custom built

This is a china cabinet. It has glass shelves. Should I change out the glass for wood? Will the 4" flexwatt heat the entire glass shelf? I have nothing else to do with this cabinet and thought it would make an interesting gecko living quarters.

I'm not a "handy" person, but I would think it would work with some tweaking.

I would first attempt to put the flexiwatt panel in the back for even heating of all levels and some kind of barrier to keep the geckos from getting burned if they can touch it, or the heating goes haywire.

The doors may need to be tweaked to create a "seal" (I don't think those doors close tight enough to retain heat?); some kind of molding (not sure of the name of the stuff) may help here.

Are the levels of glass flush against the enclosure, or can substrate, etc from one level fall to the next? If so, that would need to be addressed, too. If you don't want to use glass, perhaps you can find custom cut tiles to replace the glass.

Does the cabinet have light? I would put those new strips of light down the corners for lighting the individual levels..just thoughts on what I would do if it were my project.

It certainly looks doable to me. Good luck!

Oooohh Deb, the thin led type lighting down the corners sound great!! So the heat doesn't need to come from underneath? Back wall heating would be fine? I was thinking of the plyboard that has the pin holes as the backing for ventilation and sealing all edges be it glass, wood or whatever I get suggestions on. I can find a way to get a good seal around the door and have that jungle paper on the outside of the sides to make them more secure and a something over that on the outside so I don't have to look at the back side of the jungle paper.

RonzRoyalz said:

Oooohh Deb, the thin led type lighting down the corners sound great!! So the heat doesn't need to come from underneath? Back wall heating would be fine? I was thinking of the plyboard that has the pin holes as the backing for ventilation and sealing all edges be it glass, wood or whatever I get suggestions on. I can find a way to get a good seal around the door and have that jungle paper on the outside of the sides to make them more secure and a something over that on the outside so I don't have to look at the back side of the jungle paper.

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I wouldn't put the heat underneath, because from my understanding of how heat is dispersed (and I am NO expert) the "barriers" between levels would make it difficult to heat evenly. However, I believe that if the heat is placed down the back, each level will be able to be evenly heated.

I'm not sure about the plyboard with the pinholes. It's quite thick and may create a "barrier" of a sorts so that you don't get as much heat as you normally would. This may create a need for higher temps (using electricity, burning money) to maintain the temps desired. But like I said, I'm not sure about plyboard as a heat conductor.