pacman newbie heating question

[hisk]

Hey all! I'm going to Dallas Repticon for the first time next month, and I'm pretty excited. I'm hoping to find a strawberry or apricot pacman there, and I'm doing some extra last minute research on care. I have critter keeper, a ten gallon and then a twenty long for when it hits adult size. Pretty diverse foodstuff is easy, as is bedding and treated water. My only major concern is heating.

It stays consistently 74F or higher in my house during the warm months, but I'm not sure if this is warm enough to keep a pacman happy? I should be able to save up for a heating lamp before winter gets here, and I have a couple spare heating pads just in case it's needed. But even on this site alone I'm seeing a lot of different things when it comes to whether a heating lamp is necessary. Is there a consensus on this?

Also in the event I do need a heating lamp, what's the best way to calculate wattage per gallon? This is the first time I've had to set up a reptile tank on my own, so I'm a bit nervous about frying the poor little guy.

[jasonm96]

Hi horned frogs should be kept in the upper 70s to low 80s during the day so you'll need some heat for during the day but not at night, aslong as your room doesn't fall below 70F. I would put the frog into the 10gallon tank as they're easier to heat than critter keepers and use a 25-40w incandescent bulb in a dome for heat, use a thermometer to access temps and select the bulb wattage as needed.

[hisk]

Oh, thanks! But how to I "access"? Is there an accepted formula for how high a certain wattage will raise the temperature?

Edit: I was thinking a 100w ceramic heat emitter?

[jasonm96]

If you put a digital thermometer's probe under the light and leave it, you'll be able to monitor the temps. If too cool go for a higher wattage lamp and if too hot go lower. I think either a 25-40w bulb will do you, as you don't need that much extra heat. There not as far as I'm aware but when you use heat lamps for a while and in many vivs you'll get an idea of what you'll roughly need

[jasonm96]

A 100w ceramic would be overkill unless the tank was really tall, a 40w would probably be enough, you might even need to dim it down

[hisk]

I found a 25w on ebay, would that be enough you think?