Preferred Heating Methods

[leogecko88]

I am curious to know what everyone uses to heat their reptile habitats. Please post your comments or vote.

I prefer to use day and night heat lamps. They heat up the tank nicely and enable me to watch my gecko at night.

 

[robin]

i prefer heat tape but i also like heat cables but i have a rack system.

 

[Tony C]

Depends on the species in question. I keep the room temperature between 70-75, most of my frogs have no supplemental heat beyond what their compact fluorescent lighting puts off, my snakes get a heat pad plus a daytime basking light, the bearded dragons get only a daytime basking light, and the leopard gecko has a heat pad and a black heat light on all the time.

 

[fikken]

100 watt red infrared light bulb, 2 75 watt night glo light bulbs, 2 75 watt halogen bulbs on dimmers, 2 UTH split between two tanks. One 55g and one 60g tank. My room temperature fluctuates since i am in a drafty attic room finished with knotty pine, its usually between 60F and 75F in the fall. I leave the UTHs on all the time in fall and winter and have the night glo and infrared lights on at night to keep the tank temp up. I'll use the day bulbs if there isnt alot of light in the room. They dont necessarily need a day light per say however to induce breeding cycles i think it helps. they just dont need really bright lights. These set ups are up course for my leopard geckos. I am getting ceramic bulbs soon to use in the winter and since they last longer. I also use a small cold contact space heater if the temps drop low enough to effect tank temp

 

[ReptarNDukeNukem]

I have a heat pad and a 50 watt red light so I can help regulate hot and cool sides.

 

[HugeGenes&LoLa]

I use heat cables and UTHs. I've heard that unless you actually know what you're doing, heat tape can be a hazard... so I tend to avoid trying it out. But I have always been curious...

 

[Allee Toler]

Switching to heat cable next week. I've been using heat rope, but it's not long enough.

 

[lady.gekko]

I use 3 differen't methods. Currently because the room my geckos are in they have under tank heaters or heat cable, plus overhead heat lamp. The room is cooler then our others. Once my shelving is done, they will all be heated with heat cable only. Should be in about a month!

 

[Yamori]

Thick tailed tank- Farly low wattage basking lamp gets turned on in the morning from about 8:30 sometimes 9:00 till 12 pm so its only on 3-4 hours a day.

Broad banded sand swimmer tank- Medium to high wattage basking lamp that's on the same amount of time as above.

Golden tailed tank- Low wattage basking lamp on for the same amount of time as above.


During the winter i sometimes use UTH's at night if its cold. But being in tropical Queensland its usually warm year round.

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

I have used both heat tape and cables for my rack system but prefer the tape so I can have only the shelves in use being heated..which saves a bit of money when my babies are all gone.

 

[Taquiq]

Heat tape for racks. UTH's for glass tanks.

 

[robin]

agreed although in my AP racks i have back heat that are heated with heat cable and it works great

 

[Roaming Reptiles]

I use heat tape and I think it works great.

 

[Pure]

I use UTH for the leos and snakes, heat lamps for every one else. For the heat lamp users, I don't have any herps that can't handle or don't actually require a drop in temp at night.

Correction. The tort has a hide with an UTH that only is turned on after lights out. It's cute how he "goes to bed" like my dogs in their kennels.

I personally feel that UTH of some sort is the best option for Leos, and lights should only be used when your room's ambient temp is too cold for the animals. However, I do think a more efficient use of electricity would be to combine a ceramic heat emitting fixture with a florescent fixture.

A good (economical) idea for night time lighting, Wallyworld has small tube type floro fixtures. I think they are 8 watt?? But anyhow, they are cheap, and have a removable lens over the bulb. It just pops off. I take these and paint the lens red with testors model car paint.

 

[gitrdone0420]

I use UTH for my leos.
For my water Dragon I use a ceramic heat emitter and a mercury vapor bulb.

 

[Samantha]

i use undertank heaters in addition to a red light heat bulb

 

[scm133]

UTH for tanks, and heat tape for racks.

 

[abrahamavelar]

i have a zoo med UTH for 10-20 gal and a ceramic bulb most of the day

 

[zoe2710]

I use light bulbs from 50-75watt in my large terra's (100cmx50x50)

In my smaller terra's (48cmx40x30) i use 25watt light bulbs. For the night i have moonlight lamps(15watt)

 

[Crewdog00]

Heat pad and red night bulb 24/7