# Heating a Bigger DIY Enclosure



## GamblingCobra (Sep 15, 2014)

Hey guys,


So about 5-6 months ago I embarked on a project of building my own enclosure for a Diamond Python. I started a thread on here detailing how I was going and then stopped suddenly when I suffered a pretty bad back injury playing golf (how someone gets badly injured playing golf I'll never know). 

Anyway, The Question I have is, I am trying to work out the best way to Heat / Light the enclosure and would like some people to give me some direction here as I'm not too sure the best way to do it. (The snakes are my brothers and he recently left on an overseas trip, the diamond is now too big for his current enclosure and I'm building its new one).

The enclosure is approx 1330 Horizontal x 1170 Vertical (670 is the heigh for 885 of it) x 500 Deep.

Would someone be able to point me in the right direction with the things I'll need to buy / install. Money not an issue, and would like to know the types of brands others use.

Thanks guys


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## invaderd (Sep 15, 2014)

Depending on how good you are with electrics you can get some pretty cheap pre-wired light sockets off EBAY. I just bought 4 of them off there for my heating. I have started to convert a tv cabinet similar to yours and have split it in half. I will be running a 75w Ceramic heat lamp on both sides with a 50w infra red globe for night viewing. I have also installed a kit of downlights (Bunnings) which look quite nice. For your cabinet maybe a 100w heat lamp and 100w red light down the hot end, that should be plent and just run them off a thermostat. Also depending on if you want UVB in the enclosure (I have heard that diamonds require low amounts, unaware if this is correct) you may want to chuck in another socket for UVB.


Hope your back isn't giving you too much trouble.


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## littlemay (Sep 15, 2014)

If money is no object, maybe worth looking into heat panels? Nice, gentle radiant heat source that looks great as well. I would e-mail the guys at Pro-Herp if you're interested, they were really helpful when i was investigating various options to heat my five foot tall enclosure.

http://www.proherp.com.au/heating/heat-panels.html?mode=list


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## saximus (Sep 16, 2014)

Size of the enclosure isn't really an issue as long as you have the basking spot right. This is especially true if it's for a Diamond since you're on the Central Coast and they shouldn't be heated too much anyway.

I'm personally a massive fan of heat panels or heat cord. They're really efficient and if set up properly don't need a thermostat.


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## Riffherper (Sep 16, 2014)

Heat panels +1


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## MrThumper (Sep 17, 2014)

+ 2 for heat panels


Implanted Since Oct 2012


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## spud_meister (Sep 17, 2014)

Can't help with the heating, but I'm doing something similar for a black-headed python, so please give updates on your project so I can steal any good ideas.


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## Chris1 (Sep 17, 2014)

+3 for heat panels, if you install it under a shelf the snake can get belly heat or heat from above. I prefer the proherp ones, they dont need cages around them.


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## saximus (Sep 18, 2014)

[MENTION=37197]Riffherper[/MENTION], [MENTION=17497]MrThumper[/MENTION] and [MENTION=1514]Chris1[/MENTION] ? what wattage and distance do you guys use? While I love them, I had a bit of trouble this winter getting the basking spots warm enough using 40W panels at about 8-10 inches.


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## Riffherper (Sep 18, 2014)

Sax I found the exact same thing for my 40 watters to the extent that I built a melamine shelf to minimize the distance to the basking spot during winter which I remove in summer. I have two Bhp cages which run 40 watters - with my shelf at 15cm distance (the stated minimum) to get a mid 30s basking spot in winter. I can get mid - high 30s basking spot in summer as well with or without shelf. I built two new carpet enclosures and due to increased height opted for the 80watters. I get low thirties on the shelf above and mid thirties in the basking spot below. These 80 watters could reAch high 30s in winter if required.


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## GamblingCobra (Sep 22, 2014)

Hey guys,

Thankyou very much for the replies. Ill have a look into heat panels and let you know how I go. I will be doing more work on the enclosure this week and will post pictures at the progress I am making. [MENTION=1514]Chris1[/MENTION] and [MENTION=37197]Riffherper[/MENTION] any chance of posting a picture or two of your enclosures? Thanks in advance


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## GamblingCobra (Sep 24, 2014)

[MENTION=29644]littlemay[/MENTION] This is probably a stupid question. What type of wattage would you recommend for an enclosure that size? I would probably put the heat panel at the top of the left hand side. I'm not really that confident on what wattage I should use? Any help here would be fantastic.

Cheers


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## GamblingCobra (Sep 24, 2014)

Forget what I just wrote above. I re read the replies again and answered my own stupid questions.


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## littlemay (Sep 24, 2014)

GamblingCobra said:


> [MENTION=29644]littlemay[/MENTION] This is probably a stupid question. What type of wattage would you recommend for an enclosure that size? I would probably put the heat panel at the top of the left hand side. I'm not really that confident on what wattage I should use? Any help here would be fantastic.
> 
> Cheers



I would really reccomend contacting Proherp about what would be most suitable - they know their product better than anyone.


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