used with a thermostat, but they are wonderful. You can zip tie them to plastic (garden) wire or galvanized wire mesh, place on the bottom, and cover with your substrate.
http://www.bigappleherp.com/Big-Apple-Flexible-Heat-Ropes
I like the substrate that they sell; very reliable.
Under substrate cables really keep the humidity up if you keep the substrate moist.

What about a 25w (or so) bulb over the hide?

 

[ascott]

What about a 25w (or so) bulb over the hide?

That is good tooooooooo