Terrarium heating

[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.

[bshmerlie]

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.

Naive?....how do you figure. He has Red Eyes and they don't need a basking spot. He's just trying to warm up the tank a little bit. Put your hand three inches from the spiral bulbs and its warm but its not going to burn you...or the frog in this case. Put your frog next to an incandescent ....can you say the same thing? Yes getting low watt incandescent isn't going to burn the frog but it also would have to be good enough for his plants and put out the heat he's looking for. What watt would you recommend? Which brand? Will it be adequate for his plants and what temp will it be three inches away? Its a red eye so it can't be that hot next to his skin. These are the things that I consider when I give recommendations to people.

[ZachTurner]

I know the red eye doesnt need a "basking spot".. I do keep red eyes.. With the right wattage its just as easy to slowly raise the core temp with out much concern just as heating option B.. I understand what your saying about a frog clinging to the screen underside the lights.. I have just never had this happen to me in my 20 some years of keeping frogs and so I Havent considered that a risk.
You can get 5.0 uvb Neodymium incandescents. Being nocturnal Red eyes dont really need it..
Plants dont require uvb.. the uvb spectrum is to low for propper photosynthesis
280 - 315 nm Includes UVB ultraviolet light which actually harmful and causes plants colors to fade.
We are talking about heat source A and B.. I not against heat pads as an Idea but the location you would have to apply it to work for a arboreal vivarium.. Creating a proper heat Gradient from top to bottom is the better option in My opinion.. if the florescent bulb creates as much heat as you imply plus adding another heat source to one side gives us a large heated area and very little gradient.. with a higher chance of over heating your frog.. Can it be Done? YES.. But in my opinion there is a better way..
A small heatpad on the very top side of one side so we still have all the heat emitted from one direction I would consider viable.
But I would consider a simple bulb swap just as easy..

I would try a 15-20watt incandescent before I considered using a heatpad..

[bshmerlie]

We are at the end of May....coming up on June. In the next few weeks he's going to have a hot day. In your scenario your heat source is coming just from your lighting. So let's say his room temp right now is 65 and his current lightning brings him up five degrees to 70....he switches his lights to incandescents and it goes up ten or twelve degrees to 75-77.....That's great right? But next week Arkansas warms up and now its 75 in his house. My scenario his lights would bring him to 80 and the thermostat would not allow the heatmat to come on. In your scenario his red eyes are sitting in 85-87 degree heat and if it got hotter than that his lights would continue to cook his frogs. And as gets into the middle of summer the incandescent lights as your heat source makes less and less sense. Im just not a fan of your lights being your heat source....I think it spells trouble on an unsuspecting new frog owner. I heatmat controlled by a thermostat may not be your ideal heat gradient but it is the safest option with no risk of harming the frogs. You have obviously missed my post about summer approaching....the nice warm incandescent lights people used during the winter may end up cooking their frogs during the summer....we hear about it every year....from multiple people. Im sorry but I go for the fool proof option where he doesn't have to worry about it.

[bshmerlie]

One more thing as a side note. This is just a discussion about heating preferences. Throwing out condecending words or phrases such as "bad choice", "bad option", or "naive" is really uncalled for. Something is only bad if its going to be harmful to the inhabitants...everything else is our opinion on what would be the best approach to handle the issue at hand. On other forums there are bloody discussions on stupid things simply because people act like their's is the only way and everyone else is just doing it all wrong. But when it really comes down to it ....its just our opinion....and nothing more.

[Stjimmy1990]

Speaking of thermostats. How about a zoo med reptitemp 500r? I found o e on amazon for $25. Is this what I would need?

[bshmerlie]

Yes that would be a good choice. In fact since it has two plug-ins you could get those incandescent bulbs plug it into the thermostat and it would shut your light off if the tank got too hot.. Everybody happy?