? about heating

[sunshinegeckos]

I am thinking of getting the metal shelving units to house my geckos with the plastic tubs. Can I use UTH or Heat Tape with a metal unit?

 

[rickmoss95]

you can but be very careful with how you set it up. for instance i use flexwatt heat tape with metal clips going into the tape from the wires, i obviously would not use metal anywhere near the clips without some serious insulation! i also use alot of the aluminum tape to hold down my heat tape and help spread the heat out, but do so very carefully...you can easily cause a fire with a simple short that you may not know is there. did use a metal shelf with plastic totes on top and flexwatt(with the tote on top of the heat tape), but i cut carpet to size and placed it between the metal and flexwatt, i also used the plastic insulators from the bean farm. i am not familiar with the heat mat type units, so on that topic i would just use common sense, and err on the side of caution. good luck

 

[rickmoss95]

almost forgot! make sure if you use flexwatt, tape the non clip ends where the heat element is exposed with electrical tape! you can also put the flexwatt on the underneath side and attach it directly to the metal...AS LONG AS THE POWER SOURCE METAL IS COMPLEATLY INSULATED!!! i have done it this way also and just put the tote on the shelf, and the metal heats up and you have your belly heat, with no carpet or flexwatt to move around

 

[roger]

if u are using a metal rack it has to be grounded.Herpstat has the grounded ones.

 

[sunshinegeckos]

thanks that was what I was worried about. I have no clue when it comes to electrical things so maybe I should just go with the wood shelving units instead of the metal shelving unit to be on the safe side.