Plastic tub - Solid lid w/ heat from top?

I'm wondering, if i use a solid lid on a 41qt container, and heat the enclosure with 2 heat lamps from above, would this be a feasible idea? the lid is not clear, and light does not enter the enclosure, yet the lid becomes very warm, and seems to warm the enclosure quite well. Also, will the ambient air inside the enclosure heat the bottom surface enough for my monty? or do i need a uth as well? I'm using one at the moment, but if i use it in conjunction with my 2 lamps, the surface temp reaches up to 100 degrees! ouch!

I'm not sure why lamps should be necessary in a tub set up. One of the great things about tubs is that they not only seem to hold heat better, but that they also hold humidity really well. Once you add the lights, you're sucking out a lot of humidity.

On my 41 quart tubs, I use a one foot section of 11" flexwatt and control it with a Ranco thermostat. I don't use any lights.

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Originally Posted by ntrent1

I'm using one at the moment, but if i use it in conjunction with my 2 lamps, the surface temp reaches up to 100 degrees! ouch!

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I need to learn to read slower in the mornings! :)

Are you using a thermostat? All UTH's should be controlled by a thermostat to help prevent that.

Not yet, it is on the way through USPS however from mgreptiles! along with some flexwatt. I do have it on a rheostat at least, and have it turned down to where it is very comfortable to the touch, not a chance of any burns. Hopefully when the tstat gets here I'll be able to balance it out better. Also, the uth i have right now is a zoo-med piece of junk, thats why i have flexwatt coming!

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Originally Posted by ntrent1

Not yet, it is on the way through USPS however from mgreptiles! along with some flexwatt. I do have it on a rheostat at least, and have it turned down to where it is very comfortable to the touch, not a chance of any burns. Hopefully when the tstat gets here I'll be able to balance it out better. Also, the uth i have right now is a zoo-med piece of junk, thats why i have flexwatt coming!

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i hope you ordered it a month ago. that is about the normal wait time for shipments from there, if even that fast. i cant imagine a zoo med not being able to heat a tub to 90* either, i use one on my 30 gal breeder and it gets it over a hundred

the uth will get the floor of the tub to well over 100 if cranked up, but it doesn't heat the rest of the tub well at all. That's why i'm trying out overhead heat as well, to raise the ambient temps inside the tub. It seems to be working fairly well, too, except for the humidity skyrocketing! lol before i couldnt get enough humidity, and now its WAY too much, sitting around 80! i've just put a smaller water bowl in there, so hopefully thatll do the trick. If not, i guess i gotta put more holes in the tub? Thanks!

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Originally Posted by ntrent1

the uth will get the floor of the tub to well over 100 if cranked up, but it doesn't heat the rest of the tub well at all. That's why i'm trying out overhead heat as well, to raise the ambient temps inside the tub. It seems to be working fairly well, too, except for the humidity skyrocketing! lol before i couldnt get enough humidity, and now its WAY too much, sitting around 80! i've just put a smaller water bowl in there, so hopefully thatll do the trick. If not, i guess i gotta put more holes in the tub? Thanks!

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more holes is the way to go

woohoo! just drilled more holes, and added a slightly smaller water dish, and the humidity has dropped 5% so far! i'll keep my fingers crossed! :)

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Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

i hope you ordered it a month ago. that is about the normal wait time for shipments from there, if even that fast. i cant imagine a zoo med not being able to heat a tub to 90* either, i use one on my 30 gal breeder and it gets it over a hundred

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Heheh, guess I'm lucky! at least half way, because i got my herpstat today in the mail! pretty amazing considering i ordered it TWO days ago! hooray for good service! :D