Best method of heating

I plan to get my royal within a couple of weeks and want to make sure the setup is perfect before he's here.

I will be using a wooden vivarium.. either 2 foot for a sub adult or if I find an adult 36" or 42" by 18". Should I go for a ceramic heat emitter on thermostat or a heat mat? From my experience with keeping lizards, I thought the heat mat would not produce enough air temperature. The room temperature here is around 70.

One more question.. when people say a hot end of 90-94, is that surface temperature of the substrate or air temperature?

thanks in advance for any help

lewis

:snake:

Regardless of what kind of heat source you choose...plan on getting a thermostat to help control it.


The "hot spot" is surface temps on the warm side...and you want an overall ambient (air) temp of around 80F.

I'm not sure a UTH would work well through a wooden floor, although I suppose that depends on how you set it up. You might consider Radiant Heat Panels (http://www.pro-products.com/proheat.html) as a way to safely heat the enclosure without sucking so much humidity out of the air.

So you definitely don't think a ceramic heat emitter would work?

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Originally Posted by Lewb

So you definitely don't think a ceramic heat emitter would work?

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It certainly might. But with the room temps so cool, you might need two heat sources. I was just offering an alternative to consider.

Your best bet is to get it all set up before you ever put a snake in it...and measure temps for a few days to see if the CHE is sufficient...then consider whether you may need to add a second one, or a RHP or other heat source.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JLC

It certainly might. But with the room temps so cool, you might need two heat sources. I was just offering an alternative to consider.

Your best bet is to get it all set up before you ever put a snake in it...and measure temps for a few days to see if the CHE is sufficient...then consider whether you may need to add a second one, or a RHP or other heat source.

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Yeh this is what I plan to do, but I just want to make sure I don't buy something that has no chance of working at all :p

Another option.. a normal flood lightbulb? I know this would get the hot end temp up enough but may not get the cool side up to 80*.

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Originally Posted by Lewb

Another option.. a normal flood lightbulb? I know this would get the hot end temp up enough but may not get the cool side up to 80*.

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I'd choose a CHE before I chose a floodlight. CHE's can get just as hot, without the added stress of having a bright light shining directly into the enclosure. Just be prepared to use two of them to get a proper gradient. It's likely that if the room is 70*...then ANY heat source for the warm side would have to get TOO hot in order to heat the entire enclosure to 80*.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JLC

I'd choose a CHE before I chose a floodlight. CHE's can get just as hot, without the added stress of having a bright light shining directly into the enclosure. Just be prepared to use two of them to get a proper gradient. It's likely that if the room is 70*...then ANY heat source for the warm side would have to get TOO hot in order to heat the entire enclosure to 80*.

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Do you think A heat mat on a stat set to ~80 on the cool end a CHE on the warm end would work? The problem I have found with CHEs is that they project heat at a 180* angle so heat a wide area and don't create much of a basking spot.

what does the wooden enclosure look like and where are you planning on putting the CHE (inside or on top, etc.)???

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lewb

Do you think A heat mat on a stat set to ~80 on the cool end a CHE on the warm end would work? The problem I have found with CHEs is that they project heat at a 180* angle so heat a wide area and don't create much of a basking spot.

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So why not set the heat mat to a basking spot of ~92...and use the CHE to warm the rest of the tank to ~80?

Sounds like a good idea :rolleyes:

Thanks for the help. I'll purchase the equipment needed over the weekend and then get it set up, and then see how it works out before getting my snake.