How do you all heat your tanks at night?

[miranda2]

Right now I use a regular light bulb on a timer for daytime heat. But its getting cold at night and cant use a red or blue night bulb because it bothers my son. He is in a 20 gallon at the moment.
Any ideas? I have a heat mat I could tape on the side but I dont think it will do much to heat the tank air.

[123nave]

If the heat mat is not warm enough get a bigger one. I would find one with a temperature adjustment switch to adjust the temperature.

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[123nave]

If it was a bigger tank, you could use a small amount of heat tape.

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[jasonm96]

You can't increase or reduce heat by size or wattage of the mat like with bulbs. The more power goes to powering a larger mat to a temperature of around 100F. Also, the mat should also never cover more than half of the floor. For terrestrial species a heat mat on the wall is useless as the work by conduction, warming the substrate or the animal which sits on top, but they won't increase the air like a bulb. I would suggest using a ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat at night if you're using a bulb during the day.

I personally heat the room up to 72F and use a mat on the bottom with the thermostat placed underneath the substrate directly on the mat, set at 82F . Any ambient warmth comes from the fluorescent light.

[miranda2]

I put a drainage layer of gravel then screening and then the soil so its like 6 inches thick and no way a UTH will work, unless I redo the whole tank and I was hoping to not do that until the frog is moved to the 40 gallon this spring. I may have to search around for a low wattage ceramic heat emitter.So it makes for only about 6-8 inches from the top so dont need anything with high heat.

[monster]

You can get a 40 watt ceramic, i use one right now in my bearded dragon enclosure for night time heat.

[jasonm96]

Why do you bother with the gravel at the bottom, are you doing a bio-active set up? Ceramics are pretty intense, even more so than spotlights. I wouldn't place them any less than 10" from basking site when using them with frogs.

[Francisthepyxie]

Don't use a heat mat. It barely heats the air in the tank, just the glass which if it's on the bottom the frog can come into contact with it and dehydrate/burn. I was using a mini size matt on the bottom until I realized it was heating the bottom glass to upwards of 100°f and the air/top of substrate was still room temp. I switched it out to one of those blue "moonlight" bulbs which has worked for me so far, barely any light really, but a low watt ceramic heater (w/ a thermostat maybe) sounds best.

[Francisthepyxie]

Also, if you do use a bulb or ceramic heat emitter, try placing it over the water bowl to keep the humidity higher, though your drainage layer probably takes care of that anyway

[jasonm96]

Don't use a heat mat. It barely heats the air in the tank, just the glass which if it's on the bottom the frog can come into contact with it and dehydrate/burn. I was using a mini size matt on the bottom until I realized it was heating the bottom glass to upwards of 100°f and the air/top of substrate was still room temp. I switched it out to one of those blue "moonlight" bulbs which has worked for me so far, barely any light really, but a low watt ceramic heater (w/ a thermostat maybe) sounds best.

If you place the thermostat under the substrate it keeps the bottom to a suitable temperature for the frog when it burrows and prevents burns, so long as the mat is of high quality so not to develop hot spots and that a suitable temperature gradient is provided so the frog does not spend all of its time on the mat. As the mat only covers part of the enclosure the frog can adjust its temperature and humidity needs by selecting the unheated area. Having this moisture gradient is actually good. Since they don't warm the air as you know, you heat the room to the minimum temp or use a low-wattage radiant heater to warm the air. Breeders and those with large collections usually heat the room to a suitable level temp and use an oil-filled radiator and use heat mats for to provide a thermal gradient or basking area. Having said that, I myself prefer to moonlight bulbs, much better than those disturbing red bulbs! I just want to clear up the bad rep mats get, as they do have their use. Using a combination of a mat and a radiant heater prevents the need to use high-wattage bulbs which dry out the tank so fast for frogs

[Francisthepyxie]

If you place the thermostat under the substrate it keeps the bottom to a suitable temperature for the frog when it burrows and prevents burns, so long as the mat is of high quality so not to develop hot spots and that a suitable temperature gradient is provided so the frog does not spend all of its time on the mat. As the mat only covers part of the enclosure the frog can adjust its temperature and humidity needs by selecting the unheated area. Having this moisture gradient is actually good. Since they don't warm the air as you know, you heat the room to the minimum temp or use a low-wattage radiant heater to warm the air. Breeders and those with large collections usually heat the room to a suitable level temp and use an oil-filled radiator and use heat mats for to provide a thermal gradient or basking area. Having said that, I myself prefer to moonlight bulbs, much better than those disturbing red bulbs! I just want to clear up the bad rep mats get, as they do have their use. Using a combination of a mat and a radiant heater prevents the need to use high-wattage bulbs which dry out the tank so fast for frogs

Ohh okay thanks for the info! I hadn't heard of them in conjunction with a warmer room. It seems like a lot of trouble to heat up the whole room (esp if your house gets cold like mine) if you only have one frog so maybe that's why it's not talked about often? Definitely makes more sense for breeders.

[jasonm96]

Heat mats are pretty good if you have a warm room or only need to provide a little heat, where an incandescent light may be too much or not suitable for the animal you're heating. The problem is that they're often said to be an easy plug in heat source without any thought of variations in room temperatures, which can make them insuffient alone. For breeders it's definitely an easy way to heat up racking systems. I have to heat my room up as I live in freezing Scotland, but only to normal temperatures in the low 70s F. An oil filled radiator connected to a green house thermostat is an easy and not too expensive way, but its best when you have a few herps and a room dedicated to them. The insects also need the heat though, so it keeps them happy as well and then I just use low-wattage heaters for the frogs and insects for thermal gradients

[blinktwice]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62JZzScSaDE

I use night lamps, but recently i've been leaving their day lamps on since they will only stay in their bath with the daylight .

I'll leave one lamp over the water day, then over the substrate a black heat lamp .