I am thinking about switching all of my animals (2 leopard geckos, cornsnake, ball python, pacman frog) over to a ceramic heat emitter. I am fostering a bearded dragon and she actually has one on her tank and it keeps her temps perfect without me really doing much other than turning it on. I have had several faulty UTH, and one actually broke the tank it was attached to because it short circuited. A few have not even turned on right out of the package. CHE just seem safer. I have worked out that if I put some rocks on the area below one it will make a nice hot spot for my critters that need belly heat. What experiences has everyone had with them? What are some pros and cons? Are they safer? I like that they don`t seem to get as hot, and my ball python seems to like hers that I just got for her I have it covered so she won`t touch it (it is outside her tank) and it is keeping her temperatures perfect. So thoughts?
Habistat make the best heat mats, from what I've heard none of their heat mats have failed. They're also made in the UK, in Scotland and made of a cloth element, instead of printed.
I tried a CHE once but didn't work well for me in my situation. It killed my humidity and dried out my substrate in my Pacman tank and then I tried again on a larger tank housing the Cane toad but also had the same effect.
I`m in the US I have been using ZooMed heating pads. It is impacting her humidity, which is the only downside I see so far. It just means I need to spray her tank more, which I am okay with. The geckos and cornsnake don`t need much as far as humidity goes but it may get harder with the pacman frog. I will keep tinkering though, because as far as temps go it is working great.
I love my CHE's and would never use another heat source. You have to do a bit more misting for tropical animals, which is expected when you use any heat source. I have mine connected to thermostats so that they turn on and off as needed. The one on my red eye tank, I've had for a year now, and it's still going strong. You have to make sure you have a lamp made to handle a CHE though. They produce no light which is great for having a normal day/night cycle.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...rch_detailpage
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._detailpages00
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._detailpages00
2.0.3 Hyla versicolor "Eastern Gray Tree Frogs"
2.2.0 Agalychnis callidryas "Red Eyed Tree Frogs"
0.0.3 Dendrobates auratus "Turquoise and Bronze"
0.0.1 Anaxyrus fowleri "Fowler's Toad"
For me the CHE seemed to dry the tank out more than a heat lamp which confused me as I heard they were less drying. I use an infrared heat lamp now and don't have any problems however I do put a thin layer of sphagnum moss on top of the coir, which helps a lot with humidity and means I only have to mist every other day.
In the winter time, I have to mist up to 2-3 times a day. Right now, I usually mist once in the morning and again before bed. That's just part of keeping a tropical pet in a cold weather climate. The CHE is far more effective than heating pads. When used in conjunction with the thermostat, it doesn't run 100% of the time, which is why it is actually less drying. You also want to make sure you have the correct wattage for the size of your tank, or use a dimmer switch to tone it down if it's too strong. I have a 100 watt on my red eyed tree frog tank (18x18x24 exo terra,) it would be a bit much but I turn the dimmer down so it actually runs at about 50%. If you're using an open screen top, cover most of it. My red eye tank screen top is 3/4 covered during the winter months, and only half covered during the summer months.
2.0.3 Hyla versicolor "Eastern Gray Tree Frogs"
2.2.0 Agalychnis callidryas "Red Eyed Tree Frogs"
0.0.3 Dendrobates auratus "Turquoise and Bronze"
0.0.1 Anaxyrus fowleri "Fowler's Toad"
I use exo terra heat cables under under more that 20 enclosures--- three 6' racks
On timers
Works for me
All PDF enclosures except for one 36H enclosure that houses 2 'old man' red eye tree frogs
Current Collection
Dendrobates leucomelas - standard morph
Dendrobates auratus “Costa Rican Green Black"
Dendrobates auratus "Pena Blanca"
Dendrobates tinctorius “New River”
Dendrobates tinctorius "Green Sipaliwini"
Dendrobates tinctorius “Powder Blue"
Dendrobates tinctorius "French Guiana Dwarf Cobalt"
Phyllobates terribilis “Mint”
Phyllobates terribilis "Orange"
Phyllobates bicolor "Uraba"
Oophaga pumilio "Black Jeans"
Oophaga pumilio "Isla Popa"
Oophaga pumilio "Bastimentos"
Oophaga pumilio “Mimbitimbi”
Oophaga pumilio "Rio Colubre"
Oophaga pumilio "Red Frog Beach”
Oophaga pumilio "Rio Branco"
Oophaga pumilio “Valle del Rey”
Oophaga pumilio "BriBri"
Oophaga pumilio "El Dorado"
Oophaga pumilio "Cristobal"
Oophaga pumilio "Rambala"
Oophaga “Vicentei” (blue)
Oophaga sylvatica "Paru"
Oophaga sylvatica "Pata Blanca"
Oophaga histrionica “Redhead”
Oophaga histrionica "Blue"
Oophaga lehmanni "Red"
Oophaga histrionica "Tado"
Ranitomeya variabilis "Southern"
Ranitomeya imitator "Varadero"
Ranitomeya sirensis "Lower Ucayali"
Ranitomeya vanzolinii
http://www.fernsfrogs.com
https://www.facebook.com/ferns.frogs
Thanks everyone so much for the advice!
The CHE is on a dimmer right now, and yeah it is running about %50 or so and hitting the temps I need spot on. I also made sure to get a ceramic socket so that is good too I had not heard of a thermostat for CHE. Are they the same ones you use for heat pads or do you have to use something else?
I live in Colorado. Misting is my life, lol!
Pulse proportional they're called, they can be used with heat mats and che. What they do is basically pulse electricity to the heater to maintain the desired temp. Ones with a night setting are ideal, such as the microclimate b2me
Zoo Med Hygrotherm is also a great choice for a theromostat, there just a bit pricey unless you can get one ebay or amazon. And it has night temp setting also, and if in the future you decide to get a fogger or misting system you can plug that in there 2.
I make all my controls from hvac parts so cant help ya there. Personally, we use hyrdoponics seedling heat mats. Hyrfofarm to be exact. We have ones designated to work within 10 degrees f room temp. A little pricy, but worth it we think.
But heres what i think will help you.
Ultrasonic humidifier, makes cool fog, not, hot, wet air. Cost $40 usd at my local target. The lid was supposed to be a elephant lol. Look closely it has feet.
3/4in or i think 17-18mm(did i get it?) Some fittings and a little insulation, about $30usd at local lowes.
1/4 turn ball valves. This is how you set your flow. The humidifier gets set to put off X amount of fog. Then you set your flow valves to each tanks individual needs and let it go.
We let ours run 24/7. A tank lasts maybe 3days. But it does the red eyes(bottom right), the whites(top right), my ball python(top left), and the firebellies(bottom right). So 2, 40g an exo terra small, and a 29g. Cheap effective, and the fog looks cool lol. All but the whites are planted. So the fog also makes planted vivs grow like mad. Makes for good moss growing. Pothos go insane and root into the air.
So hope this helps your humidity or someone else's.
Sweet set up! I had thought of getting a humidifier in my room, it never occurred to me to attach it to the tanks! The only two animals I have that need higher humidity is the ball python and Paxman frog, so this should work great! Thank you everyone so much for the information!
The ultrasonic type are the ones that make fog.
Krispy nice setup and thank you for posting this picture. I have been pondering doing something similar for my 3 soon to be 4 tanks and was having a hard time trying to visualize what I wanted and how I would do it. After reading what you did and looking at your pic for a few minutes has helped me figure out what I want and how to do it. So thanks again.
Welcome! The plumbing is forever moving. We just got the floor down so its still a mess lol.
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