Heat Lamp vs UTH?

[ApolloFattiasMarshall]

What's the difference between using a heat lamp as the primary source of heating vs using a UTH or heat tape? Just curious. All my leos are on UTH, but I'd like to be educated on why not the lamp other than the fact they are crepuscular. If they bask in it would it still be a problem? Or is there a long term effect of not using a belly heat source?

 

[acpart]

The general wisdom is that leos need belly heat for digestion. Some people do use a heat lamp to provide the heat. After all, in the wild they do get their heat from the sun. There are 3 potential problems with a heat lamp:
--if it gives off light as well, it can bother the leos to some extent
--it usually goes off at night so the cage can get cold
--if the cage is tall, I would imagine that the heat can dissipate before it warms the ground sufficiently.

I guess one could use a ceramic heat emitter, which would eliminate the first 2 problems.

Aliza

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I agree with what Aliza has said. I find the over tank heat dries out the air in the tank and can overheat smaller enclosures. Also a lamp warms the air and not the ground. You need to be more careful if you use one and select a substrate that will absorb the heat and provide the belly heat a gecko needs for optimal digestion. Often this is tough since the place the gecko stays tends to be under a hide and the heat will warm the top of the hide a lot more than the ground.

 

[Herbiebug]

Seems to be the best solution is uth/heat tape as your primary heat source and, if the room is particularly cold or your tank is fairly large, a supplementary lamp or ceramic heat emitter should be used to raise the ambient up to acceptable levels.

 

[DadCoy]

I guess I just don't understand the "belly heat" idea, If the "core" of the animal is heated, wouldn't that be the idea?
and sorry for reviving a dead topic, but in the wild they get there heat from the sun, and the sun warms the ground, with a ceramic heat emitter and a "basking light" I would think the "core" temperature of the lizard is what needs to warm? I understand the light issue, but a basking light with uvb like sunglow or whatever it is called....when the animal goes to the warm side of the enclosure, he goes to warm his "core" not just his belly, I would think.

 

[Munea]

Actually, wild leopard geckos absorb most of their heat from rocks and soil they lay on. I see my leopard gecko practice this a lot.
I use both a (red) light and an UTH, so rocks are heated pretty well!

 

[DadCoy]

I am not arguing how they get their heat, I am saying that in the wild they don't have under tank heaters, everything is heated by the sun from above and then they absorb it, all I am saying is having a heat source from above is more naturalistic for them, it will heat the items inside the tank and they get it, plus it will keep there "core" temperature up...I guess that wouldn't be possible though if you use an un-naturalistic substrate. to each his own thought...I just know that to get the least amount of stress and most natural behaviors, I want to recreate their natural habitat. just a lot of untrue facts going on in the hobby, as you will read. This site is by far the very best I have seen.
I plan on using a ceramic heat emitter(smaller one) that by itself will keep the entire enclosure at 75-80 degrees, and during the day I will use a repti sun and halogen to have a "basking" spot and to heat the hot side to 95 degrees with the basking area around 100-105. they will also heat up the rocks and hides on that side and keep them a little warmer for a while after the sun goes down....that is what they do in the wild. I am in no way saying that under tank heaters are wrong or bad, I am just saying I prefer to create it more naturally

 

[DadCoy]

The red bulb is sorta the same concept as a heat emitter for your night temps, but what do you do to raise temperature during the day, the red you just use at night? that means it is warmer in tank at night than it is during the day?

 

[indyana]

The belly heat idea is to mimic radiant heat at dusk and early evening from ground/rocks that have been heated by the sun during the day. I believe it is difficult to mimic this effect in a captive enclosure, as the small area we provide cools rapidly after the lights go off. You can provide a ceramic heat emitter to provide some warming after dark, but that will also heat the air.

As long as the animals can get the core temperatures for digestion/activity one way or another, out of the light, they will adapt to whatever you provide, but I've seen a lot of people argue that belly heat doesn't exist in the wild. That's not really true for a desert environment.