Anybody make their own heated cabinet?

[antinous]

Gotcha, thanks!
For keeping scorpions, will I need a heat lamp of sorts for them, or will an ambient temp of 80 be fine for them to breed and grow properly?

 

[sdsnybny]

Instead of a heating mat, substrate, Styrofoam, and all that other crap just put a small aquarium heater in a half gallon mason jar or 2.5 gallon tank inside what ever cabinet/tank you use full of water. and it will keep humidity and heat the area with reliable controls. You could even put fish in it. Adjusting the humidity lower/higher can be done with adjustable venting.

 

[Blackout14]

Gotcha, thanks!
For keeping scorpions, will I need a heat lamp of sorts for them, or will an ambient temp of 80 be fine for them to breed and grow properly?

I still use lights on em to give em a hot spot but I believe scorps most of them anyway appreciate a higher temperature..

Instead of a heating mat, substrate, Styrofoam, and all that other crap just put a small aquarium heater in a half gallon mason jar or 2.5 gallon tank inside what ever cabinet/tank you use full of water. and it will keep humidity and heat the area with reliable controls. You could even put fish in it. Adjusting the humidity lower/higher can be done with adjustable venting.

that was my though with the mason jar and the aquarium heater have you done it does it work well? The aquarium I'd be nervous though that much water may put out way more humidity then needed and not necessarily hurt the ts but end up with mild mildew inside the cabinet. I have seen whole rooms get messed up but aquariums with no tops I'd be careful putting that much water in there

 

[sdsnybny]

I still use lights on em to give em a hot spot but I believe scorps most of them anyway appreciate a higher temperature..

that was my though with the mason jar and the aquarium heater have you done it does it work well? The aquarium I'd be nervous though that much water may put out way more humidity then needed and not necessarily hurt the ts but end up with mild mildew inside the cabinet. I have seen whole rooms get messed up but aquariums with no tops I'd be careful putting that much water in there

You could easily control the humidity by closing or restricting the opening in the water container and venting the cabinet or tank. The heat would still radiate from the tank/jar through the glass

 

[Blackout14]

You could easily control the humidity by closing or restricting the opening in the water container and venting the cabinet or tank. The heat would still radiate from the tank/jar through the glass

No I understand you could im asking if you have done it. I posted the same thing about the aquarium heater in the jar a few posts up but haven't tried it I was hoping you had and had some experience with it. Ventilation or not a large warm body of water will end up with mildew on the wall behind a fish tank with all the ventilation in the room so it concerns me putting it into an enclosed space even with vents. My 30 gallon I had set at 80 degrees and would loose an inch of water a day that is a lot of moisture going into an enclosed space that's why I was curious if anyone had tried it before I wasted my time but like you I feel the idea is solid just skeptical about it creating too much humidity

 

[sdsnybny]

No I understand you could im asking if you have done it. I posted the same thing about the aquarium heater in the jar a few posts up but haven't tried it I was hoping you had and had some experience with it. Ventilation or not a large warm body of water will end up with mildew on the wall behind a fish tank with all the ventilation in the room so it concerns me putting it into an enclosed space even with vents. My 30 gallon I had set at 80 degrees and would loose an inch of water a day that is a lot of moisture going into an enclosed space that's why I was curious if anyone had tried it before I wasted my time but like you I feel the idea is solid just skeptical about it creating too much humidity

No I haven't, but the surface area of a 30 gallon tank is huge compared to a mason jar I don't think it would over run say a 55+ gallon tank on its side with a plexiglass door with vents and you wouldn't need to worry about mold/mildew. For a bigger cabinet a glass front cooler with the guts removed would also be viable. There is a thread on here somewhere that a member redid a coke cooler/fridge into a cabinet.

 

[The Snark]

Just remembered. There is a hospital safety scenario regarding IR heating. I forget the maximum wattage but no closer to the patient than 24 inches. IR heating is severely restricted as a rule.

 

[antinous]

Alot of these are built in Tupperware or similar size containers same idea just think bigger

Could I also recreate this using a large sterilite tub with styrofoam on the sides? Or would the heat warp the plastic? I do know people use heat tape as belly heat for their snakes enclosures so I'm not sure how much warping it'll actually do

 

[Blackout14]

Could I also recreate this using a large sterilite tub with styrofoam on the sides? Or would the heat warp the plastic? I do know people use heat tape as belly heat for their snakes enclosures so I'm not sure how much warping it'll actually do

Should be fine depending on the tub you aren't talking about a ton of heat like a snake or lizard but make sure you get a thermastat

 

[antinous]

Should be fine depending on the tub you aren't talking about a ton of heat like a snake or lizard but make sure you get a thermastat

I'll def be getting a thermostat! Haha. And as for temp it can be anywhere from 75-90 (for some scorps) is this okay?

 

[antinous]

Actually decided on something new, I'm just going to buy those Styrofoam ice chests and then attach the heat tape or UTH inside on one side to radiate the heat. Figured it'll work just as well and is inexpensive. Also would be able to have multiple, and have my future scorps at one heat and T's at another.

 

[Andrea82]

This is done a lot in the Dutch hobby, with electricity prices being sky high.
The most simple version of this is a cabinet with heatmats stuck on the inside of said cabinet. Not on the spiders cages but on the cabinet.
Not used throughout the year,
but we can have long periods with temps below what is comfortable for T's.
I have a backup heating like that when it gets too cold. I have a heat cable running at the back of my shelves, never touching the enclosures, but keeping the temps acceptable.
I tried a space heater before, but after seeing my three person household-electricity use going up to over nine person household-electricity, I was cured of that. My monthly payments went from 100 to170euro...no thank you.
But now in ccombination with my central heating, I can keep them ok at night and comfortable at day.

 

[Scoly]

I made my own heated enclosure twice.

First design I made from scratch: the bottom, back and top were MDF sheets with a joist at the front, then I used clear perspex sheets to make the side walls (drilled into the MDF sheets and joists), then just used a hanging perspex sheet as the front. The shelves were T shaped aluminium beams running between the wooden supports. It took a lot of work (and two chisel cuts to my thumb which got infected and I passed out in a toilet at a party a week later because you're not supposed to drink on antibiotics as well as for other reasons but that's a whole different story).

The second time I just took a wardrobe, tilted it on its side so the door opened out towards me like an oven (unless you have a side-opening oven) making a useful working surface. I drilled in a few blocks of wood which supported glass shelves, of which I had two which were fortunately the exact right size. Only problem with this one was that you couldn't see into it.

In both cases the unit was heated using a soil warming cables (like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Parasene-21240-Soil-Warming-Cable/dp/B001W820BG) which ran in zig-zag along the base and half-way up the back wall, attached by those plastic hooks with a nail inside that you use to pin telephone wires to skirting boards. All controlled by a standard reptile thermostat, and that worked a charm.

I'll dig up some photos (they'll need scanned!) but the moral is:

a) Try to recycle an old cupboard, this will save you a lot of work & costs versus building from scratch (if you wanna go really cheap, just rip off the front door and clip a see-through shower curtain on instead)
b) A soil warming cable + thermostat works perfectly.

 

[Red Eunice]

Yes, I built mine for the scorps and T slings. 32" wide 18" deep and 64" tall. Used Flexwatt controlled by a standard Honeywell heat only t'stat. Frame work is 1"X2" SPF connected via Kreg screws. Exterior is 3/8" hardboard (masonite) lined with 3/4" styrofoam. Door has no window, but can easily insert one if desired.
Posting only photos of the build I have. Hope it helps.

 

[USMCVET]

TarantulaSam on YouTube has a video on his micro climate that he houses about 8 slings in it. I am soon to duplicate it for my two slings. I think the most expensive thing was the thermometer from Zoo Med.