Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well I am about to redo my whole heating plan. I have a pair of Indigo's and Pines coming shortly. Right now I heat the room and just have UTH for hot spots and it has served me well with just pythons. But with these recent aditions I am going to go back to the non heated room and heat each cage. The room temp woould be from 70-75 ambient and 50% avg natural humidity (basement room). The room is lit with ceiling mounted 48" zoomed bulbs. 12 hour cycle.

The cages are 4'x2'x18" and are melamine. I am thinking of heating elements or heat bulbs. I already made light cages so the bulbs can not be touched. I am wondering what watt bulb I should use? Would a thermostat still be needed? If not I have a ton of Rancos & Herp Powers just sitting around doing nothing. Heat panels are not a option right now but may be in the future. Any thoughts on which is the best option? Would love to hear how Chris would do it. Many thanks in advance...

TT

-----
Reptile-Pit.com

1.1 Coastal Carpet Pythons
1.0 Indian Python
2.0 Olive Pythons
0.1 Ball Python (rehab)

Are you sure you need to make changes from what is already working for you? Obviously you need to allow for the proper temperatures for the Pines and Indigos, but can you perhaps establish a more significant vertical temperature gradiant than you currently have.

I don't know how you are currently heating the entire room, but perhaps you could close one vent and have a cooler side of the room. If it's a space heater you could move it to one side of the room and even place it up higher than it was. The Pines and Indigos could then be placed farther away and/or near the floor.

Also, could you turn the UTH's up higher/hotter?

But if that won't work then it sounds like you've already taken the appropriate steps to use light bulbs. What wattage will depend on the species, amount of ventilation, and whether or not the cages are stacked. Higher cages might need lower wattages than lower ones. Temps could be slightly regulated with rheostats.

I guess what I'm getting at is that you'll need to experiment. Start with with small wattages... maybe 40 watts... and work your way up.

One last idea. It would be very easy to establish a cool side of the room with some hanging plastic. Have you ever seen that thick, slit plastic that separates rooms in garages, etc.?

Simply hanging something like that in the room would allow for a small cool area.