150 watt bulb not hot enough...

Hi all,

I have a 150 watt ceramic heater bulb for my ball python and it's hooked up to a herpstat. I can't get the temp above 78. My house is so so cold... Darn northern Canada! I cannot find a bulb above 150 watts in store or online.
Is this normal? I feel a 150 should do the job!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not sure that a CHE needs to be hooked up to a thermostat unless you're worried about the snake coming into direct contact? Especially if you're keeping your room temps low, I don't think it would get hot enough unregulated to pose a hazard, unlike belly heat which the snake sits directly over.

Yeah I just assumed the bulb would be too hot and need to be regulated. I should mention its a high terrarium so I think the bulb is so high 25 inches that not enough heat can get to it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Try switching to one of the red ir bulbs in the 100w range. They seem to project heat a little better. Though if your house is that cold you might need to run both so plan on another dome too.

I tried looking back through your previous threads but couldn't see a description of the enclosure you are using.

What does your setup look like? If it is a glass tank then you can apply insulating material to the outside to help with temps for example.

Sorry about that. I'm new and have been meaning to post my setup! I have a 30 gallon exotwrra with sliding doors. I have the one heat lamp and an uth. Both on a thermostat. I am working on making a humidifier cause humidity is low.

Could I put aluminum foil on top the screen to insulate?

And thanks for that! I figured the red bulbs were warmer than the ceramic ones. As I didn't have this problem with my old red one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry to say, your enclosure is 90% of your problem. Glass enclosures suck at holding heat and humidity. That being said, have you considered a space heater to warm the room your snake lives in? That can be an economical and stress-free ( almost ) way to solve the problem.

If that isn't an option, wrapping most anything around the enclosure to help insulate it would help some. Old blankets or towels wrapped around the back and sides, and if it has a screen lid the foil will help both heat and humidity. If the lid is solid, cover it with a towel too. Except for where the heat lamp must sit.

Gale

Like others have said, warp it in insulation on 3 sides and put tin foil on the whole top but leave a hole about 1/2 inch bigger than the dome. That way you still have airflow. That's what I do minus the insulation since I keep my house set at 75f. I'm using a 100 watt CHE and it keeps my 30 gallon(36x18x12) at 86 on the warm side and 84 on cool side. Another trick you can do is put something like a flat rock or other thing like a big hide etc that will soak up some of the CHE heat about halfway or 1/3 under the CHE. That way you are heating an object which in turn will heat the air. I do that with my RHP and it keeps my boa cage toasty warm. Since you are using a Herpstat to control the CHE, just dial it in while using a temp gun on the object the CHE is heating so you don't get that object too warm and burn your snake.