Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have closed off my burm's hide as it's temps do not meet standards. He had stopped eating for 3.5 months. The vet recommended closing the hide since it was not warm enough. A week later he ate his arse off and has been eating well since. I have a 100 watt CHE that I jus stopped using with the grand opening of my new ball cage. I was thinking of installing it from the side of his hide box which is under the enclosure. Please advise!
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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

Yes they will work just fine..

Dimmers can be used perfectly fine with a CHE

However, I wouldn't put the CHE on the side of the cage. Heat rises. It doesn't like to go "out" to a side. Even if you point it to the side, the heat will be emitted and go straight up. I don't think it will go out maybe 4-5 inches from the CHE (at the most). I'd get a bigger one and put it on a dimmer.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

this is not for the entire cage. It is for the hide box which is under the cage. The floor of the cage is the ceiling of the hide. The hide is maybe 8 inches tall, 2 feet long and 20" wide. The only opening is in one corner and it's a 5"X5" opening that goes to the topside of the cage. I have nowhere to mount the CHE facing down. Any heat that rises will only go up a few inches before it hits ceiling. The only reason for even installing one is I had to close off the hide due to lack of heat. My burm likes it in there and his body temp would stay very low, low 70's and he wouldn't eat. My vet suggested closing off the hide and it worked. His body temps stayed normal and he started eating again. I want him to be able to use the hide but keep the temps. Any more advice on this, given this new info, would still be welcomed.
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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell