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I was wondering if anyone has ever tried using the ceramic heat panels for monitors. I have a couple that I use for some snakes and did a little experimenting. They seem to easily be able to accomplish the max temps of 135-145 for basking. I was just wondering if anyone has some practical experiance with usung them for this purpose. It would seem that they would be a good option in cages with a solid lid.

Rich

Hey Rich. I currently use a 150 watt (3 feet long) Helix heat panel in my waters' cage in conjunction with two 85 watt indoor floods. The cage is 7.5 feet long and 3 feet high and wide. I have the heat panel on one end and the basking platform with the floods on the other end. I live in S. FL and don't have a need to use it this time of year, but in the winter, it works well to keep temps up in the cool end, especially at night when temps can drop down into the 60's. I run it at 100%, 24/7 and found that at 14" below it (where I had a shelf) temp was a steady 112 degrees. My waters would often "bask" under that instead of the 130 degree temps under the floods. This dropped down to around 80 at floor level when outside temps were in the mid-70's. Billy

>>I was wondering if anyone has ever tried using the ceramic heat panels for monitors. I have a couple that I use for some snakes and did a little experimenting. They seem to easily be able to accomplish the max temps of 135-145 for basking. I was just wondering if anyone has some practical experiance with usung them for this purpose. It would seem that they would be a good option in cages with a solid lid.
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>>Rich