Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all, I will be away for a week and have a few questions on regulating temps while I'm gone. My hatchling is in a Rubbermaid slightly larger than a 20 long. During the day I have a 60 W bulb on, keeps hot side about 92, cool end 80. At night I put on a heat pad, gets slightly hotter, 94. With the pad the ambient temps are between 78-80 all around the tank. I do not feel comfortable having just the pad for a week straight with the ambients so low. So... what I'm thinking of doing is having the heat pad on all the time, with a 25 w bulb on during the day (regulated by a timer). That keeps the hot side ambients about 85, cool side 80. The hot side substrate however gets up to 97 with this set up. As long as the light is turned off at night, do you think I need to worry about overheating?
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If you are not using a thermostat I would be scared to death to leave this set up like it is for a day much less than a week....it sounds like a fire hazard waiting to happen. Invest a little money and do it right; it will take the worries out of things like this. As a side note, there are some nice low wattage ceramic heating elements on the market that would work well. Heat panels (Pro Products) are the best choice for a heat source. You don't want to lower temps in situations like this; optimal temps is important when raising/keeping burms.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>Hello all, I will be away for a week and have a few questions on regulating temps while I'm gone. My hatchling is in a Rubbermaid slightly larger than a 20 long. During the day I have a 60 W bulb on, keeps hot side about 92, cool end 80. At night I put on a heat pad, gets slightly hotter, 94. With the pad the ambient temps are between 78-80 all around the tank. I do not feel comfortable having just the pad for a week straight with the ambients so low. So... what I'm thinking of doing is having the heat pad on all the time, with a 25 w bulb on during the day (regulated by a timer). That keeps the hot side ambients about 85, cool side 80. The hot side substrate however gets up to 97 with this set up. As long as the light is turned off at night, do you think I need to worry about overheating?
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>>0.0.1 Snow Corn
>>0.0.1 Oketee
>>1.0 Ghosts
>>0.0.1 Ball Python
>>1.0 Albino Burmese Python
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

I think I may just do that. How does one connect a dimmer to a heat pad, or light for instance? I have no electrical know how. As for the fire hazard I have kept lights on timers before, I don't see a problem with that, but I do also not like the idea of my heat pad on 24/7. But please do not get the wrong idea, I do know exactly what my temps are, its just that without me there's nobody to regulate 'em properly. Either way I've got a month before I leave. Gotta go, my ride to Hamburg just pulled up!
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0.0.1 Snow Corn
0.0.1 Oketee
1.0 Ghosts
0.0.1 Ball Python
1.0 Albino Burmese Python

Picked up a dual socket rheostat. Should be able to nip this in the bud.
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0.0.1 Snow Corn
0.0.1 Oketee
1.0 Ghosts
0.0.1 Ball Python
1.0 Albino Burmese Python

That should do the trick. There is little harm in keeping the heat lamp on continually but the heat pad is what I was concerned about. Good luck

>>Picked up a dual socket rheostat. Should be able to nip this in the bud.
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>>0.0.1 Snow Corn
>>0.0.1 Oketee
>>1.0 Ghosts
>>0.0.1 Ball Python
>>1.0 Albino Burmese Python
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Carmichael, my heat pad is a 3 setting human heat pad, and I've been fooling around with it while connected to the rheostat, and am having unpredictable results. I have however figured out a way to keep the temps correct, I have simply elevated the tank approx an inch and a half above the pad. This however leaves the pad running on its own 24/7, the same situation as before. What do you suggest? If I cannot get this worked out I think I am going to try a Ceramic heater, as it can be run all the time and will not mess up day/night cycle.
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0.0.1 Snow Corn
0.0.1 Oketee
1.0 Ghosts
0.0.1 Ball Python
1.0 Albino Burmese Python