Need some heating advice

I need to heat some 4'x2' Pro-Line cages for Boa Constrictors. Problem is, the room temp is only 75 during the summer, and 70-72 during the winter. Raising the room temp isn't an option.

I managed to find a site that sells the low wattage 21" wide Flexwatt, AKA Boaphile's 2X heat. Boaphile's website says that their 2X heat should be sufficient in a room that's around 72 degrees, but I've been reading mixed experiences with it.

Other option is Pro Products RHP. I've never used RHPs partly to to the price. Again I've been reading mixed experiences with them. Some people say they're good at raising ambient temps. Others say that since they are a radiant heat source they don't raise ambient temps much, especially in a sparsely furnished cage, as there isn't much mass for them to heat up. My cages are pretty much just newspaper, water bowl and a hide. Not sure if a RHP would be much more effective than Flexwatt. Plus I'm not a fan of needing to put the thermostat probe inside the cage, though I guess I could use a dimmer/rheostat instead.

Anyone have any experience using either of these in a colder room?

I run 11" flex up the back of my prostacks, I keep my room heated but by heated I mean keeping it at about 75 degrees ambient.

I was thinking about trying a 2' strip of 11" or 12" heat tape under the cage, then another strip either 2' or 4' across the back of the cage. Might need a second thermostat or dimmer for the strip on the back to get the temps right though.

We use Flex watt on all of our dubia tubs to keep the temps at 95 . We all so sell Flex Watt Tape in the 3", 4" and 11"

I have a few pro products RHP's that im using at the moment and I think they work great, especially in larger cages (4 footers and up) but there are cheaper alternatives to heat a cage.
After all, heat is heat.

in your situation use a rhp panel (pro products or helix, stay away from RBI panels) for ambient heat. A single piece of 11" x 12" flexwatt on one side for a hot spot. You should buy TWO thermostats and run each heat source separately(although on multiple cages you could use a single thermostat to control the flexwatt for all cages and the other to control all rhp for the stack)

Originally Posted by suzuki4life

in your situation use a rhp panel (pro products or helix, stay away from RBI panels) for ambient heat. A single piece of 11" x 12" flexwatt on one side for a hot spot. You should buy TWO thermostats and run each heat source separately(although on multiple cages you could use a single thermostat to control the flexwatt for all cages and the other to control all rhp for the stack)

Honestly using a single probed thermostat to control two heat sources in two cages is a very bad Idea. What happens of the heat fails in the cage with the probe and the other heat source goes wide open?

I guess the same thing that happens when it does on ars, freedom breeder or most of the racks currently available online. Buy decent thermostats and this doesn't happen. Hence why you aren't reading about melt downs on ars or freedom breeder racks.

Originally Posted by suzuki4life

I guess the same thing that happens when it does on ars, freedom breeder or most of the racks currently available online. Buy decent thermostats and this doesn't happen. Hence why you aren't reading about melt downs on ars or freedom breeder racks.

There have been two cases of someone losing their whole collection ( or most of it) in the last six months.

Post a link to the info please.