Ceramic vs Traditional Bulbs

[Reed12321]

I have a question that may be easily answered by someone with more experience, but when it comes to Ceramic infrared heat emitters, should you be using the same wattage as the bulb that you would use? Or since there is no light being emitted, should you get something with more wattage? The reason I'm asking is because I'm dealing with a lot of humidity problems; I can barely keep my humidity over 50% consistently. I mist my tank and the humidity jumps up to 70%, but then an hour or 2 later, it dives back down to 35-40%. I have 2 tanks, one with a 40 watt red bulb and a larger tank with a 100 watt red bulb.

[Spikeanoid]

When I switched to ceramic I had to step up the wattage vs the traditional heat bulbs I used before. That might just be a case of bulb brand (I'm using zoo med Che vs flukers bulb previously), but when I compare the heat output from my Che to a similar wattage/brand my sister uses for her lizard, it's noticeable.

I still experience a deal of humidity loss with a ceramic heat bulb.

[mohawk]

A CHE will kill your humidity the same as any other heat bulb.
I battle low humidity every winter ......
You can continue misting, make a humid hide, and maybe switch
to a substrate the holds moisture better.

[Reed12321]

A CHE will kill your humidity the same as any other heat bulb.
I battle low humidity every winter ......
You can continue misting, make a humid hide, and maybe switch
to a substrate the holds moisture better.

Right now i'm not using any substrate because one of my snakes had mites, so I'm stuck with paper towels for the next few weeks.

I also just put aluminum foil on my screen and that's working a lot better. I had something covering it before, but it may not have been as air-tight.

[Cumminsman]

Plexiglass hold humidity great! Put a few hole on it and you hardly ever have to spray. And that's in a 55 gallon!

[Cumminsman]

That's funny. I just noticed in that pic it says 42%. Lmfao. Must of been when I was using tin foil still.