Pro-Heat Heat Panels

[The Devil]

I've been using several of the 50 watt Herp Shop heat panels for some years. These are in cages that are 1200X600X600.
They are great, the snakes soon find the branch where the heat is. As a controller I use a dimming t/stat.
With regard to a thermal gradient, it something I've never been all that concerned about. I use peg board on the back of the cages so there is always heaps of ventilation.

 

[GraftonChic]

How do they work. Are they different to heat mats?
I have most of my enclosures on just normal globes. I have my spotteds on a heat mat, and I am very dubious of it as the extra terro one I had caught on fire. Luckily my snakes were not hurt.
Can someone give me the link to the website, so I can look myself
Thanks

 

[hazzard]

obviously you use them with thermostats to control the enclosure temp, but does the surface get warm enough to burn the snake if it touches it???

No they won't burn a snake, the heat is spread over a large surface and the panels are pro-heat panels are thermally designed to prevent this and aditionally there is very little for them to cling to. I have never seen one of the snakes even try.

As mentioned these are a big hit for chondros in the states!

Cheers

 

[alex_c]

How do they work. Are they different to heat mats?
I have most of my enclosures on just normal globes. I have my spotteds on a heat mat, and I am very dubious of it as the extra terro one I had caught on fire. Luckily my snakes were not hurt.
Can someone give me the link to the website, so I can look myself
Thanks

i posted it above

 

[hazzard]

http://www.pro-products.com/proheat.html certainly sound very good and they come with a 10year warranty.

The link is 2 posts above yours. Basically they are a square panel that contains a heating mechanism right throughout as so the heat is dispersed evenly. They generally sit on the roof or walls of an enclosure.

Cheers

 

[wokka]

I've got 100watt Aussie made ( herp shop) in 900w x 600h x 600d melonite cages for GTP's conected to a pulse proportional. It works fine , provides a gradient but 100w is overkill. On my other cages I use a 25 watt red globe, with no thermostat, on a 8 foot cage which gives a 35 degree hot spot under the globe down to ambient ( which is now getting down to 20 C at night)at the cool end. The 8 foot cages cost about $12 plus labour for heat. The heatpanels plus thermostat about $250 but you cant achieve a gradient in a small cage without a thermostat. If you have the space use it without thermostats and give the animals a choice. Part of the $12 goes towards a plastic srew on 200mm light shade which I use as a light guard. I ahve only used them for 12 minths with large olives and blackhead and they are surviving but I fear they may become brittle with age and constant use. With a 40watt globe they get about 40c on the surface of the shade.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

I make my own heat panels from heat cords of various wattages depending on the size of enclosure I want to heat.

I weave the cord of whatever wattage I need onto 25mm x 25mm welded mesh, frame it with narrow timber battens, cover with black or green shadecloth (50% or less, this is very heat resistant, and doesn't come into actual contact with the heatcord anyway) and attached either on the ceiling or the wall of the enclosure.

The open structure of these panels provides very good circulation (no hot spots develop) and the shadecloth never gets very hot, so it doesn't matter if the snake lies in directt contact with it for a period of time.

I have been doing this for 6 years now, have never had one fail, never had a burn, or any problems whatsoever. Because the cords are waterproof the panels can be misted without fear of shorting them out, and the shadecloth holds a bit of moisture for a few minutes until it evaporates, ensure a quick rise in humidity. I do this especially when I see or expect a snake to shed.

So... you can make your own very effective heat panels for less than half the cost of those commercially available in Oz...

Anybody who is interested - I have some photos of the process, pm me with your email addresses and I'll shoot some to you (not sure about posting photos here!)

 

[JungleRob]

Very true, it isn't difficult. One drawback though is you'd transfer alot of heat to the enclosure above unless you mounted it on a backing board or something.

 

[Ewan]

Hey all! Good timing with this thread for me. I have recently been in contact with pro products in NY enquiring about their heat panels. They advised me to use little to no ventilation in my enclosures and also to insulate the floor of my enclosures because my house gets pretty cold in winter not being on a slab. They also advised me the on which heat panel to use for each particular application I requested. Do the people who use proheat panels use any ventilation in their enclosures if so could you please explain where the vents are positioned?

 

[hazzard]

2 vents half way down the back wall. If you get closable vents you can control as you wish!

I belive these panels work perfectly in a stack situation. The panel from below provides a nice warm area on the floor above. The reptiles tend to sit here a lot.

 

[Ewan]

For sure! I was thinking of adjustable vents. Where do you get them from?

 

[Chris1]

my heat panel arrived today, its a 'dry zone' one and says its to keep office cupboards warm and dry,....!???

it also says to velcro it on, and has strips of velcro attached,..

can anyone tell me if its the right thing, i thought i was getting one specifically fro snakes or are they pretty much all the same?

 

[dragon lady]

can any one put up pics with them already established for....dragons & snakes....please

 

[Chris1]

http://www.thermofilm.com.au/pdf/DRYZONE.pdf

this is the product that arrived, it sounds good enough,...can it be mounted on the roof or does it have to be on a wall?

DL - http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-herps/radiant-panel-heaters-81185

if you look @ Ewans post and click on his blog, then @ the bottom go to older posts you'll see the panels in use.

THanks Ewan, the pics are great, hope u dont mind me posting the link!!

 

[Nephrurus]

Oh yeah...... I use three of the Proheat 88watt panels in a 4x2x2ft bank. The heat from the cage below helps heat them. Consequently the bottom cage is far cooler than the upper cages. A heat matt underneath does the trick.

I have to add that the panal doesn't heat up enough to burn skin or scales. I believe this is one of the main advantages of the Proheat panels.

Last time i checked temps I had a gradient of 36 to 28degrees in the top cage.

It reality the main reason I like em because I don't have to change the globes.

My womas seem to like them.

I'll give you some temps and more constructive info in about a week and a half. Someone bump the thread then.



-H

 

[slacker]

If I'm not mistaken, Chris, those are the ones the Herp Shop used to sell, so it should be fine. If I'm correct in this, roof-mounting should be possible, since that's how they were pictured on the Herp Shop website.

In the future I will definitely be looking at these, as long term it seems cheaper (and less of a pain in the backside than globes, which I loathe), but finances are restricted, so for now I'm stuck with globes.

 

[Ozzie Python]

Herpshop ones came with brackets i'm pretty sure, animal attraction now sells them and they are pictured with mounting brackets, not velcro.

Don't think i would trust velcro, i'm sure a snake could get that down off the roof if they were persistant.

 

[Chris1]

cool, thanks Aspidites and Ozzie Python!!

i'll try and think of a way to secure it a bit better,....

hmm,...wonder if theyre cheaper thru office supply stores then,...might be worth looking into,..!!

anythings cheaper than globes, i generally have them blow within a month or 2!!!
...sometimes they only last 3 days,....

 

[jack]

chris1 i use one like yours for my brown tree snake's cage, the surface gets very hot, so put it out of reach.... they are in my opinion quite innefficient in comparison to ceramics... which is why i only have one!

 

[thenicewitch]

Interesting