Heating pads

[Missy]

Ok, cold weather decided to come right on in like a lion here in Virginia. Suddenly, Gobi's non-basking area is lucky to make it to about 72 to 75 during the DAY... At NIGHT, it dips to around 60 to 63.

I've considered the specialized heating pads for reptile vivs. What are the pros, cons and do they REALLY work to help overall heating?

My home is cool in the mornings, and stays that way if sunshine isn't in the forcast. Overall temp of upstairs runs about 67 to 72 during the day, depending on sunshine. At night, with the heater on, it's between 66 and 68.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Ive never been a fan of heating pads. Im sure they have come a long way but I still dont trust them. I use heat bulbs from above. This time of year you will have to increase your wattage. If your running a 75 watt try 100 ect ect till you get the temp you want. If its cool at night run a 50 watt black light. Some will tell you it will bother your dragon, Im flat out telling you it wont.

 

[Dragonsx6]

Hi Missy
I have never used heat pads. I dont think you can control them as well as the bulbs. We have been having mild winters for many years here in Scotland, but the last couple of years we have been hitting temps of -16*c thru the night sometimes. In order to keep our dragons ok we have a ceramic heater in our vivs with a thermostat & if the temps get too cold the ceramic heater kicks in to keep it at a steady heat thru the night so they dont get too cold. We did try the Black Lights too which didnt bother the dragons at all, but for some reason we could only get them from 1 shop and they kept blowing so we gave up on that idea and stuck with the ceramic heater.

Hope it helps xx

 

[Missy]

Ive never been a fan of heating pads. Im sure they have come a long way but I still dont trust them. I use heat bulbs from above. This time of year you will have to increase your wattage. If your running a 75 watt try 100 ect ect till you get the temp you want. If its cool at night run a 50 watt black light. Some will tell you it will bother your dragon, Im flat out telling you it wont.

I noticed during the day, his basking area maintains about 100 to 110... At night, around 90 with the black light basking area. It's just the rest of the cage. So, can you please give me a link to explain exactly what lights you are speaking of? I know I sound like a dunce at the moment lol. Must be not enough coffee in me yet. (LOL)

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Sorry I dont have a link for this, I just do it. Alot of what I do for my caging/tanks is just auto-pilot at this point. When something isnt right it catches my attention....lol Ive been doing this wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to long.

 

[Dragonsx6]

http://www.infraredheaters.com/petwarm.html
the link above shows the same sort of thing i use.

 

[Missy]

That's more to my liking, Dragon.. Plus it won't ruin the glass thanks to sticky stuff. I read it can safely dip to 60* F here in his cage at night. But even during the day, it struggles to be around 80*.. So just place it up during the day, or keep it going 24/7?

 

[tdrost]

hey Missy, i have an undertank heat pad. just sticks to the bottom (my viv is glass) and plugs in. there is no control on it and i think that is the main concern for people.
It came with Sampson when i adopted him so in the beginning I didn't know any differently. online i read (somewhere) that it can change the temp by 10 degrees. I haven't found that much difference in the overall air temp. just that it heats the substrate abit. i tried to put a thermometer in the substrate but couldn't get an accurate reading.
I plugged it in over the weekend again as we had the weather drop here a great deal too. All I know is He def. heads to that area when night starts coming!!!

 

[Dragonsx6]

That's more to my liking, Dragon.. Plus it won't ruin the glass thanks to sticky stuff. I read it can safely dip to 60* F here in his cage at night. But even during the day, it struggles to be around 80*.. So just place it up during the day, or keep it going 24/7?

If you have it connected to a thermostat you can set it so that if it drops below or reaches the max temp you set, just leave it on 24/7 and it will switch itself on and off as needed, thats what we do and we never had any trouble. Glad to be able to help

 

[117star]

What about infrared lamps?

 

[Missy]

Ok, I bought both the pad and an infrared lamp bulb. Thanks for the help, everyone.