Personal Heating preference

Ok, after seeing the "post your source of heating" thread, there was a question that popped up in my mind. Do you prefer your BP to have belly heat, arial heat, or both? I've heard that one source is better than the other, but I just wanted to know what YOUR personal opinion is.

I voted heat lamps, but dont crucify me yet. The reason I use heat lamps is because when I got my bp I also got a $200 cage from the same place. It was the ones they make. It came with heat lamps built in. It never occured to me to look online and see what other people do. When i finally do I see that its better for the bp to be in a $7.00 tub from walmart with a uth on it. :mad: . So i have to tell my self that so I can sleep at night. I have been able to keep steady temps spot on and humidity perfect by placing the water dish underneath the ceramic heater. I believe with some extra effort and thought, your enclosure can be comfortable for the snake and pleasing to the eye.

I voted belly heat for bps. I keep all of my snakes in a room with an ambient temp or about 75 to begin with. I also live in nice dry Utah where the humidity usually stays under 30% so a lamp would kill my humidity.

I wouldn't mind getting some radient heat panels however...

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Originally Posted by green_man

I voted belly heat for bps. I keep all of my snakes in a room with an ambient temp or about 75 to begin with. I also live in nice dry Utah where the humidity usually stays under 30% so a lamp would kill my humidity.

I wouldn't mind getting some radient heat panels however...

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I grew up in Utah. Layton to be exact. I heard they where getting anal about herps. True?

:hijackd: Sorry

Not to sound like an arse but.... I think ones "personal preference" should be overlooked by what's best for the animal. Sure there may be different options I just didn't like the term "personal preference" as it makes it sound like the equipment being used is based on something other than what the animal "requires".

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Originally Posted by TekWarren

Not to sound like an arse but.... I think ones "personal preference" should be overlooked by what's best for the animal. Sure there may be different options I just didn't like the term "personal preference" as it makes it sound like the equipment being used is based on something other than what the animal "requires".

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Like I had stated in the OP, I've heard arguements from people who were for the differing sides of heat source. I had no intention of overlooking what is best for the animal, but I believed that the term "Personal Preference" was best suited for the poll because I understand that people will, and do, have their own opinions as to what kind of heat source is better for their animal.
As to your statement of " what the animal requires", with both a belly heat source and an overhead heat source, the BP (not limited to them) will still gain heat from conduction, am I right? Also, looking from a person who is pro arial heat source, reptiles are more likely to gain heat from convection (or possibly radiation if they use a colored heat bulb), in addition to the belly heat, from an overhead heat source than from a belly heat source.

I personally provide both a belly heat source and an overhead heat source, because otherwise I would not be able to maintain the correct temps for my BP, and if it's worked for all of my other terrestrial herps, then why change what works for me?

Well, I use both. A UTH for the cool side floor temp and a CHE for the warm side and to raise the ambient temp of the cool side to a toasty 82. I wouldn't be able to maintain proper temps in glass tank without them both. The CHE doesn't help with humidity though, so more frequent misting is necessary. :2cent:

as long as the room can keep the ambient temps up... then i only use belly heat via UTH or flexwatt.

IF the ambient temps aren't high enough... then i place a heating pad with a nice warm towel over top onto the top of the tub to warm it slightly. works like a charm in the coldest winter months here. ;) although with my rack... i'm using 11" flexwatt so i shouldn't have a problem with ambient temps anymore.

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Originally Posted by Purrrfect9

I personally provide both a belly heat source and an overhead heat source, because otherwise I would not be able to maintain the correct temps for my BP, and if it's worked for all of my other terrestrial herps, then why change what works for me?

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I can't agree more with you on that last statement. As long as the individual knows they are providing the best conditions, how they do it may not be same as the next person. This was my basic point above :)

In my racks I use flex-watt for belly heat my room stays around 80 degrees with a RH of about 30% so my temps are perfect. I set my helix(s) to 90 and the air temp does the rest

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Originally Posted by TekWarren

I can't agree more with you on that last statement. As long as the individual knows they are providing the best conditions, how they do it may not be same as the next person. This was my basic point above :)

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Agreed.

I think the poll is going to be skewed anyway - I feel like most people are just going to vote for the type of heating they actually use and not so much what they actually prefer.

For those with glass tanks in 70-72 degree rooms, its going to be difficult to get a 92 degree hot spot with 82 degree ambient temps with a heat pad alone, espcially when using even a thin layer of substrate.

For racks and plastic enclosures, they tend to hold more heat in, and therefore, belly heat is all that may be required to keep your temps right.

I still haven't been convinced either way about whether or not it's better for the snake to receive its heat from underneath (belly heat) or from above them; I haven't seen/heard/read anything the makes a convincing case for either option. What I do know is that I've seen plenty of healthy snakes in glass tanks and rack systems alike.

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

For those with glass tanks in 70-72 degree rooms, its going to be difficult to get a 92 degree hot spot with 82 degree ambient temps with a heat pad alone, espcially when using even a thin layer of substrate.

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Well said. That's why I (and many others I'm sure) need overhead heat as well as belly heat to achieve proper temps.

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Originally Posted by BiG~PUN

I grew up in Utah. Layton to be exact. I heard they where getting anal about herps. True?

:hijackd: Sorry

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Right on, I live in Woods Cross. I go to Layton all the time.

Some cities are getting pretty bad. Jeremy Stone was going to move to Spanish Fork I beleive, but they would not let him. He ended up building a facility in Lindon. I am hoping to go see it soon... He is having about 70 boa litters and about 175 bp clutches this year! :eek:

I think it would be basically impossible to heat the enclosure correctly without UTH. Convection is going to deliver your ambient temperature and keeping a even ambient temp in an enclosure can be tough. However, you also need a warm side with its own hide. In that case, I don't think convective heat would be feasible because you would just end up heating the whole place up. And, radiant heat won't work for you because the snake is going to be spending all its time shaded by the top of its hide. That leaves UTH and pretty much makes it essential in my mind. I use a both a heat lamp and a very small UTH to heat the cool side and keep up the overall ambient temperate in the cage.

I voted for UTH, because it is what I am using at the moment for both my snakes on a thermostat. When I had one snake and no thermostat both worked fine for me, maybe even a little more consistent. My thermostat gets cooler than I would like sometimes (its dropped down to 88 on warm side for my BP), and its a little frustrating because not much I can do when I have it turned up to be about 5 degrees higher than it is. But it all works out. My BP has been more active this week since I added the thermostat, which had me worried he might be stressed, but he still ate good so I guess hes fine just more energetic. He downed his meal, which was probably a little smaller than his past 2, in about 5 minutes.

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Originally Posted by hardball

I voted for UTH, because it is what I am using at the moment for both my snakes on a thermostat. When I had one snake and no thermostat both worked fine for me, maybe even a little more consistent. My thermostat gets cooler than I would like sometimes (its dropped down to 88 on warm side for my BP), and its a little frustrating because not much I can do when I have it turned up to be about 5 degrees higher than it is. But it all works out. My BP has been more active this week since I added the thermostat, which had me worried he might be stressed, but he still ate good so I guess hes fine just more energetic. He downed his meal, which was probably a little smaller than his past 2, in about 5 minutes.

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I don't have any experience with reptile t-stats but I do have a good understanding of the basic principle.

[long winded technical nerd-out follows:]
They are what is referred to as a "negative feedback control system" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_feedback for more). Actually, the basic idea is quite easy to understand. But, don't be fooled, the control comes with a price. Here's a good analogy: You can apply a brute one-way force to something with your body (say a wrench) and while it is ultimately the easiest thing to do, any sudden slippage will most likely mean some bleeding knuckles. What do you do in that case? You push on the wrench even harder while also tensing your muscles to apply a force in the opposite direction. You are ready and, when the wrench slips, the effect is minimized and you avoid the bleeding knuckles. Sounds like a win-win right? It is as long as the counter force holds. If, for some bizarre reason, the muscle providing the back-pressure on your grip was to suddenly give out or detach from the bone, you would actually bust your knuckes much much harder than before. Likewise, if you were exhausted or drunk or otherwise in a state where your reaction times were too low, your grip on the wrench would tend to shake alot. Even in a healthy state, anyone can replicate this effect by holding their arm out and flexing all the muscles as hard as they can. Their arm will begin to vibrate.

So, to finish the analogy:
1) Brute one-way forced grip equals no t-stat or rheostat.
2) Extra "tensed-up" grip equal t-stat
3) Muscle failure or insufficient reaction times illustrate what can happen when the feedback loop (temperate probe) is not working correctly.
[end of long winded nerd-out session!]

So this isn't meant to be an argument against t-stats but instead some information to help get the most out of them. The basic idea here is that the feedback loop is everything. If your probe fails you may get overheating but a good t-stat is most likely protected. If your probe is not actually close to the heat source then you will get an always-on state - this too may be detected by quality circuits. And, finally, if the temperature responds at the probe but takes too long to do so, your temps may fluctuate back and forth (oscillate). Temperatures may also fluctuate if the probes temperature is "jostled" by things unrelated to the output of the UTH - such as air currents.

To summarize - To get the most out of a t-stat, you want a secure, tight, and noise-free feedback loop. This means the probe can't be moved inadvertantly, is close to the heat source, and is protected from spurious influences like air currents.

[really really end of long winded nerd-out session I promise!]

Once again, let me qualify all of this by saying it is pure theory and doesn't represent any actual experience with particular reptile thermostats. If you're having some trouble, the understanding may help you though.

Cages with thick substrate - Radiant heat panels

Tubs or thin substrate - UTH

Decade old post

Sorry! Didn't read through so didn't realize it was an old post :rolleyes:

i prefer belly heat.

i like the contact heat where it's convenient for my BP's. some racks and enclosures use back heat but i don't want my BP's scrunched up against a side wall trying to warm up. i would rather them lay causally over their heat source.

Belly Heat all the way for snakes. Gives a good hot-cool gradient in my rack. Ambient in room is ~80 and with my VE Stat set to 95 it gives a good 90 degree hotspot and maintains the proper gradient.

Most of mine have belly heat although I have some (5) under ceramic heat bulbs . Both methods work well ALTHOUGH keeping the humidity up using ceramics can be tiresome !!


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I prefer heat from above, as I feel it's more natural, makes heating the entire cage easier, and it's harder for the snake to cook themself. That being said, I mostly use belly heat for my pythons as I need to foil the lids to keep heat and humidity in.

I currently use both, I live in the Pacific Northwest in a small apartment and we like to economize on the heating bill.
The heatlamp I use to keep the ambient temperature at 80, I use an UTH on a thermostat for her hot-side. to maintain humidity in a glass tank I ended up covering the screen-top with a vinyl-backed fabric I had lying around. cut to size and taped on and works like a charm in addition to the coconut fiber substrate.
The added bonus is the heatlamp also helps heat my room, so we further save on heating. :P
I suspect in the summer I won't need the heatlamp, gets pretty warm in my room, ambient temps should be just right then.

So for me it is both, depending on the ambient temperature of my room ofc

I use red lights to boost the temps to where I want them. The house ambient is set warm, I like it that way, I think Im a little cold blooded. I have a 1800 gram 3 year old clown and another black pastel pin pushing 1650; also around 3. I think it’s working, lol.