Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey there i was on a site and i recall them saying a 75watt bulb will keep a 10gal tank around 75-85 F. i was wondering how true that was. and if you can post what size vivs you have and the wattage. and the ambient and bask temp avg. thanks.

Unless you have a snake that really requires a basking lamp (some arboreal species and some active diurnal species like coachwhips), I don't recommend using lights as heat sources at all.

Get an under tank heating pad and a rheostat (dimmer) to allow you to turn down the temperature of the heating pad. Then get a thermometer with a remote probe to measure the temp at the heating pad end of the cage and keep it around 80-85°F. The rest of the cage should be warm enough around 70-75°.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

...especially for a 10 gallon, where it can be kinda hard just heating "part" of it. What kind of snake is going in there? What temps do you usually keep your house/room at? That will help to determine what kind of heat source you need.

>>hey there i was on a site and i recall them saying a 75watt bulb will keep a 10gal tank around 75-85 F. i was wondering how true that was. and if you can post what size vivs you have and the wattage. and the ambient and bask temp avg. thanks.

I don't think you can just pick a wattage per a size enclosure. Ambient room temps etc will all change enclosure temps. A 75watt could broil a 10 gal in my opinion.

I only use bulbs to make HOT spots for monitor lizards and bearded dragons. Yes, I have one on bigger enclosures for daytime highs.....any enclosure over 3 feet long etc. Everything else gets a heat pad and that is it.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

75 watts is too much for a 10 gal tank.

Think more like 40 watts, and in Summer more like 25 watts. Use a dimmer or thermostat.
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Mark