Night Time Heat without the glow?

Hey everyone,

just wondering what people would suggest to help heat our BPs tanks at night without emitting the red glow or any glow perhaps? Live in a no reptile apartment and well F that...I love my little fellas too much..however, our room [where they are get pretty warm] and id love to have the window open with a fan in there to cool it while i sleep..but don't want to get a fan just to cover the window with a blanket like i do now... any suggestions on how i can keep them warm without the glow so i can get my fan and actually sleep now that its warming up?

[I don't know how hot it will be in my apartment first summer here, so might not even need their lights on. but I'm just thinking just incase.]


Thanks,

Shifty

Have you looked into radiant heat panels, or under tank heaters, and the just using a regular light for brightness instead of heat? That way you can turn the light off whenever you want and don't need to worry about climate changes.

Like stated you should get a under tank heater and a thermostat. Then at night you can turn your light off and he will be fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shifty11

Hey everyone,

just wondering what people would suggest to help heat our BPs tanks at night without emitting the red glow or any glow perhaps? Live in a no reptile apartment and well F that...I love my little fellas too much..however, our room [where they are get pretty warm] and id love to have the window open with a fan in there to cool it while i sleep..but don't want to get a fan just to cover the window with a blanket like i do now... any suggestions on how i can keep them warm without the glow so i can get my fan and actually sleep now that its warming up?

[I don't know how hot it will be in my apartment first summer here, so might not even need their lights on. but I'm just thinking just incase.]


Thanks,

Shifty

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Besides the UTH, you can also replace the red heat bulb you have now with a CHE bulb (ceramic heat emitter). It provides heat but not light. You can also go with a RHP (radient heat panel) but that all depends on what kind of enclosure you have. People usually put RHPs in PVC enclosures like Animal Plastics or wooden ones that either they buy or build themselves. If you have a glass tank with a screen top, the RHP isn't the best choice. For a hot spot and to keep your ambient temp, your best bet would be the CHE bulb which runs about 30 bucks depending where you are.

umm... ill just cut all the scientific talk for now...

flat things, that give off heat depending on how much energy you put into them, as flat as maybe around 5-10 sheets of paper. with a thermostat, they do a good job.

i rest my case.

EDIT: these are available for almost any energy output. also called weird names like "heat mats" or "UTH".

Already use Heat Mats, using screen top glass terrariums for them both.. and do i need to buy new lamps for heat emitters? those sound like a good choice if it isn't warm enough in the room to begin with, and the heat mat isn't doing the job.


Shifty

Best option for you would probably be a ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat, and you cannuse the same light fixtures IF they have thenceramic socket. Having them on a thermostat will keep the cage temps stable even when the room temps vary.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darkbird

Best option for you would probably be a ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat, and you cannuse the same light fixtures IF they have thenceramic socket. Having them on a thermostat will keep the cage temps stable even when the room temps vary.

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Thanks, will probably go that route. How do I check if they have the ceramic socket? [Should i say somewheres?]


Shifty

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shifty11

Thanks, will probably go that route. How do I check if they have the ceramic socket? [Should i say somewheres?]


Shifty

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It will look/feel like ceramic/stone material. A lot of heat lamp domes already come with it; both of mine did. The dome will still be metal but the socket will look about like this:
http://www.thepetshopuk.co.uk/images/ceramic.jpg

A word of warning though: DEFINITELY DEFINITELY DEFINITELY use a thermostat. I went through the "eh, we only have it on every so often, we don't need a thermostat" phase, and one day we bumped the dome while moving some stuff around: it let off sparks!! Turns out the heat had over time burned through the wire casing inside the ceramic socket and started fraying the wiring. It won't happen overnight or even probably over a few months, but there's absolutely no reason to chance it. It was a HUGE fire hazard and we were super lucky to have caught it. Those heat domes have wattage limits, so make sure you're also using the correct watt bulbs no matter what you get.

Sweet Thanks for the input, all mine seem to be like that so sweet! and how do i go about setting it to a thermostat? Don't have a lot of room to work with to have wires hanging about.

Shifty

It's really only one more wire. Most seem to be in the $30 range. Googling "reptile thermostat" bought up a multitude of different options to choose from, but the basic gist of it is that instead of plugging your heat source directly into a power socket, you plug it into the thermostat, which has a dial/digital display that you set to the temperature you want. It's almost like an extension cord, only it regulates temperatures. :P

I will say though, I lived in a second floor apartment, and even when we moved them from our room to the family room I only needed the UTH on during the summer. The only time I turned any extra heat sources is when we had the windows open at night, since it got a little chilly.

Hi again. Like was said, you'll have one more wire, which is the t-stat probe, which will need to be in the cage, but you would just plug the fixture with the CHE into the t-stat, then plug the t-stat into the wall. And I wouldn't bother unplugging it during the summer, it won't run unless needed, so your cage temps won't get too low if you happen to have a cooler than expected night. You could also check amazon and search "hydrofarm". A lot of people seem to use these successfully, but I don't have one myself and am only going by what I've read.