heated cable

[un-loco]

Sorry I have been spamming the board with questions, but I just changed everything up and things have not gone according to plan and I dont want to have a bunch of unrelated questions in one post...

So I got a heated cable with the intent to place it in the dirt of my red-footeds vivarium. after reading the warnings and such I ended up taping it to the bottom of the glass tank. It is not yet having as much much of an effect as I had intended and I am curious as to other peoples success in keeping the cable in the substrate it's self in a moist environment.

 

[jackrat]

I've had good results with mine. Do you have a thermostatic controller on it? Moist dirt helps to conduct the heat better. It doesn't have much effect on the air temperature,just the sustrate. I mainly use it to release humidity into the vivarium.

 

[un-loco]

That was my plan as well, but i ended up scaring myself with the "DO NOT DO THIS...." warnings.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Tim:

I'm sorry to ask a dumb question, but do you have it taped to the bottom on the outside or on the inside?

 

[lynnedit]

Yes, Yvonne, that is a good question, and also, what is the brand?

 

[Redstrike]

I use one from Big Apple pet supply. I bury this under my substrate (soil topped with cypress mulch) and haven' had any issues yet.

http://www.bigappleherp.com/Big-Apple-Flexible-Heat-Ropes

 

[Madkins007]

If you used a good waterproof cable, like the one Redstrike linked to, it will increase humidity and help gently warm the soil. It does take a while to kick in- it has to pre-heat a rather large mass- and my experience has been that soil blocks the effects more than cypress does. That is, you will still get some of the warm humidity, but the heat is not transmitted as well in dirt as it seems to be in the cypress.

 

[lynnedit]

That was my plan as well, but i ended up scaring myself with the "DO NOT DO THIS...." warnings.

That is why I wondered about the brand. The Big apple herp cable is waterproof. Great product.
Some of the other cables say 'water resistant', and offer warnings about being in substrate, etc.
If your cable us underneath the glass, then it may not be able to transmit heat very well into the substrate.

 

[un-loco]

Mine is the ZooMed cable that is water resistant. and I have it taped to the bottom of the tank, on the outside. I thought it was water-PROOF when I got it... Just as when I also ordered the "rheostat temperature controller" that is just a manual knob controller thinking that it had the temperature probe thing... I fell for all the tricks in the book with the Zoo-Med guys. I don't think I will ever buy another of their products and will do more research on anything else I choose to get.

edit: if i do put it in the substrate, there are no issues with torts burrowing and burning themselves on the cable or thinking its a worm or something? and anyone with the ZooMed cable have you had issues with it being just water resistant in a moist substrate?

 

[Yvonne G]

For it to work, it needs to be on the inside.

 

[lynnedit]

Mine is the ZooMed cable that is water resistant. and I have it taped to the bottom of the tank, on the outside. I thought it was water-PROOF when I got it... Just as when I also ordered the "rheostat temperature controller" that is just a manual knob controller thinking that it had the temperature probe thing... I fell for all the tricks in the book with the Zoo-Med guys. I don't think I will ever buy another of their products and will do more research on anything else I choose to get.

edit: if i do put it in the substrate, there are no issues with torts burrowing and burning themselves on the cable or thinking its a worm or something? and anyone with the ZooMed cable have you had issues with it being just water resistant in a moist substrate?

Someone else might have more info on using this in substrate. They do put those warnings on it so people don't use it in aquariums, etc., covering their 'bases'.
I think if it is moist, (no pooled water), you should be OK, but see if anyone else comments. I am using ZooMed cable in an outside tortoise box, tied to wire on top of about 1" of pea gravel with aspen on top. Not really moist, but I am sure they pee on it, etc. It works great. (I learned about the Big Apple Herp cable since then, and would always use this product from now on, however).

If no one objects, since you have it:
Get some plastic wire like this (example just used for the picture)
http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=Oy0KT8zsCajTiALJj_WjCQ&ved=0CG0Q8gIwAA

Get some zip ties and use them to attach the cable to the wire in the shape you want. Make sure the probe is secured near the cable as instructed. Flip the wire over so the cable is underneath.
Put down an inch or so of substrate, then the wire/cable, then more substrate. So far my Russians (queens and kings of diggers) have not dislodged it.
This is a good thermostat if you are looking for another one:
http://www.hydrofarm.com/pb_detail.php?itemid=3372