Dumerils-No belly heat needed?

KWenger · 05-23-13, 07:10 AM

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I will be getting a juvenile male Dumerils in about a month and yesterday I ordered a T10 cage from Animal Plastics to house him. Ali at Animal Plastics was extremely helpful and seemed knowledgeable about the housing needs of all types of snakes, including Dums. I was surprised when she advised me to order the T10 built WITHOUT Flexwatt for belly heat. She said I should instead get a radiant heat panel. At her suggestion, I called Bob at Pro-Products and ordered their model PH3 heat panel. They are going to ship the panel to Animal Plastics & they will install it in my cage when it is built. Both Ali and Bob explained that the heat panel would be mounted in the top of one end of the cage and, controlled with a thermostat, would make a "hot" spot directly under the panel of whatever temp I wanted while keeping the ambient temp of the cage a little cooler. Bob said that even in the winter when the room temperature dropped into the 60s I would easily be able to keep the ambient temp in the 80s. Do those of you with Dumerils agree that belly heat is not needed. Does the set up I described sound OK? I can easily call Animal Plastics and have them add Flexwatt for a small additional charge.

Concept9 · 05-23-13, 07:30 AM

Good morning and grats on the new setup, it sounds very nice.

As for the belly heat. It is in my opinion a good idea to have belly heat for a snake at the warm end to make sure it isnt laying on cool glass/plastic and to help with digestion.

SnakeyJay · 05-23-13, 07:48 AM

Wouldn't the size of an adult dum cause thermal blocking and burn the snake if there was a heat matt/flexwatt underneath? That may be why they've advised against it..

Concept9 · 05-23-13, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakey-Jay

Wouldn't the size of an adult dum cause thermal blocking and burn the snake if there was a heat matt/flexwatt underneath? That may be why they've advised against it..

I wouldnt think so provided the cable/UTH was controled by a thermostat and set for no higher than 85~.

I have read were many people use UTH properly installed with no ill effect to the Dumerils.

BUT, I am far from an expert on Dumerils.

marvelfreak · 05-23-13, 08:20 AM

I have always used a UTH for my Dumeril with no issues.

As for the cage set up with a heat panel all you have to do is put something like a stepping stone or patio block in. Put it under the heat panel and it will warm the rock up just the the sun does for belly heat.

SnakeyJay · 05-23-13, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marvelfreak

I have always used a UTH for my Dumeril with no issues.

As for the cage set up with a heat panel all you have to do is put something like a stepping stone or patio block in. Put it under the heat panel and it will warm the rock up just the the sun does for belly heat.

I was always led to believe that they were not good for larger bodied snakes... Well that's good to know, cheers.

nick654377 · 05-23-13, 01:23 PM

I dont use belly heat for my dums. I have her tank hot spot set to 90 with a RHP. ambients are right around 78 on cool side and 80 on hot side. never missed a meal and poops once or twice a month on a 7 day feed.

rocknhorse76 · 05-23-13, 01:58 PM

I use both belly and overhead heating for my dums, but they rarely even use their hot spots.

exwizard · 05-23-13, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocknhorse76

I use both belly and overhead heating for my dums, but they rarely even use their hot spots.

Same here. My bigger Dums are in an AP 1996 rack that uses dual sided RHPs. My medium sized Dums are in an AP 1860/1960 rack that uses heat cable for belly heat and my smaller Dums are in an AP 1753/1755 rack that uses flexwatt for belly heat. These Dums usually like to stay on the cooler side no matter what method is used to heat the tubs. Only Black Betty in her Neodesha likes to stay on top of her heat source which consists of 2 11" flexwatt strips on the left side of her cage.