CHE Wattage

Hi everyone, great site! I can't believe I didn't know about this til just now!

Anyways, what wattage CHE would I need to heat a 48 X 24 cage? I mean a cage like a Vision, Precision, or Animal Plastics; not a tank.

Thanks

Think 100 watts would be sufficient?

Hmm, I'm not sure. You might have to experiment with it. I myself would ditch the CHE all together and use under tank heat as belly heat is key.

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Originally Posted by Cody

Hmm, I'm not sure. You might have to experiment with it. I myself would ditch the CHE all together and use under tank heat as belly heat is key.

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Cody's right about testing. It will take some time for you to get your specific setup at the correct temps. The room where your cage is plays a factor in the overall temp of the cage, and inturn how much heat you will need. I would suggest that you use a digital thermometer to accurately measure your temps. That way you can get a better idea of how much heat you will need. If you can, i would as Cody said, just go with belly heat.

Yes, go with UTH. I agree.

Have you ever measured the temps inside your hide above the UTH? The heat rising from the UTH gets trapped in there and creates a pocket of air that's MUCH hotter than the surrounding cage floor. Try it with a digitherm w/ probe.

In my corn's cage, I used to just use a UTH to raise the temps on the warm side to about 84, and when I tested the temps under the hide, I found them to be about 100. That's too hot! So now I have the UTH on a very low setting and I use a CHE as well, and I've got it just right so that the inside of the hide is the same temperature as the surrounding floor. Without the UTH at all though, it is cooler under the hide than it is outside, which is why I use a combination of the two.

I will be using a thermostat, so should I just buy a high-wattage one? My only concern is that if the thermostat fails and I have it controlling a very powerful CHE, it could fry the snake.

Any suggestions?

I always measure my cage temps from inside the hide. And I use a UTH and the temperatures are fine for me. If you're using a UTH that gets too hot, you of course would need a dimmer or thermostat to control the temperatures and tune them to the right temperatures.

So if you're planning on getting a thermostat to control the CHE, why not just use it with the heat pad so you can have belly heat, and the right temperatures? :)

I have always thought that you're supposed to measure the temps on the cage floor out in the open. If you're just heating the hide to a certain temp with a UTH, the surrounding cage floor will be cooler. Does this not matter?

Not really. Think of where the snake will spend most of its time. They'll usually be in their hides 90% of the time, so that's where you need the temperature readings from. If the rest of the cage floor is too cool, but the hides are a correct temp, it's fine. If they get too cold they'll go in their warm hide for warmth. :)

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Originally Posted by Cody

Not really. Think of where the snake will spend most of its time. They'll usually be in their hides 90% of the time, so that's where you need the temperature readings from. If the rest of the cage floor is too cool, but the hides are a correct temp, it's fine. If they get too cold they'll go in their warm hide for warmth. :)

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Thats pretty similar to what i do. Most of the time i'll leave my probe under the hide and occasionally switch it to somewhere else in the cage. It allows me to get a good reading where my guys are most of the time, and by switching it around ( i'm talking one day a week or so ) i can see what the rest of the cage is like. I've actually been tempted to put two Acurite thermometer/hygrometer combos in one cage ;)

LOL that's what I have done in my corn's cage. I have one probe right next to the hide and one probe under it. I'm a little obsessive about making it just right.

i use che for my arboreals (chondros). i house them in visions 222, i use 40 watt. my room stays 76-82 deg. they work fine. i would use the smallest wattage you can regulated by a thermostat. if this is for a ball python i'd use a uth or flexwatt instead.


vaughn