Terrarium heating

[Stjimmy1990]

Lol I'm actually in Arkansas we just keep it comfortable in the house. An thanks!

[bshmerlie]

ARKANSAS?...Oh...I figured you'd be up in Alaska staring at Russia with Sarah Palin.

[Stjimmy1990]

Hahaha nope Down here in southern arkansas.

[ZachTurner]

Your "2.0 and 5.0" bulbs are compact florescent I take it and not incandescents which actually produce viable heat..?
What are you using to monitor your temps? A digital thermometer with a probe?
Tape & Dial thermometers are not accurate. Anything stuck to the glass is just giving you a temp of the glass and not the tank..

[bshmerlie]

My spiral 2.0s put out quite a bit of heat.

[ZachTurner]

My spiral 2.0s put out quite a bit of heat.

Without a wattage how can you know that for sure..?
We should really know what wattage we are looking at before we go adding a Heating pad to a 30gallon tank..
a quick bulb swap is usually the better option..

[Stjimmy1990]

Without a wattage how can you know that for sure..?
We should really know what wattage we are looking at before we go adding a Heating pad to a 30gallon tank..
a quick bulb swap is usually the better option..

Well I have the 2.0 and 5.0 in the 26 watt. And still need more heat. So I'm going for the heating pad.

[ZachTurner]

Well I have the 2.0 and 5.0 in the 26 watt. And still need more heat. So I'm going for the heating pad.

In my opinion a Heat pad is a bad choice..
At 26 watts a compact florescent puts out no viable heat.. swapping the 2.0 to an incandescent will give you your needed heat.. and unlike a heat pad will still allow for a nice gradient..
And what are you using to monitor your temps?
applying a heat pad to the back wall with out properly watching your core temp and you will end up looking at frog belly plastered to the glass front of your tank instead of watching your captive enjoying the landscaping you have done across the back of your tank..

[bshmerlie]

Without a wattage how can you know that for sure..?

You can feel it....
Yes I do understand heat is all relative but I have four 26 watt reptiglo 2.0 on a 36 in tank and they produce heat. It raises the temp in the tank about 4-5 degrees. I measure this with two digital thermometers at two different levels in the tank. Do they produce enough heat for Mr. Arkansas....obviously not. I personally don't like the incandescent bulbs. They produce too much heat IMO. With a side mounted heatmat you can put it on a thermostat and not worry about it heating up the tank too much...especially with summer approaching. You also risk a lazy frog getting burned if he chooses to sleep right under the incandescent bulb and doesn't move his butt when the lights go on. I am making this assumption because Arkansas said he has the Exo Terra which probably means he's using the standard Exo Terra hood. The bulb is literally an inch from the screen and if his red eyes are anything like mine they're sleeping in the top leaves about an inch or two down from the screen. This is just my opinion ...but there is a risk of hurting the frog if you're trying to produce enough heat from something up above to reach further down. A well placed heatmat low on the side of the tank does just fine without the risk. With summer approaching incandescents just don't seem like the best choice....IMO

[bshmerlie]

When did I say stick it on the back wall? Stick it to the side (left or right ) of the tank. I don't believe its going to do much good under the soil.

[ZachTurner]

You can feel it....
Yes I do understand heat is all relative but I have four 26 watt reptiglo 2.0 on a 36 in tank and they produce heat. It raises the temp in the tank about 4-5 degrees. I measure this with two digital thermometers at two different levels in the tank. Do they produce enough heat for Mr. Arkansas....obviously not. I personally don't like the incandescent bulbs. They produce too much heat IMO. With a side mounted heatmat you can put it on a thermostat and not worry about it heating up the tank too much...especially with summer approaching. You also risk a lazy frog getting burned if he chooses to sleep right under the incandescent bulb and doesn't move his butt when the lights go on. I am making this assumption because Arkansas said he has the Exo Terra which probably means he's using the standard Exo Terra hood. The bulb is literally an inch from the screen and if his red eyes are anything like mine they're sleeping in the top leaves about an inch or two down from the screen. This is just my opinion ...but there is a risk of hurting the frog if you're trying to produce enough heat from something up above to reach further down. A well placed heatmat low on the side of the tank does just fine without the risk. With summer approaching incandescents just don't seem like the best choice....IMO

back wall side wall.. my mistake..
Again not taking into account the possibility of different wattages saying an "incandescent" bulb swap is a bad idea is a tad naive IMO..

But thats just my opinion.